What You Didn't Already Know About Tokyo Ghoul's Characters

How's it going lurkers? If you read the latest Cartoon Sunday blog about 2 days ago, you should recall that I mentioned publishing another blog about other Tokyo Ghoul characters. 

The franchise has so many characters, that it is hard to know who each character is in the series. On the forum, AnimeNation, I was told while posting that Tokyo Ghoul √A was a filler arc yesterday. 

This means the last 12 episodes we just watched were mostly to stall viewers, until there is more of an actual story. As said 2 days ago, I would've loved to have seen more of the other ghouls. 

The ghouls, that helped managed the Anteiku Coffee Shop (Enji Koma and Kaya Irimi), should've been given more of a story. Those 2 would've been more interesting to watch than characters from the CCG.

The CCG (Commission Of Counter Ghoul) is a federal agency task force, that is specialized in handling crimes related to ghouls.

They believe that all ghouls are flesh eating criminals, when there are innocent ghouls trying to assimilate with humans.

As I was saying about the previous ghoul characters, Enji was an experienced waiter, who acted as the manager of Anteiku, when Yoshimura (manager) was away.

Meanwhile, Kaya was a main waitress. Both she and Enji were leaders of their own gangs of ghouls. They later renounced their leaderships after being rehabilitated by Yoshimura. Enji led the Devil Ape Gang and Kaya led the Black Dobers.

Enji Koma and Kaya Irimi are presumed to be dead after battling the CCG. Another ghoul I would've loved to have seen more of was Uta, since he's the mask maker. Uta is a part of  The Clowns, which is a mysterious gang of ghouls. 

Above is a gif of Uta. He looks like a Hot Topic clerk, who designs masks for ghouls to hide from the CCG, as well as Kaneki's mask, and masks for humans.

The Clowns were responsible for Ken Kaneki's (protagonist) accident, when they attempted to murder Rize Kamishiro with a fallen I-beam.

Because of  The Clowns, Kaneki received some of Rize's ghoul organs and is now forced to adapt to being a part human and part ghoul hybrid. 

Those who happen to be part human and ghoul are more powerful than a Pure Blood Ghoul.

Another ghoul that should've had more of a story was Renji Yomo. There is a LOT  more to him than being a ghoul, that collects suicide victims' corpses for ghouls to eat. 

In case other viewers didn't already know, Yomo is secretly Touka and Ayato Kirishima's uncle.

Renji Yomo kept his identity a secret from them after their parents died. However, he always closely watched over them. Speaking of his niece and nephew, Touka is Ayato's older sister.

Because Ayato resented Touka's peaceful living and ability to assimilate with humans, he left to join Aogiri Tree. 

According to Kaneki, he thinks Ayato secretly joined Aogiri Tree to protect Touka from a distance. Aogiri Tree is a ghoul terrorist organization founded by Yoshimura's daughter, Eto. 

Eto also lives under the human alias, Sen Takatsuki, who happens to be a Horror novelist. 

In addition to being Yoshimura's daughter, being a ghoul terrorist leader, and a Horror novelist, she is Kaneki's favorite author. 

What a twist?! It is AMAZING what you learn about Tokyo Ghoul, while reading summaries about it.

Had all this been explained in the Seinen Horror Action Anime, their would've been LESS confusion.

It appears, that I am not the only viewer anticipating a 3rd season for Tokyo Ghoul. We really hope there is after watching that tragic yet confusing cliffhanger. 

Loose ends must be tied up for those of us, who only watch the Anime. Not everyone reads Manga and light novels.

Hopefully, today's blog gives Tokyo Ghoul readers and viewers a much better understanding of the franchise. This is especially when it comes to the series.

Cartoon Sunday: Blue Exorcist's Season 1 Episode 1

How's it going lurkers? It has been a while, since I last talked about, much less watched the Shonen Jump Supernatural Acion Anime, Blue Exorcist. 

Nearly 2 years ago, I published a Cartoon Sunday blog, which consisted of the series' bloopers. Early on, I noticed that Blue Exorcist was somewhat similar to Vampire Knight.

     Vampire Knight (2008)

 

Blue Exorcist (2011)

 

I spent HOURS last night and earlier this morning trying to find pictures showing the physical similarities between Vampire Knight and Blue Exorcist. 

 

The preceding images were the closest I could find regarding the similarities in high school academy uniforms. Both are Horror and Supernatural Action Anime.

Vampire Knight is a Shojo Anime meant for female viewers whereas Blue Exorcist is a Shonen Anime meant for male viewers. 

In order to give a better understanding of both Action Anime, I have compiled a list showing the similarities and differences between Vampire Knight and Blue Exorcist.

Vampire Knight: 

* Shojo Horror Romance Action Anime meant for female viewers, which heavily revolves around tragedy

* Somewhat considered Horror because it has some horror elements to it, that being vampires

* Cross Academy is named after the vampire hunter now turned headmaster, Kaein Cross

* Cross Academy is a segregated high school comprised of  vampire students attending night classes and human students attending day classes

* With long distance barriers, human and vampire students can socialize with each other on campus without being attacked 

* Yuki Cross is the female protagonist, who was adopted by Cross Academy's headmmaster and later discovers that she is a Pureblood Vampire

Blue Exorcist:

* Shonen Supernatural Action Dramedy Anime meant for male viewers, which has some tragedy

* True Cross Academy is a prestigious Exorcist Cram School, which is the Japanese branch of the True Cross Order

* True Cross Order is the main organization of Exorcists and a global exorcist institution that is controlled by the Vatican

* True Cross Order has roots to Christianity and was founded by Medieval Christian Knights

* Some Biblical scripture is used in this series

* Rin Okumura is the male protagonist with the ability to see demons

* Rin and his twin brother Yukio were adopted and raised by Father Shiro Fujimoto, who was an Exorcist

* Before Father Shiro Fujimoto sacrificed his own life to protect Rin from the demons of Gehenna, Rin discovers that he and Yukio are both Satan's bastard sons

Judging by the list of these particular Action Anime, BOTH use "Cross Academy" in their high school academy names, have protagonists discovering they were adopted because they're NOT fully human, and possess supernatural powers.

In addition to what has been listed about Vampire Knight and Blue Exorcist, BOTH series have male brunette characters wearing eye patches in high positions at both the Cross Academies.

It would've been so much better if I could've found a split screen picture of Vampire Knight's Toga Yagari and Blue Exorcist's Igor Neuhaus. They wear eye patches, have brown hair, and have COLD personalities.

If you have NEVER watched Vampire Knight or Blue Exorcist, you should definitely watch them both and observe their similarities.

It would be nice to see the 2nd season of Blue Exorcist and the entire Vampire Knight series air on Adult Swim or possibly on another network. We all know that Adult Swim will NEVER air Vampire Knight.

The men running Adult Swim not only show disrespect towards their OWN viewers in general, but also love discriminating against women. The assholes in charge of Adult Swim and the creeps that posted on their official forum for over a dozen or so years expect women to be inferior to them.

Otherwise, the teams at Adult Swim and Toonami put on facades by pretending to promote "women's empowerment," all the while showing female characters with very LITTLE self-respect and respect for other characters.

In spite of Adult Swim and Toonami Teams' facades, I really hope Adult Swim and those running the Toonami block renew their license to re-air Blue Exorcist's 1st season, then air its 2nd season, Kyoto Saga. Its 2nd season finished premiering in Japan, a few months ago.  

There have been claims by Toonami fans that Blue Exorcist's license expired for it to be re-aired on Adult Swim, and that the Shonen Jump Supernatural Action Anime supposedly did badly in ratings. 

Considering the negativity bias coming from Toonami zealots, who fixate on cartoon ratings for every series ad nauseam, I don't know if the bad ratings statement is true.

Some of us already know how much of zealots certain Toonami fans are, when it comes to the Nielsen Ratings. 

Because Blue Exorcist uses some excerpts from the Bible, has trained exorcists, students training to become exorcists, and the protagonist just happens to be 1 of Satan's bastard sons, I believe certain viewers are or will be repulsed by this series.

Judging from the ilk of Toonami sycophants and rabid zealots I have endured on Adult Swim's forum (before it was shut down), they are threatened by Christianity, Satanism, and religion in general.

Religion "triggers" this particular ilk of fans. They CANNOT  handle the sound of religion much like the rest of us can't handle them throwing temper tantrums like 2-year-olds over a cartoon's low ratings.

I advise viewers to watch and enjoy a show for yourself, NOT  because of a show's ratings. Much like polls can be rigged, ratings can be rigged too. Every household does NOT  own a Nielsen's box.

The fact that there are men, women, and children allowing a show's ratings to control them is pathetic in itself. If you need to obsess over a show's ratings, you will NEVER enjoy ANY show.

Since TONIGHT'S Cartoon Sunday blog is mostly about Blue Exorcist, let's start from the very beginning. Simply click on the link below.

Blue Exorcist Season 1: Episode 1 (2011)

Cartoon Sunday: Black Lagoon Pilot Episode

How's it going lurkers? Yesterday, I mentioned sharing a link to 1 of the ending theme songs to Black Lagoon in a Metal thread on Adult Swim's forum. 

"Preach Headz Addiction" by Breath Frequency was used as the ending theme song for Black Lagoon's series finale. Today I want to explain more about this Seinen Action Anime.

Last week, I talked to an Adult Swim Helper about Black Lagoon. He posted a thread in the Black Lagoon sub-forum asking:

"If you were kidnapped and your boss didn't pay to get you back would you join with your kidnappers rather than go home? I think the fact that Revy was there had something to do with it. I think if it were just Benny and Dutch, Rock would have been long gone."

I repiled to the Adult Swim Helper:

"I would've rather gone home. Rock claims to suffer from 'Stockholm Syndrome,' but he really wanted belong to a group. I personally can't stand Revy. I'm Team Roberta. Watching Roberta kick her ass was fantastic because Revy met her match."

As a Black Lagoon fan, I can't stand Revy. I have always found Revy to be sickening. She is that eternal victim, who had such a HARD life and overcompensates for it by acting like a sociopathic misanthrope and begrudges everyone. Revy also loves denying her feelings for Rock.

Meanwhile, Roberta actually resonates with me a lot better than Revy. I may not have lied, backstabbed, and killed people but I can definitely identify with people underestimating me because of my physical appearance, living a double life, and having physical strength. 

Roberta tries to be polite. However, she is NOT opposed to using brute force. 

As I maintained a conversation with the Adult Swim Helper, I automatically noticed his justifications for Revy acting like a misanthropic, bipolar bitch to the protagonist, Rock. 

Supposedly, he has friends EXACTLY like her and being a rape survivor is an excuse to act like a bitch to everyone. I explained to the Adult Swim Helper:

"Being raped most definitely will harden anyone and make it difficult to maintain relationships with people whether it's a friendship, or a romantic relationship. Revy has streets smarts but at the same time, she spends more time trying to act tough and being a bitch to everyone. Dutch and Benny don't treat everyone the way Revy treats people. Every rape victim doesn't treat everyone horribly because of it. She may be physically strong, but she's emotionally weak and commitment phobic. Revy begrudges anyone, who lives and has lived a much better life than she did. She falls under the category of what would be considered the stereotypical 'low class lowlife' because she doesn't come from living a wealthy lifestyle and acts classless."

I am NOT  in the slightest trying to minimize sexual abuse. It is a horrible experience to endure. 

Sexual abuse is something extremely difficult to recover from physically, emotionally, psychologically, and sexually. 

Not knowing who to trust, after a traumatic experience such as sexual abuse is much harder. 

Although, NOT  every rape victim becomes a paid criminal and believes, that he/she can abuse others. Therefore, I believe that Adult Swim Helper's statements are mostly B.S.

Reading his justifications constantly made me roll my eyes behind the screen. Even though he has a right to like whichever character(s) he wants, I refuse to validate his bullshit logic.

Since we are on the topic of Black Lagoon, it is best to give a recap summary. Black Lagoon was actually based on piracy cases in the East China Sea, during the mid to late 1990's. 

The Mangaka, Rei Hiroe was inspired by the works of James Ellroy, John Woo, Quentin Tarantino, and Stephen King.

Black Lagoon opens with the protagonist, Rokuro Okajima (a.k.a. "Rock"). The protagonist is a businessman (who would also be considered a "salary man" in Japan) for Asahi Industries in Tokyo. Rock is sent by his company to deliver a disk in the East China Sea. 

In the process, his boat gets hijacked by pirates/mercenaries known as the Lagoon Company, who were hired to steal it. Revy (the only Chinese American female mercenary in Lagoon Company) chooses to hold Rock hostage, hoping he will be ransom worthy. 

Eventually, the disk becomes useless to them. In order to hide the smuggling operation, Rock's department chief, Kageyama, declares Rock as "dead" and abandons him.

Because Rock no longer works for Asahi Industries, he chooses to work for the Lagoon Company as their negotiator/translator, while supposedly suffering from "Stockholm Syndrome." Gotta love the smell of bullshit in the morning.

If you have never watched Black Lagoon, you can try watching it in the following link:

Black Lagoon Season 1: Episode 1 [English Dub] (2006)