TOKYO GHOUL: THE MOVIE (2017)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *metaphysical, psychological, sociological*

This was the first of two live-action adaptations of the popular manga, previously adapted to a three-season anime.  The first one adapts much of the original manga’s first arc, which also comprised the first anime season. I have no information on the second movie. But since later arcs in the anime are full of a lot of special FX—not hard to execute in animation, but considerably more expensive in a live-action movie—I don’t know how the second movie could have handled that content without a much bigger budget than the first film.

The FX of TOKYO GHOUL are the weakest aspect of the movie; whenever Kaneki and his fellow ghouls attempt to manifest their powers, the film tries to get by with unconvincing mock-ups that are supposed to represent the projection of supernatural energies, or something like that. However, though the first season of the anime is good as far as representing the dilemma of its hero, the GHOUL live-action movie surpasses the cartoon, thanks to the efforts of the actor playing the young human-turned-ghoul, Masataka Kubota. Equally good in her support role as Kaneki’s potential girlfriend Tokha is Fumika Shimizu, playing a ghoul who, unlike the hero, has never had the ordinary experiences of eating human food and who bitterly resents her limitations.

Despite the FX-limitations, GHOUL THE MOVIE succeeds in many of its violent, visceral scenes, and because the cast is small, the viewer isn’t forced to deal with the overwhelming ensemble that dominates the anime’s later seasons. I haven’t read the manga, but noticed one scene not present in the anime. Kaneki, normally a peaceful person, finds it hard to endure the dangerous life of a ghoul. He finally asks the dour Tokha, who’s demonstrated her fighting abilities to him, to train him—and what results is a montage of torturous rigors designed by Tokha to break him of his peace-loving ways, unless his body gives out first. Kaneki survives the training and ends up triumphing over his final opponent as a result, though of course the narrative leaves things open for further developments.