Tokyo Ghoul: re Graphic Novel Volume 9 cover image

Ghouls look like humans and live among us.  But Ghouls crave human flesh.  The Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) is the only organization in the world fighting and exterminating Ghouls and investigating Ghoul-related crimes.  Haise Sasaki is in charge of an unruly CCG squad, “Quinx Squad” (or “Qs Squad”), but his forgotten past hides dark secrets.

As Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 9 (Chapters 87 to 98) opens, the “Rushima Operation” continues as the CCG and the Ghouls continue their all-out war against the Ghoul base on “Rushima Island.”  The CCG are determined to smash the Ghoul organization known as the “Aogiri Tree.”  Meanwhile, the Ghouls launch an all-out attack on CCG base, Cochlea.  In the wake of the battle between Haise Sasaki a.k.a. Ken Kaneki and the greatest CCG hunter of all, Kisho Arima, and Arima's subsequent death, the secrets of the CCG and the Washu family are being revealed.

[This volume includes four-panel comics.]

THE LOWDOWN:  I have told you, dear reader, that I was having a hard time warming up to the Tokyo Ghoul: re manga.  Although this sequel stands on its own, I prefer the original series, Tokyo Ghoul, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Tokyo Ghoul: re Graphic Novel Volume 9 is a pivotal volume.  I think this series began to stand on its own when creator Sui Ishida began revealing the dark side of the Commission of Counter Ghouls.  In the first series, readers got to see that the Ghouls came in variations of good, bad, ugly and two-faced slash hypocrite.  To me, the CCG was always straightforward, ass-kicking monster hunters.  Tokyo Ghoul: re says that there is more, much more, to the good guys, making clear that the good is too simplistic when describing that organization.

I guess I was not really down with the shift in focus from the first to the second series, from a focus on the Ghouls to telling the story from the point of view of the CCG.  Tokyo Ghoul: re is proving that the entirety of the franchise is worth following.  Re: Tokyo Ghoul: re – read it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Tokyo Ghoul will want to devour VIZ Signature's Tokyo Ghoul: re.

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8.5 out of 10