12.23
A lot of people watched Toyko Ghoul √A this year. I was not one of those people. I just didn’t care. And unlike Gakkou Garashi, which I regret having skipped out on during its initial run earlier in the year, I have no such regrets regarding the ghouls of this urban fantasy. Can I understand why people would love this show? Yes. Do I myself give two shits about this show? No. Non, et je ne regrette rien.
The root premise of both the Toyko Ghoul series is beautifully simple: there are humans. There are ghouls. Ghouls eat humans. Humans hate being eaten. Both species just want to chill and live life, but that whole “can only eat people” thing causes tension. It’s simple, but it is a pretty cool idea. And in some episodes, it can be cool watching both our ghoul and human protagonists try and juggle normal lives of going to work or attending book signings and dealing with the whole “war is just around the corner” thing. But…okay, I’m going to be frank with you guys. I wrote that first paragraph after watching the show a few days ago and I had a whole rant planned out at the time, but I just realized something very important: I don’t remember jack about this show. I’m serious, I watched four random episodes in a row a few days ago. And now all I can remember are pieces involving some called Owl, an old man, gangs with masks, and this one dude having a mental breakdown because he can’t see his friend anymore. And therein lies what might be the biggest fault of this show for me; in the moment, it can be a stupid and confusing ride. But in the aftermath, it was just something boring and forgettable to watch before Marquis and I skipped off to watch and riff on something else. I watched the final episode of Gurren Lagann only once, back in 2011, and I can still remember every plot beat that happened there, down to the final scene. I remember early bits of dialogue from Bleedman’s Grim Tales from Down Below, the incestuous subtext quickly becoming just text, and I haven’t touched that webcomic since middle school. I watched Toyko Ghoul √A on the 18th, and I remember…what? A really bad OP? So screw complaining about how stupid the show can get, or how much it bothers me that a 22-year-old male sounds and looks like your classic yandere chick. No, this show’s biggest crime is that, it bores me too much for my brain to jumpstart early-phase LTP and move it to long-term memory. Now if you excuse me, I have to catch up on One Punch Man.