Tokyo Ghoul – Final Episode

I watched the final episode of Koi wa Ameagari no You ni (After the Rain) recently and it didn’t leave a huge impression on me. I liked that it was realistic, but I was expecting more romance. I heard that the manga is quite different, so I’ll be looking forward to that in that manga. The final episode of Tokyo Ghoul season 1 though… Wow. That was a strong episode.

***HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD***

This is my response to the final episode of Tokyo Ghoul. The beginning of Tokyo Ghoul was a little slow for me. I took a break from it but decided to finish the last two episodes. Episode 11 was interesting, because that was when Jason started to torture Kaneki after kidnapping him. Episode 12 was really interesting. I loved every moment of it. If you are unfamiliar with Tokyo Ghoul, you probably think I’m some crazy person right now…

When Jason put the Chinese red-headed centipede into Kaneki’s ear, I thought that was interesting. There were red spider lilies everywhere and I loved the beautiful imagery, how they turned from white to all red.

I loved how Kaneki’s voice changed from timid to SUPER COOL and confident. Not only did his voice change, his hair changed colours too. I read online about Marie Antoinette Syndrome, which apparently explains why his hair changed from black to white. It’s based on a folklore about Queen Marie Antoinette of France, whose hair turned white after experiencing tremendous stress.

I loved Kaneki’s change. He accepted his identity as a ghoul after realizing that he would not survive or be able to protect others if he continued to follow his mother’s naive teachings. When Jason hurt his leg, Kaneki wasn’t affected because of all the torture he went through. He became used to pain, then he proceeded to torture Jason.

I noticed that the opening didn’t play at the start of the episode. Then during Kaneki’s fight with Jason, “Unravel” (the opening song) played in the background. This is done in a lot of anime, but it’s always effective because we are so familiar with the song. We’ve listened to it many times already, so introducing it at a critical moment in the show amplifies the scene.

The piano and instrumental music that played throughout episodes 11 and 12 suited the scenes very well. In particular, I really love “Licht und Schatten” by Yutaka Yamada. The piano music was very fitting during Kaneki’s scenes with Rize and his flashbacks of his mother.

Watching this last episode made the whole show worthwhile. The imagery, music, symbolism, and most of all, Kaneki’s transformation was fascinating to watch. I enjoyed watching Kaneki throw aside the values he lived by as a human.

---

Well, I have to wake up in 4.5 hours so I shall sleep now. I normally never write episodic reviews but I felt compelled to do it because it was so good. I am aware that this anime and this episode has been written about so many times already, but I don’t think there can ever be enough content in the world.

Thanks for reading.

Advertisement