Cast of Tokyo Ghoul Stage Play in Full Costume Revealed

©石田スイ／集英社 ©舞台『東京喰種トーキョーグール』製作委員会

The official website for the stage play adaptation of Sui Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul manga recently revealed the names of the cast, led by Yūki Ogoe who will portray the manga’s protagonist Ken Kaneki. And just last week, the website also updated its visuals of the cast in their costumes!

Yūki Ogoe as Ken Kaneki

Aya Tabata as Tōka Kirishima

Shōgo Suzuki as Nishiki Nishio

Shūto Miyazaki as Hideyoshi Nagachika

Yuri Hamada as Rize Kamishiro

Mitsu Murata as Uta

Tomokazu Yoshida as Renji Yomo

Yoshitaka Yamagami as Yamori

Masaaki Okuno as Asaki Fueguchi

Yūki Kimisawa as Kōtarō Amon

Jiyū Arima as Kureo Madō

Tadayoshi Katō as Yoshimura

The show, which will be directed by Isamu Kayano, will take place at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo from July 2-8 and at the Kyōto Gekijō from July 18-20.

Tokyo Ghoul was first published on Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2011 and it recently concluded last year. A sequel  entitled Tokyo Ghoul:re has been serialized by Shueisha in addition to Sui Ishida’s prequel story Tokyo Ghoul: JACK. An anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot was aired in 2014. The 12-episode series is then followed by Tokyo Ghoul √A. The second season started its broadcast in January this year and concluded in March.

(©Sui Ishida/Shueisha/Tokyo Ghoul Stage Play Production Committee)

Tokyo Ghoul √A Ep. 12 – “Ken” (Summary)

“Kaneki, thanks for going all-out trying to save me back then.” ©Pierrot

When Kaneki wakes up, he finds himself inside Anteiku, where his friend Hideyoshi greets him with a cup of coffee. Kaneki tries to cover his left eye, but he is surprised to learn that Hide already knows that he is the “eyepatch” ghoul. His friend even thanks him for saving him when he was beaten by Nishio before. Regardless of his new identity, Hide still considers him as his best friend and his impression of him didn’t change at all. However, their conversation gets cut when Hide suddenly collapses on his own pool of blood. It turns out that he is injured because of the raid and as his consciousness starts to drift away, he asks Kaneki to go home together.

©Pierrot

Outside the coffee shop, the remaining officers aid their colleagues and rescue those who survived the battle. Kuroiwa is severely injured, but Shinohara is still unconscious and is in a much more critical condition. Marude calls Koutarou Amon, but there is no answer from him. The cold night turns fiery as the sky is filled with sparks from the fire that devours Anteiku. Touka cries as she sees the cafe getting burned, but she also gets surprised when Kaneki comes out of the building carrying someone covered in white sheets. She tries to chase him but Renji Yomo stops her as part of the final order given to him by Yoshimura. They silently watch as Kaneki walks in the middle of the snow-covered road filled with corpses of ghouls and officers who died in the battle. Everyone just stares at him as he carries the lifeless body of his friend Hideyoshi. After he puts him down, Arima walks to him and takes his suitcase, implying that a battle between him and the CCG reaper ensues.

©Pierrot

©Pierrot

The next day, Arima is shown standing still in the middle of the snow-clad road with his quinque stuck in the ground, and Kaneki is nowhere to be seen. The episode concludes with a time skip after the Anteiku raid where Touka opens her own coffee shop and begins a new chapter of her life.

“All right. Let’s do this.” ©Pierrot

Tokyo Ghoul √A Ep. 11 – “Deluge of Flowers” (Summary)

The appearance of the real One-Eyed Owl catches the investigators off guard, which results to their quick defeat. Just when the ghoul is about to strike Juuzou, Shinohara shields his subordinate, receiving the deadly blow instead. Juuzou, upon seeing the bloodied form of Shinohara, continues to fight the enemy but he fails to injure it. Just then, Arima finally arrives and he immediately attacks the Owl.

©Pierrot

Akira Mado is commanded by Yoshitoki Washuu to assist the 4th Division Squad led by Koutarou Amon who is already fighting with Ken Kaneki. Tatara flings Seidou to Noro after he refuses to tell the whereabouts of Hoji. The other Aogiri members, including Ayato and Naki, also participate in the clash between the doves and ghouls.

©Pierrot

The One-Eyed Owl swallows the unconscious body of Yoshimura before fleeing after Arima starts to overpower her. It is then revealed that Takatsuki Sen is Eto, who is also known as the One-Eyed Owl of Aogiri.

©Pierrot

Both Kaneki and Amon suffer from heavy injuries as their battle comes to an end. Kaneki loses consciousness for a while but when he wakes up, he finds himself in Anteiku, where he is greeted by his best friend, Hideyoshi.

©Pierrot

 

 

Tokyo Ghoul √A Ep. 10 – “Last Rain” (Summary)

The raid in the 20th ward continues as the CCG officers and the Anteiku ghouls fight each other. Koma and Irimi have the upper hand at first, but they are eventually defeated by Tanakamaru and Hachikawa. However, just before they are completely killed by the doves, Ken Kaneki arrives and rescues them. He is seen by Touka and Hideyoshi when he returns to the battle where he encounters Koutaro Amon and the 4th division squad.

©Pierrot

Yoshimura, on the other hand, is surrounded by several special class ghoul investigators and their associates. Yukinori Shinohara, Iwao Kuroiwa, Juuzou Suzuya, Koori Ui and Kousuke Houji attack the One-Eyed Owl simultaneously, and even with his quick regenerating abilities, the ghoul suffers heavy injuries until he is completely subdued.

©Pierrot

The CCG officers rejoice after successfully defeating their biggest enemy, but before they can even strike their final blow, the real One-Eyed Owl appears, and the investigators are suddenly caught off guard.

©Pierrot

Tokyo Ghoul √A Ep. 6 – “Thousand Paths” (Summary)

Yukinori Shinohara gets discharged from the hospital after sustaining some injuries during his fight with Kaneki, who is still having a hard time controlling the kakuja that he gained from cannibalizing other ghouls. Back in the CCG office, Seidou Takizawa invites Koutarou Amon to eat out, and the latter asks his partner Akira Mado to come with them.

“It appears that your report was incomplete, so please come back to the office at once and work on it.” ©Pierrot

However, Akira ends up getting drunk, and she begins to let out her pent-up emotions as she blames Amon for the death of his father. Amon himself feels responsible for Kureo Mado’s demise, and upon seeing Akira’s suffering, he vows to himself that he will protect her. He then starts to do some training until he reaches his limit the next morning after he executes more than 7,000 push-ups.

“I’m kidding. Eat up.” ©Pierrot

A short background story about Juuzo Suzuya is also shown. It turns out that he was raised as a pet by a ghoul called “Big Madam” who trained him as a scrapper in the ghoul restaurant. Because of the way he was treated and the environment where he grew up, Rei, who is later called Juuzo, developed an erratic and violent behavior without any apparent sense of pain. Big Madam’s hideout was then raided by the CCGs who took custody of Juuzo. The child’s skills were deemed useful by the officers, that is why he was trained to become a CCG investigator alongside Shinohara who has always shown him affection and sympathy for the kind of life that he had from the hands of the ghoul.

“The boy had no other choice but to live that way, right? I consider him to be a victim.” ©Pierrot

Towards the end of the episode, several CCG investigators and high-ranking officials are seen attending a conference led by Yoshitoki Washuu. He commands the Owl Suppression Unit and gives them the task of locating the Owl and Aogiri’s base before hunting them down as part of their extermination campaign.

©Pierrot

Tokyo Ghoul √A Ep. 5 – “Rift” (Summary)

The battle between the ghouls and the CCG investigators in Cochlea escalates as both parties suffer a lot of casualties. Juuzo Suzuya confronts his former academy classmates who are now ghouls. He nonchalantly stabs Kurona repeatedly, without giving her time to heal herself. When Nashiro tries to attack Juuzo, the latter easily slashes her, forcing Kurona to flee with her twin.

“Next, I’ll take apart what’s precious to you, Ghoul Kurona…” ©Pierrot

Meanwhile, Ayato incessantly assaults Shinohara as fragments of his childhood memories with his father flash before him. However, Shinohara overpowers him and before Ayato is completely killed by the CCG investigator, Kaneki intercepts and attacks the enemy using his new kakuja. His transformation makes him lose control of his sanity as he maniacally assails Shinohara with his incredible speed, enabling him to overwhelm the investigator. While the battle continues between Houji and Tatara, the ghoul facility center suddenly emits CRC gas as the alarm goes off. Tatara simply walks away as the whole area is clouded in smoke.

Shinohara: “Of all the ghouls I’ve ever faced, you’re the craziest one yet.” ©Pierrot

Koutarou Amon runs into the Yasuhisa twins while he is aiding Akira Mado who was bitten by Naki on the leg. Amon instantly recognizes the ghouls who used to be trainees in the CCG academy. But upon seeing him, Kurona quickly avoids him and runs away together with her injured sister. Amidst the haze, Amon notices Kaneki cannibalizing on what appears to be Shinohara’s Arata armor. The scene infuriates Amon, who first assumed that the “eyepatch” was different from the other ghouls. He attacks Kaneki and cuts off his kagune and kakuja. Amon’s words snap Kaneki back to his senses, and he sheds some tears as he tells the CCG investigator that he doesn’t want to eat anymore. That moment, the One-Eyed Owl appears and retrieves Ayato and Kaneki, leaving the CCG investigators in the ghoul detention center as it flies away.

©Pierrot

Tokyo Ghoul √A Ep. 3 – “Hangman” (Summary)

Kaneki and Ayato, together with the other ghouls, attack a CCG police van to rescue Naki, who is devastated upon discovering the death of his boss, Yamori. However, he is not aware that it was Kaneki who defeated Yamori, and he even thanks him for teaching him how to write his boss’ name and proceeds to call him a good guy.

©Pierrot

“Hey, did you hear? About that new guy, the eyepatch. They say that he ate Mr. Yamori. Apparently, he cannibalized him.” ©Pierrot

Hinami attends Takatsuki Sen’s book signing event, in which she asks the author to write Kaneki Ken’s name in the book since she plans to give it to him as a present. Nishiki, on the other hand, briefly tours Touka in Kamii University before leaving her all by herself to meet his girlfriend Kimi. Touka continues to walk around the area until she spots a poster of Kaneki on the school’s bulletin board. She also meets Hideyoshi Nagachika and they briefly talk about Kaneki who is missing. After the short conversation, Hide returns to his work as a messenger in CCG where he surreptitiously acquires information about the “eyepatched ghoul” from Seidou.

©Pierrot

Juuzou Suzuya finally obtains his new quinque and names it Juuzou’s Jason. Kousuke Houji and his partner Seidou Takizawa present a report to him, Amon, Mado and Shinohara regarding their discovery. Their investigation points out the accident that happened months ago, where a man received an organ transplant from a deceased woman without his consent. They figure out the young man to be Kaneki Ken from Kamii University, who has gone missing after the surgery.

Seidou: “The young man’s name is Kaneki Ken. He was a student who went to Kamii University.” ©Pierrot

Tokyo Ghoul √A Ep. 2 – “Dancing Flowers” (Summary)

The beginning of the episode shows a brief recollection during the first battle of CCG against the One-eyed Owl. Kureo Mado and Yukinori Shinohara were faced with the overwhelming strength of the ghoul, but it was Kishou Arima who rushed headlong into battle with the enemy.

©Pierrot

The scene is cut and the setting resumes to the present time where the high-ranking CCG investigators are having a conference. They discuss the situation regarding the Aogiri group and its connection with the “eye-patched” ghoul. After the meeting, Shinohara and Iwao express their opinion about the apparent changes with the One-Eyed Owl during their first encounter with him compared to the most recent one.

Shinohara formally introduces Akira Mado as Koutarou Amon’s new partner. Akira is the daughter of Kureo Mado and the rival of Seidou Takizawa who is her classmate from the Academy. She presents her accurate deductions concerning the ghouls such as the binge eater, the Gourmet and the Aogiri Tree to Amon, Suzuya, Shinohara, Seidou and Houji.

Poor Amon. XD ©Pierrot

Touka, on the other hand, spends most of her time studying for the entrance exam to get in Kamii University. The staff of Anteiku are also busy preparing for the opening of the cafe after it was closed during their fight with Aogiri. Uta, Itori and Yomo visit the coffee shop to celebrate its reinstatement together with Touka, Hinami, Nishio, Yoshimura, Koma and Irimi.

©Pierrot

Meanwhile, Kaneki continues to work with Aogiri with Ayato as his partner. Towards the end of the episode, Eto is seen entering a room and undressing her bandages. The lower part of her face is shown as she smiles while uttering the name of Kaneki.

©Pierrot

Tokyo Ghoul (Review)

You see, I only began reading the manga last week after I finished watching the anime. The last episode was a total cliffhanger so I decided to read the series especially when I found out that it already concluded. Be warned, though. This post contains some spoilers (if you haven’t read the manga yet) and some possible long rants lol.  Yosh! Let’s start!

Source: http://youngjump.jp/tokyoghoul/

The first few chapters of the manga reminded me of the scenes in the anime although I instantly recognized the parts that were a little bit altered. Since the first season of the anime was too short, I couldn’t completely connect with the characters that much. But with the manga, I was able to establish a more in-depth understanding of them, especially of the protagonist, Ken Kaneki. The story is definitely tragic and more than half of the scenes are vicious and gory. (Therefore, this manga is not for the fainthearted!) As you may probably know, the story revolves around ghouls devouring humans and the protagonist here unfortunately ended up being a hybrid after a ghoul’s organs were transplanted into his body after a certain incident. He tried to suppress it at first, but he eventually learned to embrace his new self after getting help from other ghouls at Anteiku. However, after he was kidnapped and tortured by Jason, Ken began to drastically change. From being a timid and frail teenager, he suddenly turned into an atrocious ghoul who sought more power to protect those around him. He faced a lot of enemies, including the CCGs and Aogiri members. And that was where the climax of the story began.

This is probably a given due to the nature of the story, but still, I must definitely give all the action scenes an A+! Browsing through the pages of each chapter kept me at the edge of my seat since almost all chapters contain grisly images of ghouls and human being severed into pieces. These parts would definitely look more awesome in the anime adaptation, so I’m extremely hoping for a second season!

While reading each volume, I also developed a sense of connection with the characters, especially with Kaneki and Amon. There were also quite a handful of surprises that left me astounded, confused and depressed. Most of the characters were given some brief background details that explained their stance in the latter part of the story. Take, for example, the case of Suzuya. When he first appeared in the story, I ultimately despised him. But toward the last chapter, I suddenly found myself sympathizing with him. The character development of most characters were distinctly written that they’d make you change your impression toward a certain individual. You could never be certain whether the character was a heroine or a villain.

I had no particular problems with the story so far. Well, not until I reached the climax. The battle between the CCG and Anteiku ghouls was probably the best fight in the series. It also clarified some questions about Yoshimura and the One-Eyed Owl but other than that, the last chapter was a disappointment for me. Disappointing in a way that the ending didn’t particularly clear a lot of issues. In fact, several questions remained unanswered. Ishida-sensei did give some hints about some issues but they were too implicit for me to comprehend since I could only make assumptions about the ending. The way Kaneki died looked plain to me. I was expecting a more intense fight between him and Arima. Kaneki’s death was definitely tragic, but also upsetting at the same time since he didn’t even manage to deliver a fatal blow to the investigator. Kishou Arima also didn’t have a lot of scenes in the manga. No background story was given and the only thing I know about him is that he’s exceptionally good and apathetic. ( I also read the spin-off manga about him but so far, nothing really significant has been revealed about Arima.) Questions about Uta and his group Pierrot still haunt me as well. The body of Amon wasn’t also shown though he was presumed to be dead. Same with Kaneki’s friend, Hide. And what happened to Hinami and Rize? You see, I have a lot of questions and I’m not sure if I just missed some important details while reading but I would only be satisfied if the announcement regarding Ishida-san’s “surprise” would be about a sequel.

So if I have to rate it, I’d probably give it 7 out of 10 points. The peak of the story was truly gripping but the end of the series left me discontented.

This was like me after I finished reading the manga LOL