Tokyo Ghoul

One Japanese movie I recommend is the 2017 Tokyo Ghoul movie, as it is a very good adaptation of the manga of the same name. It stars Masataka Kubota, Fumika Shimizu and Yo Oizumi. It is a sort of action horror movie with more horror at the beginning and more action towards the end. In the movie ghouls are creatures that look like humans but are stronger, faster and have extra appendages called “kagune” which are like weapons that are part of their bodies. Ghouls cannot eat normal food and must eat humans to survive. Many people are afraid of ghouls because ghouls can hide as humans so anybody can become a ghoul. There are many surprises in this movie so I will warn you that this review contains some spoilers because even in the beginning there are many surprises. I, however, will avoid spoiling the ending.

Kubota stars as Ken Kaneki, a shy college student who loves books. He is excited about his date with a pretty girl named Riza. After the date with Riza they are walking in the park when Riza attacks Kaneki. She is a ghoul, and she bites him; however, he is saved and she dies. Her organs are transplanted into his body, so he becomes a half-ghoul. He feels the need to eat human meat. Luckily, he meets Touka, played by Fumika Shimizu. Touka is part of a group of ghouls which don’t kill people to eat, they only eat people who died in other ways like suicide. Yo Oizumi is Kureo Mado, a government agent who hunts down ghouls but may have secrets of his own.

Often adapting a manga to a movie is difficult. A lot of adaptations have too much filler. Filler is not so bad if you are writing a manga or TV show, but I think it really hurts a movie. I think the writer and director did well getting rid of a lot of filler and focusing on the manga’s main story line.

Also, I feel the director did really well with the mood changes in the movie. The beginning of the movie feels like you are watching a cute romantic story about Kaneki and Riza with only a few hints that something dark is going on. Then it suddenly becomes a horror film when Riza attacks Kaneki. Starting as a seemingly-happy film makes the horror stronger. Similarly, after the attack it looks like Kaneki is recovered and his life is returning to normal when it becomes a body horror movie as Kaneki discovers his body has changed into a half-ghoul and he becomes hungry for human meat. Finally, as Kaneki gains confidence and can control his powers more it becomes a sort of dark superhero movie.

Overall, I thought it was one of the best adaptations of a manga I’ve seen with good acting and directing. It had both scary and heartwarming moments, and the characters were very good. I don’t recommend the sequel Tokyo Ghoul S. It had a lot of filler and some of Kaneki’s character growth disappeared in the sequel.

Nathaniel

Vocabulary
adaptation (noun) – a film, television drama or play that is based on a particular book or play but has been changed to suit the new medium
appendage (noun) – part of a living thing, that sticks out and has a particular function
spoiler (noun) – information that you are given about what is going to happen in a film, television series, etc. before you see it
organ (noun) – a part of the body that has a particular purpose, such as the heart or the brain
transplant (verb) – to take an organ, etc. from one person, animal, etc. and put it into another
filler (noun) – something not important that is used to fill extra space (ex: in a radio or TV show) to complete it because nothing better is available