Putting my resolutions to the test, I see.
Last week, I resolved to ignore any and all feelings I had towards the manga and just enjoy the anime on it’s own terms. And last episode made me think that that would be okay–beyond superficial changes to tone, the only gripe I had was the slightly strange pacing and the cobbling together of two distinct narratives, but even that was understandable. Mostly.
Except what they’ve done with this episode has made me question my resolve. These aren’t just stylistic issues now, or issues I have that could be justified by the absolutely ridiculous one cour limit they’ve been given. This is essentially fitting a whole entire arc into one episode–and in the process cutting out a lot of things that would have been important and plot relevant, if not for the…whole…one episode thing going on here.
The biggest gripe I would have, and that a lot of people have complained about, is how Kaneki was way too gullible here–falling for a ruse that was nearly identical to that of Rize’s? And typically I’d like to refrain from spoiling people on the manga, but here is where I draw the line: (spoilers that might affect your enjoyment of this episode except NOT REALLY) that is completely, absolutely not how it happened at all.
In the manga, Kaneki has agency. He is suspicious of Tsukiyama right from the start, and due to other plot reasons he agrees to follow Tsukiyama knowing full well that something fishy is going on. He does not follow him around blindly despite hints the size of an anvil being dropped on him. Heck, he doesn’t even drink the bloody coffee–they have to use gas to paralyse him. And the training with Yomo? They cut it all out–including Touka’s involvement in it–and thus all the character development is, in one fell swoop, effectively gone. Him reading up and practicing martial arts, putting up a solid fight in that last battle scene and not needing to be saved by Tsukiyama–these are all damn important details. He’s our main character for crying out loud; why would you do him this disservice?
See, this is sort of just one major plot hole–it’s unbelievable how stupid Kaneki is acting this episode, and that’s because, yeah, he isn’t supposed to be acting this way. And to be honest, I don’t think it was necessary–all the elements I mentioned above could’ve been added in with ease, and the story would have proceeded exactly how it did this episode. Sure, they’d have to tweak the pacing and all, but it could have happened quite easily (and maybe in the process, they would have realised just how bad an idea it was to try and do all of this in twenty five minutes).
So what we have now is a protagonist who seems markedly less self-aware and sensible than the source material calls for him to be. What this affects is first of all how he proceeds to react to the next turn of events–what will they tweak in the Hinami arc? Will they (heaven forbid) cut it out completely? It also adversely affects how anime-only viewers take him as a character; I’ve mentioned before that the “Shinji Ikari syndrome” is going strong in fandoms even today, and after this episode? I won’t be happy, but I won’t be surprised.
The fact is that even considering Kaneki’s loneliness and confusion, some of the decisions he made in this episode without the original plot to back him up are just inexcusably dim-witted. And what a shame that is–this arc was one of the defining points in his characterisation, where he stops being willing to be pushed around in an unfamiliar situation, and starts to take matters in his own hands by being logical, determined and hard-working. Instead, we get a Kaneki that, in a way, was necessitated by the skipping of one whole arc that took place before the Gourmet arc; a Kaneki that hasn’t quite yet come to terms with his situation, and is thus far more naive than I would like.
If we ignore everything I’ve just written though, this episode was….fairly good. A bit jarring, given how over the top it is–the past few episodes haven’t been the beacon of subtlety, but it was far more introspective (it’s Tsukiyama’s suit. It’s the suit. Definitely the suit).This episode is OTT all around–I think Tsukiyama kind of just cemented that–but it’s not in a particularly bad way.
It does give us more insight into ghoul society, proving that there is a social strata–high school student Touka evidently isn’t on the same level as people with elevators in their chandeliers. A peek into the more depraved side of life by ghoul standards is also interesting–Uta mentioned cannibalism last episode (and a random extra casually mentions that he’s “not into” it), but here ghouls gather for a gourmet feast, to be entertained by their future prey fighting it out like gladiators in a coliseum. They aren’t just mindless, pesky monsters hunting for flesh–they drink champagne and spout random foreign words in a perfect stereotype of the upper crust–and this episode really drives that home.
We also get a look at Itori, who played a much bigger role in the manga, so I’m still stewing about her and will refrain from commenting. Itori’s bar looked pretty cool, and the implication that she sold blood instead of wine–yeah, I give them that.
Tsukiyama is a…well, for a better word, he’s an eclectic addition to the cast. Arguably just as insane as Rize, he’s a walking fashion disaster with a penchant for some really nice human meat (if you can’t tell, he’s one of my favourites–my questionable tastes strikes again). There’s not much to talk about him this episode–they took away a lot of the more, if I may, subtleties that came with his character; he wasn’t a character explored in depth to begin with, but here he’s just a glaring caricature. Still, he’s entertaining, and Mamoru Miyano’s performance here is so spot-on, melodramatic in the best way that Mamo is capable of.
Plus, I didn’t think it was possible, but the homoerotic subtext he has going on with Kaneki seems even stronger in the anime than I thought it could become. Which makes this episode even more ridiculous in that, yes, this is the exact same trick Rize pulled on you Kaneki even down to the flirting so why.
The writing, if you ignore the gaping plot holes, was generally solid. Not as good as the first three episodes–it’s the sudden change in tone, I think, and the attempt at build-up after cutting out most of your foundation–but in terms of pacing there wasn’t much amiss if I judged this episode as a standalone. In fact, this episode does have it’s certain charm; the best way I can describe it is very Kuroshitsuji-esque, if marginally smarter.
But I think that, in the episodes to come, I’ll continuously come back to the same problem, and that is separating the adaptation from the work as is. It’s not even the same problem I had with Mekakucity Actors–a disappointing adaptation and a disappointing show in itself I can learn to handle and make fun of, but when the anime itself isn’t all that bad? That’s a pretty tough spot that I’m left in, and I approach next week with not a small amount of caution.
