Tokyo Ghoul S was very entertaining with a memorable villain.

 

My quest to find the best live-action adaptations of manga took me back to the 2017 Tokyo Ghoul movie. After thoroughly enjoying looking back at that particular adaptation, especially Masakata Kubota's performance as Ken Kaneki, I thought that it'd only be fair and right to finally watch the sequel, Tokyo Ghoul S. For whatever reason, perhaps it was the mixed reception that it received at the time, I put off watching the follow-up for quite some time. In fact, I make this blog post after having seen it for the very first time. I now wish that I hadn't put it off for so long as I was pleasantly surprised. 

Picking up where the previous movie left off, Ken Kaneki is a little more confident, but still adapting somewhat to his life as a half-human, half-ghoul. Whilst Kaneki works at Anteiku and trains in private with Touka Kirishima, a ghoul by the name of Shu Tsukiyama, known for his unique palette, choosing only what he deems the finest of human flesh and eyeballs, causes a bit of a stir when he gouges out the eyes of model Margaret. He eats the model's eyeballs and then tosses the poor soul straight out of her window. Following this, he takes a trip to Anteiku, greeted with coldness by Touka, only to have a chance encounter with Kaneki. Meeting Kaneki sets Shu's culinary senses off and the eccentric ghoul becomes obsessed with eating our poor protagonist. Naturally, this sets the duo on a collision course that also sees Touka and Nishino, a former antagonist from the first movie, get involved. 

The first thing of note is the fact that Tokyo Ghoul S had a change of director. For whatever reason, Kentaro Hagiwara did not return and instead was replaced by the duo of Kazuhiko Hiramaki and Takuya Kawasaki. This is the only work that I have found listed on their credits and that's surprising as they did a fantastic job for a first time job in the director's chair. The cinematography is fantastic, with a fabulous blend of static and moving shots filled with close-ups, mid-range and wide-angles. A wide variety of techniques are also used in conjunction with some snazzy editing to breath life into the world. My favourite shots are all in the very late stages of the movie, wide angles and over the shoulder shots that showcase Touka's beautiful Kagune. 

I will say that the decision to cover the Gourmet arc was a ballsy one. It's not the most extensive arc in the manga by far and it showed in the choppiness of the story told within the confines of the movie. There's enough of a plot to keep viewers hooked, but there are also concessions made in order to keep it at a decent runtime. A lot of time is spent simply setting up the confrontation that is to come between Kaneki and Shu. 

What was pleasant was the elements of gore that weren't shied away from. Whilst we don't exactly see Margaret's eyes being gouged out, we do get a good glimpse of the aftermath with her still alive after Shu has taken her eyes. Then, there's some rather nasty, but fun Ghoul meals being served at a fancy restaurant, complete with a demonstration of the cutting of the meat. Human meat. 

I must say that I quite enjoyed the action sequences. Even though there was some extremely obvious wire work, I mean it was quite literally impossible not to notice, it wasn't too off-putting because these are Ghouls and not humans fighting. With the characters being non-humans, I can forgive the heavy usage of wire-work, even if it's not my personal preference. Action director Makoto Yokoyama had worked extensively on the Super Sentai series and that experience lent itself quite well to Tokyo Ghoul S. He designed some quite lovely multi-combatant fight sequences that showcased some unique offense, including one lone fighter using his opponents to harm each other. What stuck out was the fact that the Kagune was used much more sparingly than in the previous movie, something which might be down to them simply having less budget. 

Masakata Kubota once again nailed the role of Ken Kaneki. This time around, there's a subtle difference in the character as he has more of an understanding about Ghouls and the world around him. Still he gets freaked out by certain things that he cannot comprehend in a suitable manner and the antagonist, Shu, provides plenty of that. I'm still a little upset that his hair is black and not white though, that was unfortunate. 

Speaking of Shu Tsukiyama, Shota Matsuda was simply fantastic in the role. He was delightfully creepy, yet fittingly menacing. Every scene he was involved in was a joy to watch and he looked like he had a ton of fun with the character and material. He did seem like a suitable physical threat and exuded a sense of danger at all times. Like with Kaneki, Shota Matsuda's Shu has a more realistic hair style and colour. Much more natural looking black with shades of purple rather than full on purple. His Kagune was very cool looking though. 

Interestingly, the role of Touka Kirishima was given to Maika Yamamoto after prior actress Fumika Shimizu temporarily retired from acting and changed agencies thanks to her involvement in the controversial Happy Science Religion. Whilst it is quite sad to have an actress replaced, Maika Yamamoto made for a more than adequate replacement, excelling in the action sequences and being given material that made the character a little more likable. 

Shunya Shiraishi returned as Nishiki Nishio, a ghoul that was a minor antagonist in the previous movie. This time around, he was a much more likable and sympathetic character with it being revealed that he had a secret human lover, Kimi Nishino. Along with Mai Kiryu's wonderful performance, the duo give the movie a human quality and a small hope that both ghouls and humans can really co-exist. 

Overall, I think that after having watched both Tokyo Ghoul live-action movies, I actually prefer the sequel. Shocking, I know, but it gripped me just that bit more with it having a far better, much more memorable villain in the Gourmet, Shu Tsukiyama. Masakata Kubota and Shota Matsuda's performances alone are worth giving the movie a try and the action sequences aren't bad either. I would recommend it for sure.