Otaku Digest – Anime You Should have Watched In 2014
There are only a few Sundays left of 2014 and there has been some amazing titles of anime released this year – We here at Otaku Digest only got to fully cover the Fall anime season but in 2015
I will make sure to bring you all the anime there is to offer.
Since there is only a few Sundays left for 2014 I decided to give you three anime you should have watched in 2014 – these are anime I found to stand out as real contenders to become classics. These anime were mainly stand outs in their retrospective seasons. Disclaimer – I have stated that these titles are my standouts of 2014 – many titles were amazing and deserve a watch but this is based on my own viewing and which ones really gripped for an entire season.
The stand out from this season for me was “Tokyo Ghoul.”
Tokyo Ghoul first aired on the 3rd of July as part of the anime summer season – adapted by Pierrot from the original manga by Sui Ishida – the anime follows protagonist Ken Kaneki an ordinary college student going about his days a book worm, that is until the day he meets the beautiful woman by the name of Rize Kamishiro in the coffee shop known as Anteiku. Since they seemed to hit it off they arrange a date – much to Kaneki’s delight. Things turn for the worst while they walk home as she attacks Kaneki and reveals herself to be a Ghoul – human like creatures that crave and feed on human flesh. All seems lost for Kaneki until a raised area of building bars and structure fall and crush Riza. Kaneki is rescued and taken to the hospital – he is critical with no hope, until the doctors decide to transplant Riza’s organs to save Kaneki. 
Although healed Kaneki realises not all is right with him – he soon discovers due to the transplant he is now a half human/ half Ghoul being. He must now live his life within the Ghoul community in order to learn their ways and keep himself safe – most importantly to keep his identity away from humans especially the Doves.
I started this series really late – closer to the fall season than I should have because it is outright amazing. Kept fantastically short at twelve episodes this anime grips you from beginning to end, the characters are fantastic from execution of the narrative to their design, animation to die for and a musical score that compliments the narrative so well it is as if they are dancing. The narrative was so intriguing – not a simple story to play out even though at its essence it is a basic story of good vs evil – but this story completely distorts who is good and who is evil and in here lies its genius the two sides are both. To humans – they are the good and the ghouls are the evil whereas to ghouls – they are the good and humans are the evil. Both fear and loath the other and for the reason that each side is killing each other never stopping to realise what they are doing – a constant cycle of death and hate.
A fantastic narrative is one thing but it couldn’t be carried out without the amazing characters playing it out. There are so many great characters in this series that I cannot give them the full attention they deserve – all these characters balance each other out to perfection. Without a doubt Ken Kaneki the main protagonist deserves a shout out – his inner battle between the human life he knows and the hunger fuelled ghoul existence he has been dealt. He keeps calm 
composure but always shows signs he could break at any moment – keeping you gripped just to see if he makes it till the end. Not the typical anime protagonist – a nice change to the whinging and cry baby protagonists that usually arise. For every male protagonist there has to be a strong female lead to save them when they get into a pickle – for this anime that is Toka Kirishima. She is a tough leading lady who takes no messing – she stands up for herself and what she believes in even if her stance may lead to her own demise. She easily blends with the humans around her and her most important ideal is that the identity of ghouls must be kept secret from humans – whatever the cost. Her outside persona – based on her mask is “Rabbit” – she is swift and fights like no other and she will protect the ones she loves without looking back but although she tries to deny it she is kind at heart and even takes in an orphan after her parents are killed by Doves – but acts as if she is put out by it all.
Finally the last thing to mention in this series is the outstanding musical score – I cannot even begin to explain how much the score of this anime compliments it. The opening theme sets the tone of the entire anime and even feels as if it is a musical score of Kaneki the protagonist’s inner turmoil – it uses pieces of soft vocals and light musical tones before bringing hard rock tones – blending the two to perfection. This musical score continues throughout the anime – it knows where it needs that soft acoustic tone in times of calm and even using low tones to highlight sad scenes but one a battle scene comes about they bring out the harsh techno and rock blend bringing the right amount of tension and suspense to the scene.
Tokyo Ghoul – the first of my top three anime of 2014 you should have watched – this series has the perfect blend of action and horror. Tokyo Ghoul √A (root A) the second season is set to be released on the 8th of January 2015. If you have not seen it – I highly recommend it.
Have you watched Tokyo Ghoul? Like it? Dislike? Have an anime that I should have watched? Let me know in the comments!
