Kaneki (Masataka Kubota), a shy bookworm, inadvertently has the organs of a ghoul transplanted into him, making him a hybrid. Like ghouls, he now can eat only human flesh, and drink coffee, and has tentacles that pop out of his back. He knows nothing of surviving as a ghoul, so is taken in by some kindly ghouls who are always under threat from the human anti-ghoul taskforce.
Some amine tropes suck. No, it isn’t a matter of culture. They are just bad storytelling. Anime fans like to ignore these as it is harder to justify their fandom if they acknowledge them.
Tokyo Ghoul is based on an amine series, and the pertinent tropes are the passive, weak, cowardly, socially inept, overly emotional, young main character, and the weird, antisocial cop with unruly hair. The second is annoying, but the first tears down many anime titles and live-action films based on them, including this one. It isn’t fatal as there’s some fun to be had, but it sure does knock it down a ways. Waiting and waiting and waiting, for Kaneki to do anything other than blubber is not entertainment.
The world of ghouls and humans has potential. It is bright and colorful, even at night. The ghoul coffeehouse works as a place for the worthwhile characters (those who are not Kaneki and the cop) to meet and chat. And the combat isn’t bad if you don’t mind the cheesy CGI (and that a sniper rifle and grenade would solve the problems).
There isn’t that much to the story since it is primarily an introduction to the world and monsters, but it’s enough. If they had replaced Kaneki with a reasonable facsimile of a person and drop the ridiculous—top of their lungs—moralizing, it would have been a reasonable adventure yarn with lots of blood. As is, it is watchable for those who can put up with its hefty flaws.