C&C - Tokyo Ghoul - "Ghoul" [6/24]

[Kitschensyngk]

So when does he get Popeye strength and rack up a body count?

 

[Hypeathon]

"It wasn't me who was wrong, it was the wo-" ...oh, wait, wrong show.

 

[Nobodyman]

So is this the ghoul version of going Super Saiyan?

 

[Kitschensyngk]

He's turned into Toshio Hitsugaya.

 

[animePWNS]

It isn't safe.

 

[Hypeathon]

He's turned into Toshio Hitsugaya.

More like ACCELERATER!!!

Because both him and Kaneki are voiced by Austin Tindle.

 

[marklungo]

Agreed. Not even that episode of that show compares to this.

Which episode do you mean? "Jungle Cruise"? The Dragon Ball where Videl got beaten up? Pretty much any episode of Sword Art Online?

 

[Nobodyman]

So that was the first season of Tokyo Ghoul. And apparently we really are going ahead with Root A in two weeks?

Hmm...yeah, I think I'm gonna pass. Even as riffing material, I just see it as being a real pain.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Okayyyyyyy...

So much for sleep tonight.

I came here for the violence, but...some of that was a bit much. Some of these shows just go wayyyyy over the top with teh emo feelz.

Thank the maker Lupin's on in 30.

 

[marklungo]

I came here for the violence, but...some of that was a bit much. Some of these shows just go wayyyyy over the top with teh emo feelz.

Strongly agreed. This episode was hateful on two fronts.

 

[veemonjosh]

 

[shany94a]

Sadistic, although Jason (finally) got his comeuppance. And who needs a muse like Rize in their ear?

 

[Kitschensyngk]

So the message of that was "inflict pain on others before they inflict pain on you." That's a worse message than Goku's "when you're mad, nobody's stronger than you."

You know what this show needs? A comedy relief. Something cheery and pleasant to balance out all the nihilism.

 

[Grenzer]

Strongly agreed. This episode was hateful on two fronts.

Hateful, yeah that is pretty much the only way you can describe this show.

You know, I almost wonder if the author of Tokyo Ghoul suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. The way everything in this show is split between weak passivity and psychotic aggression suggests whoever wrote this is constitutionally incapable of seeing the world in subtle strokes.

And apparently in the manga, the scene where Yamori forces Kaneki to choose who lives or dies is even worse. Instead of the young couple who worked for Banjou, it was a mother and her child that he had picked up somewhere.

Why is this show so popular in the fandom? *shudders*

 

[animePWNS]

Which episode do you mean? "Jungle Cruise"? The Dragon Ball where Videl got beaten up? Pretty much any episode of Sword Art Online?

I meant SAO, but I guess all of those can apply

 

[Mr. Anime]

I meant SAO, but I guess all of those can apply

Are we forgetting that Hellsing and Black Lagoon used to air on the block and were every bit the equal of TG at being sadistic and over the top in their violence? Or for that matter, JoJo with all it's vampire body horror?

 

[Grenzer]

At least Hellsing and JoJo never took themselves that seriously. That was a huge part of the charm to those shows. The creative teams behind them knew how over-the-top and absurd the violence was and never tried to attach some profound message behind it.

Black Lagoon, on the other hand is very similar to Tokyo Ghoul. It was also celebrated by the hardcore anime fandom before it went to AS and it makes me wonder if I've been left behind by a new generation of fandom that seems to value things very differently than I do.

 

[marklungo]

At least Hellsing and JoJo never took themselves that seriously. That was a huge part of the charm to those shows. The creative teams behind them knew how over-the-top and absurd the violence was and never tried to attach some profound message behind it.

Black Lagoon, on the other hand is very similar to Tokyo Ghoul. It was also celebrated by the hardcore anime fandom before it went to AS and it makes me wonder if I've been left behind by a new generation of fandom that seems to value things very differently than I do.

Black Lagoon was pretty over-the-top in its own way. And IMHO, even at its worst it was never as downright ugly as tonight's Tokyo Ghoul episode.

 

[Grenzer]

Black Lagoon was pretty over-the-top in its own way. And IMHO, even at its worst it was never as downright ugly as tonight's Tokyo Ghoul episode.

I think the difference between Black Lagoon and Tokyo Ghoul is how the main character fits into the world he's been thrown into. Rock, while physically weaker is not a victim the way Kaneki is. Even if Revy was not around to shoot up anyone who threatened him, he would still do a pretty good job of fending for himself with his intelligence and resolve to survive. Kaneki basically spent the better part of twelve episodes crying and near paralyzed by terror until he snapped and showed he could demolish most of the enemies who had threatened him to that point. In a series with any sort of nuance, he would not have to be pushed that far to fight back.

And it's not just Kaneki, every character in Tokyo Ghoul seems to be that way. It is a world structured around the principle that unless you are incredibly aggressive, violent, and strike first, you are useless and fit to be victimized. The only character who seems to avert this is Amon, who is rather boring and often gets pushed to the side by more dynamic personalities.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Black Lagoon was pretty over-the-top in its own way. And IMHO, even at its worst it was never as downright ugly as tonight's Tokyo Ghoul episode.

Black Lagoon had its lighter side as well - the initial shootout with Roberta the gun-toting maid, the Greenback Jane arc - moments of relief to balance out its overall grittiness.

The closest this show has to a relief is Hinami, and they broke her from her very first episode.