Title: Tokyo Ghoul:re Vol. 12
Author: Sui Ishida
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 210
Genre: Fantasy, Battle
Publication Date: August 20, 2019
The Story
Tokyo Ghoul:re Volume twelve calms things down. After multiple arcs of large-scale battles, things have settled from a story pacing’s perspective. Here, Mutsuki pays a visit to the Re: café where a fight breaks out between Kaneki and the new members of the Oggai, the faction the replaced the Quinx. After the battle, Mustuki retreats as does Kaneki and Touka where fans of the series finally get the scene that they were hoping for!
Meanwhile, Furuta calls in Kuroiwa and praises him for his work and then has him cite a rule about what happens when a CCG member is found harboring a ghoul. The news of this reaches Kaneki who has moved GOAT underground. Underground, GOAT is struggling to survive. Bodies of suicide victims are few and far between. In the meantime, it’s getting more and more dangerous for them to hunt due to Furuta’s sweeping exterminations of ghouls up on the surface.
Our volume ends with GOAT forming a scavenging party but it seems as if there are eyes already on it!
Nice, slower pacing this time around which allowed the story to breathe a little bit. We got to take a look into how the ghouls are living these days both in GOAT and up on the surface. Neither side is having a good time but the interesting part comes with the Clowns. Even though they weren’t heavily featured, they are now taking a back seat as observers, which is an interesting transition given how proactive they were in the last arc.
Still, we received some interesting developments in the character department too so let’s take a look at those.
Characters
Tons of character development here.
The obvious big focus here was on both Kaneki and Touka. Even though it was the major focus of the manga, it’s hard to talk about it without giving anything away. I will say that fans of the series who have been waiting for this moment finally get their wish and the results of that moment are giving Kaneki some extra stuff to think about, especially when it comes to leading GOAT into a future without hostility between the humans and ghouls.
Mutsuki is still as unstable as ever. Showing up to Re: and confronting Kaneki (or more or less confirming that he wasn’t beheaded on stage by Furuta’s Oggai squad), to saying he wants to help Kaneki. On the other hand, Mutsuki just wants the Haise Sasaki he knows back more than anything. He wants things back to the way they were and even Urie had to tell him that there’s zero chance of that happening. Still, that desire is driving Mutsuki to stick his neck out further than it should be. This is setting him up for something big in the future.
Furuta is becoming more and more super villain-like. Stating that they need a “final boss” and naming it “Ryu” is a bit intriguing. Knowing Furuta, he has something insane planned but what that is remains to be seen. Still, his actions are pulling us closer and closer to the closing moments of this series. With only four volumes left, now is the time to pull that trigger and it looks as if the trigger is being squeezed and the hammer is about to click.
Final Thoughts
I liked the slower pace as it allowed you to really absorb the results of the last two to three major battles. We see the aftermath and their effects on both sides of the coin but it’s obvious that the ghouls are the ones suffering here. The extermination squads coupled with GOAT being driven underground with very little food and running out of shelter for new ghouls, things are looking rather bleak. I don’t know if this scavenging party is a wise idea given Furuta’s moves but sometimes, when you’re desperate, you need to take the risk. Whether or not it pays off remains to be seen; however, with the end of the story coming up soon, it’s pretty easy to predict that this scavenging party isn’t going to fare so well.
I’m also looking forward to more development between Touka and Kaneki. Especially when Kaneki inquired about a certain ghoul ritual. If it does happen, I’m sure it will be the final calm before the storm. The whole thing is a powder keg ready to go off at a moment’s notice.
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
