Tokyo Ghoul:re – 12 – Say My Name

Eto, AKA The One-Eyed Owl, decides to join the fray on the rooftop, siccing Kanae on Sasaki, and the two combine to beat him up enough to send him into his head, where a young Kaneki Ken waits for him. I wonder if that was the whole point: for Eto to re-awaken the Ken in the Sasaki; to rid the Doves of one of their most durable weapons.

The Sasaki inside his mind comes to think of all the sweet dreams he’s had as a corrupting agent; deluding him into thinking “it’s okay to want.” He discards those dreams, and returns to reality with all of Ken’s power, but while seeming to remain Sasaki Haise. He dispatches Kanae, then attacks Shuu as an enemy, forcing Eto to intervene personally, her various puppets bested.

Back in the building, Shirazu summons previously unsummoned powers in order to create an opening for Urie to kill Noro, but in the process, Shirazu is mortally wounded and slowly dies in front of Urie, Mitsuki and Saiko, without doubt the toughest blow the young Quinx Squad has ever had to face.

Saiko can’t stop sobbing, but the loss might hurt Urie most of all…not to mention someone has to make sure Shirazu’s poor little sister is taken care of. Back on the rooftop, Sasaki fights Eto to a draw and forces her to retreat in pieces, leading her to confess her love for Kaneki Ken, who is honored, using her other name, Takatsuki-sensei. This is surely not the last we’ve seen of Eto.

The Sasaki Haise who emerges from the battle turns back into the model CCG investigator once his superior Ui arrives, claiming Shuu for himself while ceding Kanae to him. Sasaki throws Shuu off the building, but Kanae jumps off right behind him, revealing her true identity as Karen and confessing her love for Shuu before saving him from falling to his death at the cost of her own life.

The hardened Sasaki who meets back up with his Quinx Squad, now one man shorter, has no mercy for a crying Urie, blaming him for not being strong enough to keep Shirazu safe. With the loss of Shirazu and Sasaki’s transformative rooftop battle, the fun times are most certainly over. On the bright side, Shuu is still, somehow, alive, and is picked up by Tooka and Chie.

Needless to say, this felt less like an ending and more like a mid-season wrap-up, because Tokyo Ghoul re: will be back in the Fall. I’ll be sure to tune back in.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 11 – Forest of Thorns

Tsukiyama’s underlings will do everything they can to keeping him alive as long as possible—no easy task when you have some of CCG’s finest after him. Having already lost so many people, Shuu all but begs Matsumae to make him a promise to come back alive along with Mairo, but she can’t keep it.

Kijima and Ihei await Matsumae and Mairo, while Shuu ends up encountering Sasaki on the rooftop helipad. Sasaki urges Shuu to surrender. Shuu doesn’t comply. He can’t. His life is no longer his own, if it ever was. Shuu has decided that honoring the sacrifices made in his name by living is more important than trying to wring Ken out of Sasaki Haise. So they fight.

It’s a bloody outing, as expected. The two new recruits Shimoguchi reluctantly accepted into his “cursed” squad are taken out by a masked Kanae; killed protecting him, who did nothing but shit-talk them till the end. Ihei is simply having fun fighting Matsumae…until she fails to mind her surroundings, slips on some blood, and gets run through.

Noro, one of Aogiri’s top ghouls, has also arrived, and the Quinx squad along with some others are unlucky enough to face his constantly-regenerating ponytailed ass. And get this: Saiko actually gets to demonstrate her power for once, rather than just stand there with her giant hammer waiting to be rescued (though she does that too, and her big attack has no effect on Noro).

Somewhat surprisingly, two of the most cocky and confident Doves in Ihei and Kijima meet most inauspicious and gruesome deaths; Ihei by a last minute suicide assist from Mairo; Kijima by his own chainsaw quinque, which happens to land right down the middle of his oddly-proportioned head. I wont miss either of them?

When everyone’s in deep shit and there’s seemingly no answer for Goro’s regenerating, Shirazu volunteers to cast away his fear and wield Nutcracker, but like Saiko’s kagune, it’s a lot of sound and fury signifying (and settling) nothing. Noro is simply blown into tiny pieces that are reformed into something even more grotesque and deadly.

Back up on the roof, the Eto-coached Kanae joins the fight, relieving Sasaki of his arm. Sasaki, for his part, was able to correctly predict every move Shuu made, though he didn’t dodge them. We learn that like Shuu is now, Kanae was once a girl, and the last living member of her family, but shed the gender of her birth in order to take on the Rosewald mantle.

But whether Sasaki, remembering Arima’s tough-love training, will show Kanae or Shuu any mercy is up for debate. And we have another ghoul incoming who will shift the momentum once more. But so far this is turning out to be a win for no one.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 10 – The Things We’re Taking are Lives

Eto confronts Kanae and proceeds to read them like the open book they are. She seems intent on changing Kanae’s fruitless course to make Shuu love them. Eto offers them an apple, or “fruit of knowledge”, in the form of one of her “bones.”

This will likely make Kanae more powerful and thus capable of taking away that “something precious” from Shuu—namely Sasaki Haise—in order to take their place as Shuu’s “precious person.” It’s also sure to come at a heavy cost: Kanae’s remaining humanity, sanity, et cetera. Like Rize and Ken, the deal seems a bit…Faustian.

We also learn the core of Shirazu’s hesitance to use Nutcracker. The final words of the first ghoul he killed echoed what his sister said, once what had been a mole under her eye turned into a life-changing growth: “I want to be pretty.” He’s in CCG and the Quinx Squad only to make enough money for her considerable care.

Fura comes upon him, and relays to him the commonality of investigators having trouble with quinques from their first kills. He says it’s perfectly normal, and even healthy, as someone who felt nothing for taking another life is probably not a great way to start one’s CCG career.

As we’ve seen, the opinions on morality vis-a-vis ghouls within the organization run the gamut from “ghouls are people” to “ghouls are targets to be eliminated.” Shirazu would seem to be oriented more towards the former; S1 investigators Ui and Ihei the latter.

As Haise deals with his worsening identity crisis, he continues to do his job, wanting both himself and Quinx to be useful to S1 in the operation to take down Rose. To that end, Ui allows him and Quinx to don the masks Uta made them (or in Haise’s case, made for Ken) and mingle with the ghouls for intel.

They learn that all the ghouls on the street are uneasy, guarded, distrustful of newcomers, and in Haise’s case, deathly afraid of his mask, which is that of the “Eyepatch Ghoul.” He learns the name “Kotarou Amon”, then meets with Shuu, wanting to learn more about Kaneki Ken so that he can accept him.

But despite having been restored to health by Haise, Shuu has no idea what to tell him about Ken, and ends up running away. Besides, his hands are full; his servant Yuma is still being held by Kijima. In a sickeningly brutal scene that shows where on the spectrum Kijima falls, he executes an already brutally tortured Yuma.

As Ui receives permission from CCG Chairman Washu to implement the Tsukiyama Family Eradication plan (with S2 head Washu breathing down his neck), Haise searches the archives for more info on Kotarou Amon and the Eyepatch Ghoul, fearing that in reality he was the latter and murdered the former. Akira draws him into a hug, comforting him without confirming any of his (correct) assumptions.

That night, Shuu’s Papa Mirumo gives him a cup of coffee, which makes him pass out instantly. The Doves surround the mansion, and Mirumo greets them in the grand foyer, claiming he does not intend to fight or resist, but only asks that he and his family be left alone and allowed to live out their lives as people, as they have done. Ui isn’t having it.

When Shuu wakes up, his world has been inverted. He’s in a car, being driven by Matsumae at top speed away from the mansion, where Papa and all the other servants are making a stand for Shuu’s sake. Shuu wants to go back; Matsumae won’t comply. It’s imperative Shuu survive.

They arrive at the headquarters of one of the Tsukiyama Group’s many subsidiaries, where an army of Ghouls loyal to Shuu’s Papa stand ready to fight to the last man to keep him safe. All Shuu can do is admire the greatness that inspired such loyalty, greatness he likely doubts he himself possesses.

The three Tsukiyama veterans in charge of the defense get prepare for what may be their final night alive, as a smug-as-hell Ihei orders the commencement of the extermination operation.

As the aggressors in this latest conflict, led by those who made the decision long ago that Ghouls are not to be empathized with or shown mercy, the Doves definitely felt like the Bad Guys this week—which means Haise and our Quinx Squad are fighting on the wrong side.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 09 – Awful Superheroes

Tsukiyama Shuu……is BACK, YA’LL! He knows Kaneki Ken when he sees him…and “Sasaki Haise” IS Kaneki Ken and Shuu will have him. He’ll chase him round the Moons of Nibia and round the Antares Maelstrom and round Perdition’s flames before he gives him up!

Even if he doesn’t know who he is. That means striding right up to the pack of young Doves that surrounds him…and having to be scooped up and whisked away by Kanae. No matter; it’s great to see the Gourmet has his appetite and vigor back…all thanks to Hori Chie (Kanae seemed particularly clueless about how to quell their master’s slump).

The Quinx are in that ward because Kan…er, Sasaki wants to have them all fitted for masks at Uta’s shop, so they can infiltrate ghouls. Uta is glad to be of service, and has a high opinion of every Quinx member. Kori officially denies Sasaki’s request to go forward on such a plan, but cannot deny it’s a good idea considering how similar the Quinx are to Ghouls.

Meanwhile, creepy-looking Kijima has released a gruesome video of him torturing a member of Shuu’s household staff, presumably out securing food for him. Kijima is dangling his captive as bait, no doubt hoping to snag more important Ghouls. Not the most pleasant methods!

Within a day or so, Shuu’s Kaneki-fueled recovery is complete. The kid’s alive, and so he can keep on living. The hard part will be to get someone who’s forgotten who they are to remember who he is.

Shuu arranges for a number of “chance encounters”, but if we’re generous, he’s basically just stalking Sasaki, and coming to the same roadblock every time: the pesky Quinx kids that keep him from being alone with Kaneki.

Kanae hires a team from Aogiri Tree, including Torso, to eliminate the Quinx Squad so her master can have what he wants (Kanae also gives Shuu a second photo, at which point a much more lucid Shuu realizes his little friend Hori is supplying the pics for his benefit).

Quinx ends up scattered, with Sasaki taking on the bulk of the Ghouls in a parking lot; Tooru and Saiko go one way, while Urie and Shirazu go another. Among the mercs is the “Grave Robber”, who is a fan of burgundy nail polish and, presumably, stealing quinques from the Doves she’s killed.

When up against Kanae, Shirazu’s kagune is damaged and he has to use Nutcracker…but he just can’t. He’s still not okay with how things went down, and especially not okay with using what amounts to her corpse as a weapon. Luckily, a stronger Urie is up to the task of forcing Kanae to retreat, and then intervenes in the battle between Tooru and Grave Robber.

Saiko, who was told to hide, is found by…someone, who proceeds to try to choke her out until she’s saved by…someone else. So many new (or old?) faces to keep up with! Her vague description of her savior causes Sasaki stare into space thoughtfully, as Eto, who we know wants Kaneki to get his memories back, perches atop a building not far away.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 08 – Live Like a Rose

It’s always more complicated than “good” and “evil” in Tokyo Ghoul; there are plenty sympathetic ghouls and detestable doves, and everything in between. Somewhere on that spectrum lies Kanae, a ghoul who became the ward and attendant of Tsukiyama Shuu.

Shuu taught Kanae to live proudly “like a rose” and never cry alone. But with Shuu withering away, Kanae is worried about being left alone (again). Enter Hori Chie, who may have just the thing to save her friend Shuu’s life.

Meanwhile, not all is ducky at Aogiri Tree, as Ayato’s request to retrieve Hinami from Cochlea is denied by Tatara. Tatara decides they’ll simply have to replace her with someone else, but that doesn’t sit well with Ayato, who has an emotional bond with Hinami and feels responsible for her being caught. Haise tells Hinami that he can’t be Kaneki Ken…but is he sure he has a choice in the matter?

Back at Casa de Tsukiyama, Chie hands Kanae an envelope that contains something that will help Shuu, then goes on her way. She’s very nearly apprehended by CCG for suspected aiding of ghouls, but demonstrates her talent for elusiveness, as well as her stalwart vow to have as much fun in life as she can before dying.

At CCG, Shirazu receives his new quinque derived from Nutcracker…and he can’t handle it. He still has nightmares about how she said all she wanted was to be beautiful. Quinx hooks up with the elite S1 Squad to take care of a group called “Rose.” S1 is led by Special Class Investigator Ui Koori and his pink-haired partner Ihei Hairu.

That creepy-ass dude Kijira Shiki is also there, looking more like the bad guy in some Lerche anime. Saiko, who didn’t have breakfast and is flagging fast, insists that she, Shirazu, and Kuroiwa stop at a bakery for sustenance; one of the bakers there knows Kuroiwa from way back.

S1 corners a squad from Rose, and we see Hairu in action; Urie may think her an “airhead”, but she knows what she’s doing when it comes to fighting ghouls. However, only one of the three is captured; one returns to base to have her injuries treated, and she’s visited by Kanae.

Later, Kanae shows Shuu the item Chie provided: a photo of Sasaki Haise. Seemingly able to discern that there’s something (or rather someone) verrry familiar about the guy, Shuu, demonstrating admirable restraint and calm, asks Kanae to be shown more of this Sasaki Haise guy.

It’s just not right that Shuu should stay in such a state; I’d love to see the guy return to his former vitality. At any rate, whether you’re a ghoul, a dove, or one of the people in between just trying to survive and thrive, the work is never done.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 07 – Congratulations and Recollections

The sheer number of players big and small in the Tokyo Ghoul universe can make darting from one group to another a daunting task, especially for one not versed in the manga upon which :re is based. Still, the sight of all those myriad faces, most of them familiar, lend the world a lived-in, oddly comforting atmosphere.

Then there’s the new faces, our Quinx Squad, who come out of the great Auction Raid not only none the worse for wear (relatively), but having distinguished themselves to a man (and in Saiko’s case, to a woman). The raid ends abruptly—which I was hoping for. Sasaki takes Hinami into custody (after Arima allows it), and Rabbit and the other members of Aogiri Tree retreat.

Most of the surviving CCG investigators are promoted in a ceremony, with Tooru jumping from 3rd to 1st class for his conspicuous valor (no doubt irking Urie, who probably wishes he outranked his Quinxmate) Their leader Sasaki becomes a Senior Investigator at a very young age.

As the Doves celebrate their victory, Akira visits her father’s grave, eager new members join a “cursed” squad, Tooru is coached in knifesmanship by Juuzou, and a familiar green-haired lady leaves something in the Quinx Squad’s house’s mailbox.

The celebrations continue when Sasaki invites Akira and Arima over for a dinner party, preparing a sumptuous feast for them and his squad, and giving everyone gifts to commemorate their promotions (or in Arima’s case, just ’cause). After so much peril, blood, and death, I liked the return to the warm and cozy home life of the squad.

Even stick-in-the-mud Prince Urie, who manages to be both insufferable and sympathetic, chips in, while the higher-ranked investigators seem happy for the respite; there’s no other motive for Sasaki inviting them except perhaps to show them  how much his ragtag squad has gelled.

Then Sasaki opens the package addressed to him. It contains Kaneki Ken’s mask, as well as a novel by Takatsuki Sen (who also happened to be the deliverer of the package). If this is an effort by her to help Sasaki remember more about Ken, it seems to work in a very specific and poignant way.

As Shirazu visits his injured, unconscious sister in the hospital (something Urie also happens to see) Sasaki ends up in a cafe being served coffee by Touka at the Cafe :re, and thinking how familiar the coffee, the waitress, and the other patrons of the cafe feel.

Then walks past Anteiku in its prime, with Yoshimura looking on before walking in. Sasaki looks again, and the cafe is gone, replaced by a cleared lot and orange cone barriers. He must have been seeing through Ken’s eyes.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 06 – Filling the Void

The Quinx Squad remains split into thirds as the raid enters its final stages—and you get the sense that they’d do better as a single unit. Thankfully, Urie is not all alone when he decides it’s time to unleash his “Frame 4” power…because it doesn’t go all too well for him!

Once Big Madam can gauge his power, she realizes he’s punching way above his weight, and takes him out with a barrage of blows. Tooru is there to comfort Urie in his defeat (when “ME! ME! ME!” becomes “O Woe is Me!”), while Juuzou has backup and no qualms about bringing down his former “Mama”.

Meanwhile, Shirazu and Saiko are fighting Nutcracker with Hayashimura…only Saiko…isn’t really doing anything; simply asking what she should do. Shirazu knows what I’ve come to suspect (and which was kind of obvious): Saiko has the highest latent ability among the Quinx Squad members not named Sasaki Haise.

Saiko is also motivated by a desire to help Haise, and her burst of violence, while off-camera, puts the Nutcracker on her ass. Shirazu finishes her off, but not before Nut says something very “human” about always wanting to be pretty.

As Shirazu and Saiko defeat Nutcracker, Juuzou and the XIIIth take out Madam, leaving Owl and Haise as the one remaining main event of the raid.

Haise is scared of giving in too much to the Kaneki Ken within him lest he lose himself, but Owl takes advantage of his hesitation by utterly laying waste to him, while one of his associates broadcasts Haise’s screams of pain over the P.A. system, leading Saiko to race to where he is.

Saving Haise from an early grave is none other than Fueguchi Hinami, who states that Haise is too valuable for Owl to simply eliminate on a whim. Owl doesn’t like that, but Hinami can hold her own against him, at least long enough for Haise to get his shit together and summon enough of Kaneki’s power to fight back against Owl himself.

The process whereby Haise does this is by realizing that while he fears Kaneki—and rightly so—there’s a part of Kaneki within him that is still a child, and similarly terrified. It’s not about competing with the guy; it’s about relating to him. He shouldn’t fear the void, he should embrace it, and Ken. If he doesn’t, he and his squad are toast.

I’ll be honest, the raid lost a bit of steam from the first episode to the second, and between Big Madam’s wildly variable mouth size and the huge number of seemingly mortal wounds that turn out not to be not that bad, the decline in my enthusiasm has continued into the third. The fourth will surely mark the end the raid (one can hope). We’ll see where Haise and the Quinx Squad stands then.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 05 – Damn You and Your Sexy Body!

The battle continues on numerous fronts—almost too many, to be honest—but this scattered episode manages to linger long enough on the important ones. Kanae learns how fast Tooru heals and aims to relieve him of his limbs, but is thwarted by Haise, backed by Shiazu, Urie, and Saiko. The Quinx squad fares much better than other squads, and one particularly unlucky one must square off against the certifiable Owl.

Another squad bites off more than they can chew in trying to take out Nutcracker, and get their, er…nuts cracked. Naki is certain he’s done for courtesy of Akira, but gets bailed out by Rabbit, who decides to break off from his stalemated duel with Juuzou.

The Quinx manage to do a number on Kanae, but their quarry is retrieved by Matsumae. When Washu orders Quinx to engage Nutcracker, Haise requests Tooru be evacuated out of the shit, and Washi recommends Urie for this purpose—much, initially, to Urie’s annoyance. He’s trying to “distinguish” himself as an investigator, and being relegated to escort duty is hella lame for the self-involved, triangle-eyed brat.

One doomed member of the unlucky squad recognizes Owl as former investigator Takizawa, whose lectures she once attended. Recalling that she talked in class, he impales her with his hand. Meanwhile, Urie does exactly what Washu thought he would do and goes looking for a way to earn some glory by finding a hidden passageway beneath the auction stage.

Juuzou is already down there, and along with Urie and Tooru, start hacking away at the masked auction attendees, whose whereabouts had previously been unknown. Urie is happy he can unleash his full power with someone of Juuzou’s caliber fighting beside him, while Tooru is just trying to contribute in any way he can.

Throughout the battles and dialogue, Yamada Yutaka’s electronic score pulses along, providing a stylish rhythm for the bloody chaos. While the animation is a little iffy, I have zero complaints about TG:re’s soundtrack.

Urie’s hubris gets the best of him, as he ends up falling victim to Big Madam’s predation, and when Tooru catches up to him, she’s in the process of gulping him down like a snake swallowing a rat…so not exactly distinguishing himself!

Finally, the rest of Quinx squad never makes it to Nutcracker; instead, Haise is ordered by Washu to fight Owl one-on-one, no doubt to test the limits of his abilities. Unfortunately, Saiko does absolutely nothing with her giant hammer, and is escorted away by Shirazu.

Even if we assume Haise can handle Owl or at least fight him to a draw, there’s still a lot of players left on the board for next week: Big Madam, Nutcracker, and Rabbit chief among them.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 04 – It’s Party Time

Oh man, I do love a good big Tokyo Ghoul raid. This week, we get the start of a doozy. Things start out quietly yet ominously, as the pageantry of the Eyes Wide Shut-style human auction commences with a washed up actor and then Tooru in disguise.

As a one-eyed Ghoul, Tooru induces a huge 200 million bid, much to the scantily-clad Nutcracker’s delight. That winning bid belongs to the Doves’ primary target tonight: Big Madam, just beating out Master Shuu’s servant.

One of the trio of Ghoul “Clown” MCs whispers to Tooru that no one is coming to save him, but that’s nonsense, as the very next lot is Juuzou, who’s already seen enough of the auction and decides to get the real party started, unleashing a fusillade of daggers at all the Ghouls around him.

Outside the venue (and shouldn’t the Ghouls have picked a less conspicuous place?) The CCG raiding parties are ready to commence the operation, including the Quinx Squad. Their primary goal: Eliminate All Ghouls—but Big Madam in particular—and rescue any human captives.

As Juuzou ditches the wig and attracts the attention of Rabbit (now Ayato, not Touka), Tooru sheds the Nutcracker and runs, but is pursued not just by Master Shuu’s servant, still sore over losing the bid, but by Torso, who splits off from Ayato (and Hinami, who’s with Aogiri Tree now) who simply wants Tooru’s torso all to himself.

What we don’t see much of at all is the Quinx Squad in action. What we do see is pretty much everyone else. We see how the new young blood among the Doves are the source of some resentment from the old “fogeys”, but when a young hotshot over-confidently rushes into the Clowns and gets himself killed, it’s up to the fogey to clean up the mess, even though he’s also killed by the sudden arrival of Owl.

There’s a lot of pieces being set up this week, as new and old faces prepare to go at it. The whole raid is crackling with electricity. And this is just the beginning, with no clear victor yet in sight. Should be a fun resolution.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 03

Urie lies and gets his enhancement, confident he can become stronger than Haise and remain in control. Something tells me his internal isolation from his Quinx-mates and massive chip on his shoulder suggest he’ll probably fall flat on his ass again and need bailing out from the people he’s constantly looking down upon in his thoughts.

But meanwhile, there’s an op, and Quinx Squad needs to be at full strength. That means Shirazu, Mutsuki and Urie must join forces to draw Saiko out of her physical isolation, both from them and the rest of the world. Urie ends up convincing Saiko that she’ll be fired and thrown out on the street if she doesn’t do her job.

This is another lie; even if she retired tomorrow the fact she agreed to be in the Quinx squad means the CCG will always look after her…she just doesn’t know that because she didn’t read the handbook!

Regardless, while Urie and his aloofness are kinda bumming me out, I kinda love Saiko. She’s got a great energy…or I should say lack of energy to her, and is utterly unapologetic in her desire to live the NEET’s life of leisure. Whether she’s still hiding heretofore unseen wondrous powers or talents as an investigator or is simply meant to be comic relief…we shall see.

In any event, the whole Quinx Squad is mustered for the briefing about the Nutcracker. Specifically, Haise’s Squad will join two others and Division II in raiding an underground auction for young women the Nutcracker collects at clubs. While Urie goes off for some “tests”, Haise, Mutsuki, Shirazu and Saiko hit up the club, the former three posing as women.

It’s ultimately Mutsuki who manages to make contact and get on the auction list (after a little—or a lot—of liquid courage), so they have their in. Our old weird friend Suzuya Juuzou is also involved in the operation, and will pose as a woman for sale at the auction beside Mutsuki—no doubt to back up the far less-experienced investigator if things go pear-shaped.

After about a week of training (which Urie mostly stays out of), Haise’s squad and the others are all ready to execute the plan, and move in. Meanwhile, Ayato is tasked with bodyguard duty for the Class AA Ghoul “Big Mama”, who will also attend the auction, and has a very Mutsuki-obsessed Torso tag along.

Did I mention our other old friend Tsukiyama Shuu is gravely ill and no longer seems to have any “gourmet” sense, much to his servant’s distress? Well, he doesn’t, so I guess he won’t be at the auction. But with all the parties who are involved, plus a few who may not have shown their faces, it’s shaping up to be quite an op.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 02 – Death by Ham

Sasaki Haise bails out his subordinates when Urie bites off more than they can chew with Orochi. Heck, even Haise has to take off the kid gloves, and eventually loses control when the Kaneki Ken within him tries to take over.

Akira herself has to take him out, with help from other CCG officers. Orochi gets away, as does Torso. Everyone’s alive, but the mission is a failure.

For his recklessness, Urie is removed from the leadership of the Quinx Squad, and Shirazu is promoted in his place. Urie gets in a “you’re just a ghoul” dig at Haise, but it doesn’t matter; Haise’s word is law in the squad, so his climb to the top just hit a serious snag.

Later, Urie assures a concerned Kuroiwa that Haise will be fine, all while cursing him and hoping he’ll just go die. This Urie guy’s carrying a lot of resentment and hate.

We also get our first sighting of Saiko, but just long enough for her to grab a little ham from the fridge and run off back to her room, presumably to scarf it down.

I’m not quite sure why we’ve seen so little of her (besides the fact she’s, well, a shut-in), but something tells me despite her uninspiring demeanor she might be the strongest of the Quinx other than Haise—if we don’t count Urie’s current (and possibly ill-advised) campaign to increase the strength of his kagune.

Finally, we get the biggest of the cameos from past TGs as Haise, Mutsuki and Shirazu go to the Re: cafe where a slightly older Kirishima Touka works, and seems to recognize Haise (or the Ken within him).

Meanwhile, Touka’s brother Ayato is apparently the new “Rabbit”, still affiliated with Aogiri Tree and apparently letting Torso join as well, which puts him out of the Quinx Squad’s jurisdiction. Instead, their next assigned target is red-light district ghoul nicknamed “Nutcracker,” who does precisely what her nickname says. Quinx could use a win after Orochi and Torso; maybe this will do the trick.

Tokyo Ghoul:re – 01 (First Impressions) – New Faces, New Ballgame

Tokyo Ghoul is back! Umm…yay? I for one wasn’t chomping at the bit for a sequel, to be honest. That’s not a mark against the previous season’s quality, nor my investment in it at the time.

I’ve just watched a lot of anime since Root A, and I guess I’d moved on, while the fact this season does not focus on the main characters from the previous ones further dulled enthusiasm.

Thankfully, the learning curve for getting back into the swing of things—Doves, Ghouls, Orochi, Kagune, got it—wasn’t too bad, and the new characters were introduced along with a comfortably familiar few cameos and name drops, which made the medicine go down easier.

Long story short, a couple of years have passed since Root A, and the CCG are now deploying Quinx Squad, which is not a combination of Quincy and Twix…but it could’ve been. Rather, they’re humans who are able to use the typical Ghoul tricks of the trade thanks to artificial means.

They use those tricks against full-fledged Ghouls that are working against the betterment of society, like the taxi driver “Torso”, so named because that’s the only part of the women he takes.

The Quinx squad is led by Sasaki Haise, whose hair reminds you instantly of Kanzaki Kei, and following that bridge to the past, we later learn Kei is in Sasaki’s head, just as Rize was in his.

Within the various Quinx teams there’s a bit of a turf scuffle over who gets to bring in Torso, but it’s really more of a race between the teams (Sasaki’s superior is Mado Akira, whom we know) and even a competition within Team Mado itself, with Sasaki’s subordinate Urui trying to claim all the glory by himself, manipulating their colleague Shirazu to do so.

I felt immediately putting the team at odds with each other was a nice way to give an edge to the proceedings right off the bat—this is a cutthroat business, and even if everyone’s pretty much on the same side, a lot of other interests are in play.

Rounding out the five-person crew are the timid Mutsuki and Saiko-chan, the only female member who we never see until the end credits.

Urui’s desire to “take initiative” fails in the beginning of the episode, when he and Shirazu have to be bailed out by Sasaki, and it fails at the end, when thanks to Mutsuki and a bit of luck, they suddenly find and engage Torso, but he’s too much for them, especially when a fellow ghoul shows up who’s much tougher.

As such, by all going their separate ways, Quinx Squad Team Mado still manages to end up in the same place, on the cusp of closing a case that will distinguish them among their peers, but which will require the defeat of a rather tough boss. Makes me wonder if the team’s X Factor is the so far off-camera Saiko-chan…or if Sasaki has to draw more from his Inner Kaneki Ken

I wouldn’t recommend anyone unfamiliar with Tokyo Ghoul get into this, due to the fact it doesn’t spend a lot of time holding newbies’ hands, but if you’ve been a fan of the adaptation thus far, I’d say this is at worst worth a look, and at best a must-see.