Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 2

By: EyeSpyeAlex With a ton of great manga on the market right now, the latest in the Tokyo Ghoul series nearly slipped by me. I’ve eagerly been awaiting the release of Tokyo Ghoul: re, and devoured the first volume. Now with Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 2 available, I couldn’t wait to see more of what the Quinx Squad has to offer. Check out my thoughts below!Haise Sasaki and his Quinx Squad prepare a crackdown on the Nutcracker’s operation. As he makes preparations, he tries to get his unruly team trained enough to take on the ghouls they will inevitably encounter. Going undercover, the Quinx Squad discovers that the Nutcracker and members of the Aogiri tree will be at an auction in a week’s time. Sasaki presents this information to Investigator Mado, and the CCG plans a multi-team operation to take down the Nutcracker.The auction - led by Uta and his clowns - draws out a big crowd, including CCG target Big Madame. However, the situation gets tricky when the Squad recognizes one of the auction victims to be Toru Mutsuki. Mutsuki ends up being auctioned off for a solid 200 million. Before he can be collected as a prize, he escapes the Nutcracker and runs right into the clutches of Kanae. Kanae decides to taste Mutsuki before delivering him to his master, the Gourmet. The two grapple, before Kanae impales Mutsuki with his kagune.All while this is happening, the CCG is raiding the auction. Having surrounded the building, their focus is on rescuing any and all hostages. It looks they’ll have some opposition though from some onlookers. In a separate location, Eto Yoshimura and Doctor Kanou watch on, while deciding if they should release the One-Eyed Owl. Will they intervene? We’ll have to read the next Volume to find out.This volume of Tokyo Ghoul: re reintroduced a ton of characters from the original series. We saw Uta and the Gourmet again, albeit in new roles. Sasaki also runs into Touka at the new cafe, :re. While Touka doesn’t blow Sasaki’s cover, he does seem to remember her on some level. He tears up when he sees her, and is unsure why. It will be interesting to see if and when his identity cracks, and how he becomes Ken Kaneki once more.This volume also has a lot going on aesthetically. From certain character redesigns, to the costumes of the Clowns and Uta, Tokyo Ghoul Re has a lot of unique designs. One cool thing they did was showing Mutsuki’s fractured thoughts during the auction. His short and choppy thoughts coupled with a warped background really hit home his struggle between fight or flight. I definitely felt as tense as he did while reading that panel.Fans can purchase Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 2 in stores now, or read it online here at Viz.com. Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 3 will be available for purchase on February 20, 2018.Note: Viz Media provided us with a digital copy of this manga in exchange for our honest review.