Tokyo Ghoul Re – S3E10 – think: Sway

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Previously on Tokyo Ghoul, “play: Departed Spirit”

Well, well, like watching Lebron’s death throws against the Warriors, Ghoul showed some signs of life in think: Sway even though there’s no saving this season either. It’s a faint heartbeat, but it’s a start and hopefully something they build on with the finale right around the corner. This week meandered around until a sudden major move was made out of the blue that really hurt the show as much as it helped , like I would say about Shirazu.

Hawk -1, Shirazu – 0

Now that Urie’s progress is riding the bench, we’ve been getting a healthy helping of Shirazu since he finished off Nutcracker, which has been a surprising bright spot. Averaging a scene or two a week, they’ve kept it moving at a nice pace and avoided anything too silly, but they couldn’t help themselves and are tap dancing all over that line now. First, they Batman vs. Superman‘ed us by Martha Kent-ing Nutcracker’s final words and his sister’s maybe last(ish) words, “I want to be pretty.” It would have had more impact had it been revealed within an episode or two of Nutcracker’s but, hey, I’ll take what I can get at this point. Between a trip down memory lane to remember what he’s fighting for (money for Haru’s Evil Dead Tree face operation) and a heart to heart with fellow dove Fura, Shirazu finally comes to terms with what he must do while also realizing that it’s okay to feel the weight of taking a life, giving him +5 resolve and determination. Heavy and complicated lessons to learn that directly lead to the life changing event of (waaaaiiiiiiit for it….) getting a haircut.

If that’s where this arc ends, I’m officially out. You can’t be the caliber of show this used to be, ending a meaningful storyline on a simple haircut, not to mention getting out haircut revealed by Cobra Kai.

Gandalf, Jesus, and Just For Men… Ghouls

For some reason, almost three complete seasons in we find out there’s a higher level in the CCG than CCG Jesus, Chief Washu. Curiously, also a Washu, Tsuneyoshi outranks him as General Chairman, being best described as a emotionless Gandalf.

Our new friend (who has been there all the time wink, wink) gives Kori the green light to exterminate the Tsukiyama group on some intel they had somehow magically compiled after being completely clueless last episode.  Then again, how hard is it to match a wealthy group of ghouls symbolized by roses with a wealthy family that has an affinity to roses?

In another genius moment, they decide to send the Quinxes undercover with their new masks to do some scouting. Not too shabby if you ignore the fact they explained their plan in front of the ghoul who made the masks, oh, and that dumbass Sasaki wore the old Kaneki mask!

The resulting ghoul fear from his idiotic move spurs him to do some more digging on Kaneki and realize that he may have killed Amon. Kaneki thinks so for some reason, but any logic or weight to it is gone considering we saw Amon playing hero last week, not to mention it was pretty clear he didn’t kill him last season. Soooo, what are we doing here?

One nice touch that became pretty blatant in think: Sway has been the blackening of Sasaki’s hair. Starting off as just a patch, it has almost claimed the facial shores from temple to temple starting in episode 7. And in the midst of all this ripe territory for an Osmosis Jones style spinoff, the infighting heats up between Kori and Special Investigator Washu, who has no love for Arima or his clique.

His Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day

Of all the gimmicks and quirks they’ve given The Gourmet, they finally gave him something we haven’t seen yet:  growth (no colon pun intended). Faced with an inquisitive Sasaki who now believes it’s his destiny to learn his past, he can either teach Sasaki or rewrite their history. Shockingly, Tsukiyama does neither and walks away.

There’s no way he wouldn’t have screwed it up, whether he tried to do right or not, instead The G realized he had feelings not for just his family, and servants, but the Anteiku crew too. It’s a rare moment of unselfish, genuine emotion from our favorite sociopath.

As usual, if you shine too hard on the mean streets of Tokyo Ghoul then you know you’re downfall is around the corner. That night, Mirumo, the father we just officially met an episode ago, surrenders himself and all the red shirt servants (who could’ve got away) to the invading CCG to allow Matsumae (the last servant with a name and speaking lines left) to escape with the knocked out Gourmet. The stage is set for a regiment of Tsukiyama loyal ghouls ready to sacrifice themselves for his helicopter escape, and after the earlier scene with Sasaki and the emotional ride to the helipad, he might be the only character to escape this season with rising stock. A special shout out to whoever animated these sequences and nailed his facial expressions. It reminded me of better times when Tokyo Ghoul used to play with our emotions in a good way.

Can’t Get Right

Better times when Tokyo Ghoul used to average 8 – 9’s, yet we’ve taken a tumble haven’t we. We’re at a point where I can say this was a much better episode than we’ve had lately, however it’s merely just fine. The great moments we do get either have their momentum killed minutes later or sit upon an unearned foundation. Given that The Gourmet has been around since the beginning, you’d think his family would’ve got more love and gravitas than they did but they’ve been squandered. Does anyone even care about any of them? The Dad was the best shot at some worth and we spent the majority of his screen time wondering exactly who he was. The one servant we spent any true time with, Kanae, is on his way to being the freak of the week villain after falling prey to Eto’s Cheshire Cat routine. Forced to admit he’s in love with The Gourmet, he’ll be looking to kill Sasaki with whatever power Eto’s bone will be giving him.

Technically there has been some buildup to this point but what little there was, this is a hard left for Kanae and I’m still clueless  on what Eto wants. One second she’s trying to jog Kaneki’s memory, the next she’s sending in homemade assassins. It’s not even a given that they’ll address this, let alone it making any real sense. Oh man, just two more weeks guys.