Following up 2017’s Tokyo Ghoul; arguably the best live-action anime adaptation to date, comes Tokyo Ghoul S, originally released in 2019 in Japan.
In this sequel, the story follows the “Gourmet Arc” from the source material as Ken Kaneki (the returning Masataka Kubota) who, having just got to grips with his Ghoul powers, faces his toughest challenge yet in the suave and sadistic Shuu Tsukiyama (aka the Gourmet) as he vows to feast on Kaneki’s flesh.
What made the first film so enjoyable was how faithful it was to the source material – and this sequel is no different. The characters that fans love are back and better than ever; Kubota and Yamamoto’s performances as Kaneki and Touka respectively are superb with their compelling chemistry on full display (even with Yamamoto replacing the original actor who portrayed Touka) – and Shota Matsuda as the Gourmet steals the show in every single scene he’s in.
One of the biggest issues with its predecessor was the at-times lacklustre CGI when it came to the Ghoul’s Kagune, however, with a larger budget, a lot of the CGI has been vastly improved, especially during the battle scenes. Speaking of the action set-pieces, this instalment, unfortunately, dropped the ball with comparatively less focus on action against the first instalment. Alongside that, the pacing of this sequel was dramatically different as the centre of attention was firmly on the more personal dramatic aspect of some of the minor characters and moments that felt out of place, meaning that the 100-minute runtime felt laboured; whereas the 2017 film with a longer runtime moved along at a wonderfully realised rate to keep you engaged.
Tokyo Ghoul S pales in comparison to the first instalment but is still a solid sequel that is entertaining and well directed. Even with its issues, it is still a comprehensible narrative with well-constructed characters and beautiful set-pieces but fans of the original and its source material will be hoping that the inevitable third part of the franchise will be much stronger.
Tokyo Ghoul S is available on ScreenAnime from April 25th 2021 until May 25th 2021
