Manga Review – Tokyo Ghoul Vol 4 by Sui Ishida (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Manga/Paranormal
Length: 192 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Release Date: December 15, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1421580395
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the Tokyo Ghoul series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Ghouls live among us, the same as normal people in every way—except their craving for human flesh. Ken Kaneki is an ordinary college student until a violent encounter turns him into the first half-human half-ghoul hybrid. Trapped between two worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn more about Ghoul society and master his new powers.

Kaneki meets Shu Tsukiyama, known as The Gourmet for his interesting and sadistic tastes. And Kaneki learns more about what happened to Rize and what it means to be a One-Eyed Ghoul.”

I have been a bit off and on about this series. I don’t love it but I think it’s okay. I thought volumes 1 and 2 were okay, I really liked volume 3…and this volume was back in the okay realm.

Kaneki is dealing with some of the fallout of the last book (having killed a counter ghoul agent). Hinami has moved in with Touka and they are trying to adjust to that change. Then Kaneki meets a ghoul known as The Gourmet who introduces Kaneki to a very disturbing and vicious part of the ghoul underworld.

There is some implication that Kaneki, as a one-eyed ghoul, has some special powers in some way. This is discussed some but we never really fully understand the connotations of this.

The book was okay. I like Kaneki as a character but have trouble engaging with the other characters. The whole deal with Kaneki and the Gourmet was a bit…well..eh…for me. I thought it was kind of silly and didn’t really enjoy the plotline that much.

Overall this was an okay installment in the Tokyo Ghoul series. The whole series is just a bit blah for me; the characters are okay, the story is okay but I never really get drawn into it. The whole thing is fairly forgettable. It’s not a bad series but I probably won’t continue reading it because there are just more interesting manga series out there.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge