This article contains spoilers for anime adaptations and Tokyo Ghoul: re manga itself. If you are not up to date with both, we recommend you not read it so that it does not affect your experience.
Tokyo Ghoul: re is one of the best-selling manga of the past decade, but fans have been concerned since its adaptation was announced. Studio Pierrot, the studio responsible for the infamous Tokyo Ghoul √A, had already set a precedent for disappointing Tokyo Ghoul adaptations. And when the series began airing, fans' fears were justified: Tokyo Ghoul: re, like anime, was a disaster, and it somehow even fell below already-low expectations of viewers.
Predictably, the two seasons of this adaptation deviated from the source material, unfolding too quickly and irreparably altering the plot. Both were made with average-to-poor animation, lousy directed and practically unintelligible to fans who only followed the anime. Overall, Tokyo Ghoul: re is a strong enough candidate to be the worst anime of the past decade. But why did it go so wrong?
Chronicle of a tragedy
From the beginning, Studio Pierrot was operating irregularly. The last Tokyo Ghoul season aired at the time had been Tokyo Ghoul √A, in 2015. This latest season was detested by manga fans for the way it deviated from the source, condensed the source material, and featured a original ending. However, fans who were only following the anime series had no idea about this. Subsequently, to produce Tokyo Ghoul: re, Studio Pierrot decided to discard what was done in the last series and "return" to the original plot of the manga as if nothing had happened, which was a bad decision too. However, it left a huge chunk of fans quite confused on how things would turn out.
Accumulating bad expectations, this series had to cover 179 chapters of the manga in just 24 episodes. This was enough to further lower the low expectation for the series, as it confirmed that there would be omissions. In the first 12 episodes, the series omitted several important Kaneki moments, made some unexpected changes, and developed at a fairly fast pace. However, most agreed that the first part, in fact, was not bad enough. The first season ends with the Tsukiyama family extermination arc, and while it was a bit messy, it wasn't disastrous, either.
However, with the second half, Tokyo Ghoul: re hit rock bottom. From the beginning, almost a complete story arc was cut to fit directly into the Third Incursion arc to Cochlea Prison and the Operation arc in Kushima. Following this troubled start, Tokyo Ghoul: re continued with significant omissions, a terrible rhythm, and unique disappointing moments from the anime. It was so disastrous, that anime fans had to consult readers of the manga to explain details of the plot that had been omitted or that the series, perhaps, assumed was not necessary to explain. As with Tokyo Ghoul √A, fans were offended that Studio Pierrot had treated such a good manga so badly. However, it was clear that faithfully covering so many chapters in such a short time was an impossible task. In fact, the Tokyo Ghoul: re manga had already had a rather hasty ending on its own, so ruining it further was a pretty bad decision.
The poor production of Tokyo Ghoul: re
Let's remember that anime is a visual product, so animation matters a lot. Tokyo Ghoul √A may have ruined the overall animated series in regards to its plot, but it offered up-scale animation at some important moments in the series. There were some sublime, well-directed scenes and even some original moments that earned the love of fans. Instead, Tokyo Ghoul: re didn't feature any of this. With poor animation, a lack of detail, and fairly simple character designs, the anime rivaled the Berserk CG series in terms of even offensive work. Without exaggerating, the anime became more like a slide show at times, and even the faithfully adapted moments lost their impact in the face of such poor animation. Combined with disastrous direction (reflected in poor composition and transitions, etc.), adaptation fails in almost every evaluable aspect.
On the other hand, the Tokyo Ghoul: re soundtrack is perhaps their only point in their favor, as the original composer Yutaka Yamada returned to give the scenes of the series a bit of epicity. Unfortunately, their excellent soundtrack was not used and exploited as it should have been, as viewers listened to the battle theme "Symphonie" and various arrangements of the iconic track "Licht und Schatten" enough to get boring instead of epic. . Still, it's an excellent soundtrack to listen to independently. The same can be said of the opening songs, with “Asphyxia” by the band Co shu Nie and “Katharsis” by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure being two excellent songs.
The ravages of greed
It is common for animation studios to be overworked and, consequently, understaffed. This was what Studio Pierrot suffered when Tokyo Ghoul: re was in production, since he was already busy with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Black Clover and other series. It's unfortunate that Studio Pierrot has neglected both a series and Tokyo Ghoul (which at the time was its most popular adaptation). Something similar happened when Madhouse was busy enough to produce the second season of One Punch Man, delegating it to another studio. Tokyo Ghoul is a great source of income, for which Studio Pierrot's ambition prevented Studio Pierrot from giving up its production rights. In the end, Tokyo Ghoul: re was delegated to Pierrot Plus studio, a smaller animation studio that was unable to measure up.
The Tokyo Ghoul: re production team also left a lot to be desired. Entertainers, character designers, and directors from the early series were quite busy on other projects, which explains the huge difference between this anime and the previous ones. Shuhei Morita, the director of some of the best episodes in the franchise (episodes 1 and 12 of the first season, and episode 12 of Tokyo Ghoul √A) could perhaps have saved one or two episodes of this series, but he also had others Projects. In general, the finished product reflected a great lack of effort in all areas. Even the promotional images seemed simply made "on the run."
Sadly, Tokyo Ghoul: re quite possibly represented the end of the Tokyo Ghoul adaptations. The series is no longer as popular as it was a few years ago, so the chances of a remake (with a different studio) are pretty slim. Making a fairly faithful adaptation (which would remind me of the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood case) would be a visual treat for fans, but it's still a dream. For now, the general and shared recommendation is to avoid the anime and read the manga.
Source: CBR
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