Tokyo Ghoul's first volume comes out swinging. There are various plot points that are explained throughout the first few chapters.
In this volume of Tokyo Ghoul, there are a few things that are revealed. For starters, ghouls need human flesh for nourishment. They also survive by blending into society. There is a binge-eating ghoul that is on the loose. Ghouls can not enjoy or survive off of human food. However, they can still enjoy coffee. Ghouls have territories and are hostile to not only humans but other ghouls as well.
There is a book known as “The Black Goat’s Egg” which is about the son of a serial killer, who rejects his mother's murderous ways but then begins to develop the same urges as his mother. Lastly, it is possible to create a half-human and ghoul hybrid through the transfer of organs.
During the surgery scene, Kaneki has a monologue that pretty much sums up the overall theme of Tokyo Ghoul. Kaneki states that if his life were made into a story, it would be a tragic one. Later in the volume, there is also a quote from Hermann Hesse’s “Demian” which reads: The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world.”
Of all the fine quotes to be found, perhaps the crudest one comes from Nishiki Nishio which accuses Kaneki of being caught with his pants down and denying it while supposedly hunting in Nishiki’s territory. Probably the best line is delivered by the cafe owner, Yoshimura, when he tells Kaneki that he is not excluded from both the human and ghoul worlds but he is the only one who belongs to both.
The characters shown in this volume include Ken Kaneki, Hideyoshi Nagachika (Hide), Touka Kirishima, Nishiki Nishio, Kimi Nishino (Nishiki’s girlfriend), Rize Kamishiro, Kuzen Yoshimura, Hisashi Ogura (Ghoul researcher), and Akihiro Kanou (Dr. Kanou).
As far as an opening to the world of Tokyo Ghoul, this volume succeeds in showing a significant flip for Kaneki as he goes from a human who didn’t know ghouls even existed to now seeing them everywhere. He is thrust into the ghoul world headfirst and reacts pretty believably. Very few people would be able to cope with finding out that they will have to live as a cannibal for the rest of their life.
All in all, this is a great first outing for the Tokyo Ghoul series as a whole. The intrigue of Kaneki’s new life and tragedy lead as a driving force for the reader to want to continue down this dark path. The story itself states that this will not be a happy story and it will be tragic. Though it is a bit slow at points, the action does not disappoint, regardless of not being a Shounen battle manga. This volume thrusts its readers into its world and doesn't hold back.
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