Tokyo Ghoul: re Part 2|Episode 2 Review
Alright. I bitched and whined about episode 1 but here I am. Back to talk some more about this show. I just feel like I’ve invested so much time energy… and money into this series that I can’t turn my back on it. I have no thought in the back of my mind telling me that it will get better, I just have to work with the hand I was dealt. Let’s jump right into episode 2.
We come back to where we left off with episode 1: Kaneki came to save Hinami and so did Touka, Ayato, and Yomo. During this rescue mission, Touka, Ayato, and Yomo find themselves having to fight the one and only Arima. During this battle, we learn that Yomo is Touka and Ayato’s uncle and Arima killed their mother. WOT. Others may be less shocked than me about this but I was pretty surprised. The background story felt very light and not as impactful as intended but I can still appreciate it. I just wish we got more time to sit with all the information. We also come back to Kaneki who encounters the bizarre, Furuta. During this encounter, Hinami strikes him down… Or so we thought. To help Hinami and the others to escape, Kaneki has to end his last mission by fighting Arima and likely lose(well, that’s the Haise in him that believes this). We then end the episode with Kaneki disarming Arima to the point where he cannot kill Kaneki but since Kaneki won’t hurt Arima, he decides to kill himself. Oh, and his hair is white again. Also, Eto comes out and fights just to be defeated by Furuta who we learn is also a one-eyed ghoul who has Rize’s Kagune.
Like episode 1… a lot happened in episode 2. Too much to really take a beat and figure out what is going on. This was still miles better than episode 1 in my opinion. Stylistically there were some pretty cool scenes, we got to see Hide again and you get to see the pure brotherly love that’s between Hide and Kaneki on screen again. This was a much better send-off for Hide than Kaneki walking down the street with his body for 2 minutes. I do want to see what is going to happen now that Arima is gone. He was the big boss for the series for a long time and I just want to see the kind of threat that will come next for the ghouls.
As much as it’s nice to see Kaneki with the white hair again, it just didn’t make me feel anything when it happened. Not like the moment when it first turned white at the end of Season 1. Also back then it was less some spiritual thing and more of something you can actually explain. Kaneki got tortured over and over and the stress caused his hair to turn white. I’M NOT SAYING THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED but it just makes sense, that’s all. His hair turned black. Do we know why? Not really? Then his hair turned back to white? What the hell. Oh yeah and now we learn as a child his hair is white? I need to read the manga. I have so many questions.
I would give this season a solid 6 right now. Mostly because of the pacing. Because the pacing is what it is, we are seeing a huge dip in story quality or just a lack of seeing how the story was intended to be told. It’s unfortunate but I will keep watching this series and be the person who confirms that the anime is still bad OR if it took a turn and became something amazing. Doubt it.