wehner.taylor - 2015-03-19 22:57:40

I'm writing this review after watching 11th episode and regardless of how the quality of the show may have fluctuated so far, it's extremely unlikely that the last episode would change anything in this review.

Story: 4/10

Through the progression of the show, only story that matters is the final battle of the season, which is fair enough given 12 episodes isn't a lot of time to develop multiple story arcs. However apart from preparation for final fight (which includes some strategy, weapon upgrades etc.), there is essentially no story as the remainder of this preparation is simply characters going around their routinely activities which for 9-10 episodes out of total of 12 is absolutely ridiculous. Season one presented us with a young teenager, being thrown into a world of pain, suffering and agony. World of ghouls. Root A provided nothing apart from the generic 'final arc is coming' story material. Which in a nutshell meant not particular progress. In some terms this would pass, but due to the low quality of other aspects of the show, lack of story is just another issue this show has provided. 

Animation: 5/10

Animation is consistent for majority of the show, which is both good and problematic. The animation is stiff and for most part very simple. The fights that matter are animated with reasonably high quality which is great, however rest of the show, essentially over 80% of the content is very rigid and boring to watch. And the conversations aren't interesting enough nor important enough for most part to take the attention off the animation (as many technical, older series have done). This may have been caused due to budgeting problems, or simply to emphasize and invest into the final clash. In conclusion the animation is watchable, and isn't too much of a problem if you have seen enough series, but if you love your animation to be pitch perfect, then only watch the fights.

Sound: 5/10

Sound quality is good, at times the background music, does create a good sense of atmosphere within the scenes, to build small, but effective fragments of tension. Furthermore for most of the show, the sound is good enough. Dubbing is also good, haven't really noticed any major lip syncing issues, but that goes without saying (original JP dub, as there is no EN dub as I'm writing this). Sound effects such as explosions, gun shots, punches, coffee sips etc. are the average quality that you're likely to find in any anime these days (2009-2015). In conclusion the sound quality is not an issue, but isn't meritable trait either.

Character: 2/10

The way TG root A sees character development, is by simply throwing in the sob stories behind their characters. Which is fine, as long as it is done well enough with progressive character growth (clearly not the case here). The only clear attempts to develop characters is only seen with Amon, Juuzou and/or Akira. Throughout the show Amon slowly gets over his' partners death, takes up new rank, and starts to heal & grow with new partner (Akira). Akira is introduced, some of her motives and outlook on the world and life. Both are shown on multiple occasions. And for Juuzou? well we learn about his' childhood and that he did develop some empathy towards his' superiors. Apart from that, rest of the characters are left almost entirely 2 dimensional, with their opinions, outlooks on range of matters is left in the shadows. Kaneki who is meant to be the protagonist of the this season is barely even shown, which leaves him with 5-20 seconds of character development. During first season (Tokyo ghoul), although not ideal, character development did exist, characters were easy to relate to and understand well enough to care about most of the characters. Tokyo ghoul root A, leaves character personas up to speculation or are simply clarified as that they have not grown and their current self is the direct derivation of events from their past. Regardless of the 'scale' and 'tension' of the main story event in this season, I did not care about any characters apart from Hide. Who's only been seen working, and sneaking around. Which speaks volumes for how well the characters were established in this show.

Enjoyment: 3/10

With story being poorly executed, mediocre animation and sound which are the base of modern anime industry, essentially non-existent character development, this has been show with a very low enjoyment value. My personal opinion towards a decent show, are reasonably well established characters, well enough constructed story, progress and development over time. If at least this much would have been accomplished by Tokyo Ghoul root A, I would consider this season decent. But the show offered nothing, but disappointment and awe at how much source material butchering has happened. Tokyo Ghoul manga does the 3 points I've mentioned rather well, and goes far beyond (evoking emotion, incorporating the psychological aspects of the story idea etc). Reading the manga is pure joy, regardless of how emotionally painful the content may be. But it is much more painful seeing such quality fictional story, being tortured more than Kaneki was. I was taunted and offended more than I have enjoyed the show. Action sequences were done well enough, for me to post 1 or 2 gifs of them, but that is about as far as enjoyment of this show manages to reach. 

Overall 4/10

Tokyo Ghoul Root A was a huge flop in terms of quality, even season 1 was much better to watch. If you enjoyed the concept of this show, but disliked the things I or others with similar outlook, have mentioned. I do highly recommend "Tokyo Ghoul" manga. The manga is far superior to this show.

(I have posted this same review on MyAnimeList under the same (tomzz4) username. Reviews on both websites, are identical, and both have been written by the same person.)

chelsie.turner - 2015-03-18 10:14:01

I'm back, but now I'm reviewing the big/little brother of Tokyo ghoul (My review on season 1 https://hummingbird.me/anime/tokyo-ghoul/reviews/10263). Let's get real. I will give a fast recap of my opinion then go alittle more indepth.
I will start of by saying this one is written before Root A has ended, so don't expect any whole reaction, but I will edit an ending part to this review.

Tokyo ghoul doesn't dissapoint. I was expecting alot from season 2, but I got more than I came for. There are some huge improvements in art, sound, character, but there is a slight downgrade in story. Just as my other review I will focus this more on the people that are considering to pick it up, but if you have seen it you will probably get a more indepth look after this review.

The story has is worse than season 1, but as I said in my previous review: Don't get me wrong. The story is still loveable, but season 2 is focusing way more on characters, and fighting. This isn't a bad thing in-general, it moves more in the shonen category. I feel like the story has gotten way deeper, because you have to "read between lines in some parts". I enjoy how the plot has evolved, and still is.

The art style has increased (not that is was alot that could be). It's way cleaner, and smoother, but still pulls off the dark look. When animes manage this I'm thrilled. It keeps the same base style though. I will compare it abit with Attack on Titan. You may have not seen AON, and aren't considering it. AON has a very shonen art style, it's rough, tough, and wild. Tokyo ghoul moves more in the smooth category, into the seinen art.

Sound effects are just glory. When you compare the sound from season 1 too 2 you'll feel lighter. Season 2 has this really pure sound to it. It clings well. There is not really much I can say about the sound, just that it has improved. The fighting is way more in-sync now.

This is where the interesting part comes in. The characters. Some characters have changed, and when I say changed: I mean it. We get to know a lot more about side characters, while we still focus on Kaneki. Touka kinda fades away a bit from the story, and I don't really see any negative points of it. I enjoy the characters way more. Every time Kaneki gets some screen time I just want to scream. It's amazing how they manage to make a character so awesome.

At this point there are 10/12 episodes released, and there will be a new one tomorrow. As far as it has come, I love sequal. Every bit of it is enjoyable, and it builds so much suspense. I know some people may say season 2 is garbage, but that's your opinion and I respect it. This review is my way of trying to say that you should watch it! If you have watched season 1: What are you waiting for?

fkuhic - 2015-03-07 22:14:41

it was the best anime iv seen this year and 2015,its not the best year for anime cuz there not a all to offer, and not many coming out and season one, had a lot to offer and it was so energetic.  

alice40 - 2015-02-23 12:11:13

Tokyo Ghoul has a lot of things wrong with it, but it also has a lot that makes it stand out as the better version of the story. The anime doesn't contain the same storyline as the original manga does, and because of this it cannot be compared to it. However, as I said, it has its faults.
StoryThe story still focuses on Ken Kaneki as he escapes the claws of Aogiri's Jason and his torture. This is where the story takes a different turn from the manga, though it is apparently written by the same person. The story tells the same idea, but from a different perspective and it does this flawlessly. You can clearly see Ken's struggle, his fears and hopes. 

Animation

The animation (as with the original season) is one of the strong points of this series. Though it is lacking at times, it is mostly top-quality and above the normal standard for animes these days. At least when you take into consideration the amount of detail goes into something as small as a keyboard or as large as a strong Kakuja.

Sound

The new opening for the second season is a lot worse than the first one, though the song itself isn't all that bad. Its calm, and not really fitting to the story though. However, the rest of the OST is amazing to listen to and ist beautifully placed along side the action and animations. (Even a few sad scenes here and there.)

Character

The main character, Ken Kaneki is a normal boy who becomes the center of a struggle to survive. Throughout this experience he changes greatly, and it shows very different angles of his personality. From a sad and scared little boy to a crazy killing machine only after one thing, human meat. His character along with the rest of the cast is enjoyable to watch, how they change over time is perfectly placed and overall well presented.

Enjoyment

I've had a great deal of enjoyment from the second season compared to the first, mostly because of its original story. But I have also been frustrated with a few things such as censored areas of the series. I have nothing against this, if its done in a good way. However, in Tokyo Ghoul Root, it is done so poorly that I could probably do better with a potato.

Overall

Overall its a enjoyable series that I'd recommend a great deal of people to watch, but I'd also recommend them to read the manga as well. The series leaves some to be desired, but is overall a good experience to watch.

bortiz - 2015-02-03 10:46:16

A lot like the first season but much better because he decides the go find/grow some nuts and get real...

veum.guadalupe - 2015-02-02 20:46:24

I was surprised to see that it didn't follow the manga. But as I watch it, I see that only Kaneki is acting way differently than in the manga aside from other details. I find it very interesting to have that other scenario though 

gulgowski.vallie - 2015-01-30 02:50:47

Waiting for the next episode. Awesome overload...
Highly recommend this anime.

konopelski.darrion - 2015-01-21 21:20:47

I've watched the entire anime now. The animation was consistently elegant and the soundtrack makes a good accompaniment.

The "central" characters are expanded with the introduction and development of Akira Mado. In this season, there is a more equal balance on the ghouls and investigators, which gives interesting insights into both sides of the story. 

This anime is extremely psychological. Kaneki's development is only one aspect of this. He has both good and bad experiences to transform his personality and his hopes and dreams, yet there are still principles he tries to adhere to.

The interplay of characters in Tokyo Ghoul Root A is wonderful. Plots and personalities intertwine. I'd definitely recommend it (after watching the first season, of course.)

akuhn - 2015-01-09 08:34:24

Tokyo Ghoul √A Episode 1 Reveiw:
real quick before we get into the meat here, I want to make clear I have read the manga and I tried my hardest to give 

√A the experience it deserved or more clearly a anime only watchers perspective of the story. That being said I may reference to the manga once or twice without affecting the anime score, soooooo anime only watchers look for italicized font because, that is manga spoilers.

Story: 8/10 - I feel like after making it through the episode, the director handed us the ends of a bunch of threads and told us to follow them to reach the story that is woven by the threads. The episode starts out showing us Hide trying to discover for himself if Kaneki is alright and we get to see Kaneki leaving the torture room followed by him putting on his mask.
This episode also shows you the "one eye'd owl"/"one eye'd king" and the fight with the CCG and the fight between Touka and Ayato followed by the fight between Kaneki and Ayato. We get to see Suzuya dragging Jason's body off during the explosions. Which shows they will be giving Suzuya 13's Jason as a weapon. Towards the end we get to see almost everything how it should be in the manga... Kaneki is free, Touka and the rest of Anteiku are safe, Banjo and the others are released from their prison, Aogiri higher up's had left the battlefield as well as the CCG (both having lost a fair number of members) but, then instead of Kaneki saying that he's leaving on his own to figure out what is going on he says that he is joining Aogiri and leaves. At the end of the episode you get to see him walking off with the Aogiri higher ups in his new outfit. 

Animation: 9.5/10 - The studio definitely took the time needed to make it look all kinds of pretty but, they had so many opportunities to do just that throughout episode one. Censorship isn't really an animation issue but, I did appreciate the fact they did not make a third of the screen black to censor gore this time around when it wasn't necessary. My second biggest complaint is the opening song animation, it may have been really artsy but, for me it was very stale and as I'll touch on in sound I may be biased because I really enjoyed season 1's opening. My biggest complaint for this episode animation wise is they reused some scenes on different backgrounds, which is economical but, it was extremely noticeable on Kaneki's feet. (which I know the creator is very big on symbolism and that could very well have been something symbolic that I didn't care to look for at the time or it was just to save money... who knows >_>)

Little side note: I have heard that the illistrations for the ending were done by Ishida and they were great.

Sound: 9/10 for me personally I really enjoyed the OP for season 1 and I didn't feel like this OP was on the same level. As for the ending theme, it was brilliant in comparison to the OP was for me. I did enjoy the quality of the audio quality throughout the episode however, what really set it for me was the music that played towards the 16 minute mark and especially the music used as Kaneki walks away from Touka. 

Character Development: 7.5/10 - So honestly I feel as the series goes on this score will go up, one of the things I touched on in story was that we were given the ends of a bunch of strings in this episode.  Some of those characters new, some old, and some new leads on old characters... 

We did get to see Hide again though it was more of, "Oh by the way, he's not dead"

As it stood Kaneki didn't say much and hadn't really changed much at all from the last time we saw him but, when he did speak I feel for anime only veiwers they will enjoy it, especially the "Shut up and listen. I'm talking" scene. (I will mention here that because, I am a manga reader I couldn't get 100% enjoyment out of this scene because it just didn't feel as intense as the manga and the following scene where Kaneki "half-kills" Ayato and breaks 103 of his bones just wasn't there which since the anime was feeling fairly on track to the manga at the points leading up to that was a big let down for me but, like I said no points taken off for manga stuff)

Kaneki does tell Touka that he won't go back with them, he instead is joining Aogiri and at the end of the episode you get to see him in his new outfit leaving a room full of corpses with Aogiri members. We also get to see the "one eye'd owl"/"one eye'd king" play with some of the CCG's top soldiers. 

For the ending you see the Doctor and his daughters and the clowns towards the end. Well you get to see the daughters, the Doctor is kinda hidden in the shadows.

Enjoyment: 9/10 - I couldn't really separate this portion of the scoring with the animation and the manga fully, what I mean by this is I am a fan of the original story so seeing more interest in the story(even if it's not what I remember) is nice for me. 

That being said, I found myself looking at how much time was left during the episode when scenes would change, not because it was dragging on but, because I did know what to expect(to a point) and I wanted to see just how far they would get in one episode. 

Overall: 9/10 - Overall I honestly feel if I had only come from the anime and I had continued on into this season, I would have enjoyed it but, the score for enjoyment would probably have been around an 8. The fighting scenes looked wonderful and I think the viewers after watching Kaneki vs Jason in episode 12 of season 1 really will appreciate seeing much anticipated fight scenes in this episode. 

rahul.mckenzie - 2015-01-09 00:54:06

Well it's here folks, the long awaited sequel to the great Tokyo Ghoul. Last series/ season ended off right in the middle of the good stuff, and I can honestly say this season(?) definitely alleviates a ton of my questions and concerns with what happens. 
I've already read through the entirety of the manga, however as clearly stated (you can tell the anime isn't based off the manga right off the bat) everything kicks off quickly, it moves so fast in fact I'm sometimes unable to keep up, but from yet another 12 episode anime, you have to expect it to have a fast pace. 

So far from seeing episode one of Tokyo Ghoul √A, my ratings (basing this off of last season and the first episode of this season) would be as follows.

Story

7.5/10 - The story really kicks off into a crazy bat shit storm of awesome, a ton of new plot points are introduced and you're thrown into a spiral of "WTF IS THAT AWESOMENESS" right off the bat. However the reason it didn't score higher is because if you hadn't seen the original Tokyo Ghoul you'd be completely lost on anyone, they don't even attempt to reintroduce previous characters (as a new season/ series should do).

Sound

9/10 - The sound is definitely a ton mark on this production, the audio is always epic and the easy to understand. Never a dull moment I suppose. Nothing else to say about it really, except it's pretty impressive.

Character Development

8.5/10 - Alright this one's a rather important one for me actually, and from seeing the first episode I can clearly see the main character Kaneki has been through some crazy shit, and he's definitely "evolved" as an individual. I'm not sure if that's a good evolution or not, but it's definitely something.

Animation

9.5/10 - This is one of the strongest points for this anime thus far, I'm super impressed with the animation and video quality. Almost any shot could easily be turned into a high definition screenshot/ background for your desktop, and you're always shown the sheer epic-ness and scale of the battles at hand. Even the slow moments seem to be manually made and well done, I took a few screenshots throughout the episode and can't wait to replace my monitor's desktop image. 

Enjoyment

9/10 - I've been waiting for this anime to come out since I finished the original Tokyo Ghoul and decided to read through the manga in it's entirety in a single night... that was one hell of a night, if I do say so myself. Even after the long wait for this sequel, it comes in beautifully and seems like it belongs. I loved the first episode and it's completely made me psychotic once again, I currently can't wait to see what my dear Kaneki gets himself into this time.

Overall

9/10 - Overall I would have to score this anime (based completely off the first episode) a nine out of ten, merely for it's sheer epic-ness in battles and the way you're thrown back into the story. Without any spoilers, I can honestly say this anime really doesn't follow the manga, which in my opinion is a good thing because for anyone who's read the manga would know it sort of gets distracted. Still one of the best anime/ manga I've ever seen in many years, this is a must watch if you've seen the previous Tokyo Ghoul.