Tokyo Ghoul: Void

小說 東京喰種 / Tokyo Ghoul Light Novels #2

by Shin Towada

After the unprecedented raid on the Ghoul detention center by The Aogiri Tree organization, the Commission of Counter Ghoul is working to tighten security across the twenty-three wards. However, some Ghouls begin to cause unrest in the 8th Ward, continuing the cycle of retaliation between human and Ghoul. And what of Kaneki after he left the 20th Ward? This second novel depicts the aftermath six months after the 11th Ward occupation.

Genres: Manga, Light Novel, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Novels, Short Stories

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 19, 2014

Reviews

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 5 out of 5]

1° Foschia: Va letto dopo l'attacco ad Aogiri, dopo la parte di Cochlea e prima che Amon abbia la sua nuova partner Akira. I riferimenti che Taishi Fura fa a fine capitolo 4 sono riferiti all'OVA Jack. In realtà non mi ricordavo i protagonisti di Jack ma solo che dopo sarebbero diventati parte della CCG. Oltrettutto Fura ha un alto grado. È un investigatore di Prima Classe. Se penso che era un tepistello dai capelli arancioni una volta. Come Pinto va visto/letto (prima novel con titolo Fotografia) prima di leggere :RE così sarebbe meglio vedere Jack anche prima di leggere la seconda novel. Non indispensabile però.
Questa prima storia ci introduce al personaggio di Morimine. Ma solo alla seconda storia scopriamo che Morimine aveva ragione. È stato un Ghoul come da teoria di Amon e come ci spiegherà Tsumugi dopo Koharu era la cacciatrice. Ma Koharu era al servizio dell'umano che mangiava ragazze umane Utsumi. Quindi a opera di tutto abbiamo un umano come diceva Morimine.



2° Ricamo: Sicuramente va letta dopo la prima per Morimine che abbiamo conosciuto nella storia precedente ma va pure letta dopo che abbiamo conosciuto Uta (detto Miyavi da me) nel manga perchè Asa lo venera e vorrebbe diventare sua apprendista. Si intreccia con la prima storia per Morimine ma è ambientata subito dopo. Tutti i dettagli dell'intreccio salteranno fuori solo al capitolo quarto. Al quinto getterà altri dettagli che renderanno più completa la prima storia.
Prima di tutto conosciamo l'anziana Tsumugi a cui dei Ghouls non frega niente e crea maschere per loro come Uta. Uta e Tsumugi sono amici. Asa prima scontrosa poi piano piano si conosceranno meglio e lei imparerà molto dalla'anziana Tsumugi. Arriviamo così al capitolo quarto e scopriamo che il fidanzato, da giovane, di Tsumugi era Utsumi il cosidetto padre adottivo di Koharu. Koharu è morta come da prima storia. Tuttavia la storia ci rivela un altro lato di Utsumi. Utsumi è un umano che mangiava carne umana. Allevava Ghouls, altro che padre adottivo, a cui faceva rapire le ragazze e poi smembrarle con l'intento se fosse stato scoperto di dare la colpa ai Ghouls. La maschera è opera di Tsumugi per Utsumi per uno dei suoi Ghouls allevati.
Alla morte di Tsumugi per mano di Otokaze, che in realtà non sappiamo se è lei ma da racconto di Tsumugi se allevava solo due Ghouls e Koharu era morta rimane lei, come suo personale desiderio la casa sarà lasciata ad Asa insieme al fatto di poter entrare nello stato di famiglia di Tsumugi. Come ci insegnerà poi :RE la risposta è sempre quella Ghouls e Umani possono andare d'accordo.
Bella storia davvero. Ho amato sia Tsumugi che Asa e ovviamente anche Uta sebbene sia marginale. E penso che Asa alla fine abbia fatto la cosa giusta rivelando a Morimine tutti i dettagli su Utsumi eccetto per chi ha creato la maschera.

3° Fotografia: Qui sicuramente bisogna vedere Pinto per le basi dell'amicizia tra Shū e Chie e leggere il capitolo Fotografia del volume precedente. Fotografia del volume #1 non è altro che Pinto in parole.
Cominciamo ritrovando Ikuma Momochi anche lui un Ghoul conoscente di Chie e musicista di strada. Ma è bene leggere il volume #1 della novel. Anche perchè, se ricordo bene, ebbe un bello scontro con Shū e aiuto Hide anche.
Riporto questo pezzo perchè ai concerti quando c'è solo il parterre mi sento un po' come Chie sebbene lei sia più bassa di me. Lei secondo Wikia è 130cm e io sono 160cm. Hori era andata lì apposta per vedere le idol, ma la sua bassa statura non poteva competere con quel muro di uomini grassi e alti. Era impossibile scattare qualche foto.
Comunque ancora una volta tutto ruota intorno a Utsumi. Direi che nonostante sia in fin di vita è lui il protagonista.
Con questa storia vengono aggiunti altri dettagli che ormai messi insieme costruiscono tutta la storia di fondo. Prima di tutto scopriamo che Utsumi si trova in ospedale per colpa di Otokaze cui vero nome è Kazane Mitsuba e madre della idol che Chie sta cercando di salvare dalle grinfie di Shū. Anche Otokaze è in ospedale e questo magari spiega perchè era sparita. Tentato suicidio e anche se non è specificato credo che a salvarla sia stato Morimine. Oltre che è umana e quindi non può avere ucciso Tsumugi.
Le storie con Chie che stratega nell'usare Ken per sbarazzarsi di Shū o sottonetterlo meglio dire e Shū 💖 sono bellissime. Sempre in agguato per la foto migliore.


4° Ferite: Questa quarta storia è più corta e ci mostra un Hinami preoccupata per Kaneki dopo Aogiri. Preoccupata perchè Kaneki è andato via e non sa se ritornerà. Lui era un fratellone per lei. Un fratellone che le ha anche insegnato a leggere quei difficili kanji nei suoi libri preferiti.

5° Misato: Storia di questa Misato, di cui davvero non ricordo, che pare abbia una cotta per Amon. Ma chi non l'avrebbe quando Amon è il più figo?
Ma quella delle ciambelle è stupenda. Solo Kuroiwa poteva mangiare quella sottospecie di ciambella bruciata senza sentirsi male. Ma la parte migliore è quando Misato va a cercare Kōtarō e non trovandolo regala Jūzō queste ciambelle bruciate, che sarebbere state per Kōtarō, e Jūzō dice che le avrebbe date a Seidō. Ciambelle bruciate degne per quella nullità di Seidō. Seidō vale più cone Ghoul in :RE. Come parte del CCG è solo una nullità. Comunque mi stavo piscando addosso dalle risate.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I definitely waited too long to finish this because a lot of what I read before was super hazy.

This was okay. I found myself getting kind of bored. I like how the stories intertwine, but for the most part the stories just weren't that interesting. We follow irrelevant side characters that aren't even in the main series so I don't feel invested enough to care. The first three stories were interesting enough, but the last two were just meh. I also don't really like the writing, which I don't know if that's on the author or the translator. It's awkwardly worded in some places which is most likely the translation, but then it some parts it feels over explained, which could be the author? I don't know either way not a fan. Oh well, I can finally continue with the manga now!

[Elizabeth (Elzburg) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compared to the first Tokyo Ghoul light-novel-spin-off-short-story-collection, Void was… Boring. All of the stories were all pretty consistently mellow. There were parts of different stories that had action, but it was definitely an overall low-key collection. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, but I did find myself enjoying this book less than I enjoyed the first one.

The first story is told from Kotaro Amon’s perspective, and I was really excited to read a story about him and the CCG. Sadly it ended up not really being much of a compelling read due to it being quite slow. This was the longest story of the collection, but I feel like it could have been condensed to move the story along faster. Though I do understand if it was written in this way on purpose in order to create tension or suspense, since I'm pretty sure this story was meant to read as some type of mystery thriller. If that is indeed the case, it didn’t really work out for me because I never really felt any tension or suspense. However, this story did work well to set up the backbone of what most of the other stories in the collection were about. I really love the way the stories intertwine with each other.

The timeline is usually pretty easy to figure out as it is said clearly that these stories are set after the attack on Aogiri Tree and the great ghoul escape at the jail which happened at the end of volume eight. (Eight or nine? One of them…) Except the timeline in the second story was confusing as hell. I got a lot of questions about the timeline in this story, as there seem to be some inconsistencies with the timelines in the other stories that don’t add up.

So, we meet the old lady and she’s been chilling in her house. The young ghoul starts to chill with her in her house everyday, so we know she’s not leaving. Then the old lady gets informed that her old lover is sick, so they all go to the eighth ward to visit him. This must be the first time the old lady goes, since we have seen that she doesn’t leave her ward for all this time. But then, they return home and the old lady gets shanked! After only her FIRST time going to the eighth ward. This doesn’t make any sense because in the first story we saw the old lady with the other lady ghoul many times, yet we didn’t see them meet ONCE in this second story! So what the hell??? Did they do some time skip or something, where they visited the eighth ward more than once? And if they did then where was the young ghoul, because she always followed the old lady everywhere? So confused about this.

The last story in each of these collections seem to be more for comic relief than anything actually useful. Sui Ishida and his strange sense of humor in the midst of this horror series.

This is all quite negative so far, especially for a four-star review. Despite some bumps and some slow-moving stories, it was still relatively enjoyable overall, and it still had the spark which makes these books so worthwhile in my opinion.

The best part about these Tokyo Ghoul spin-off stories are how they feel so connected to the main story. It doesn't feel at all like just reading a random fan fiction. Instead it feels like we're getting a special behind-the-scenes insider's look into the world and characters that we otherwise wouldn't be able to get from just reading the manga. It feels like an actual extension of the series, and like we're getting sneak-peeks into what's to come. It's awesome. And this was absolutely enough to keep this book at a high rating.

I read some reviews about people complaining about the violence in the first book, so, well, this second book is the right one for you then, lol. Though I don’t know what you’re doing reading this series if you're not okay with violence.


Click to read all of my Tokyo Ghoul Reviews :
Volumes: 1 ★ 2 ★ 3 ★ 4 ★ 5 ★ 6 ★ 7 ★ 8 ★ 9 ★ 10
Light Novels: Days, Void
Other: One-shot, School of Ghoul

[Aleksandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not a bad read at all. I admit after underwhelming Tokyo Ghoul Days LN I didn’t have high hopes for TG Void, but my library had a copy so I decided to take a chance on it.
The book consists of five short stories featuring beloved characters as well as new faces; the stories are all connected by the case of missing girls. I enjoyed all of them more or less equally.
I miss Tokyo Ghoul, it was great to be back.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Days and Past, but Void makes them look like amateur hour. The nuances and layers of connection between the characters is crazy good. Who would have guessed Chie Hori and Ikuma Momochi would be my new favourite characters?! How the hell did they worm their way into the heart of things.

I don't know anything at all about Re: but I really hope everyone is still around because I'm not ready to let them go. This has been one hell of a ride.

[Bren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each of these stories are well put together and allow you to see more into some of the side characters. I loved how the stories were interconnected but they lacked interest to me. They were enjoyable with the first one starting out pretty action packed and the last one ending with cuteness and humor.

[Rosenblue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE IT!

[Gabriela Kozhuharova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories are drawn out a bit, but I like how all of them are intertwined.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following up on my review of 東京喰種―トーキョーグール― 日々 / Tokyo Ghoul: Days (which can be found here), I immediately grabbed the second book in this series of Tokyo Ghoul light novels. And devoured it just as quickly as I did the first one. They have this way of captivating me the same way the first season of the manga did. (And I'm glad I'm able to step into this world again while waiting to read the second season.)


As a whole, I feel like I've felt more satisfied with the first novel, but this one seems better put together to have a chance as a standalone book. Similarly as in the first book, the stories are made so that you can read them independently (especially because each of them focuses on different characters not really interacting with the ones from the other stories), this book differs in structure as the stories actually follow each other in terms of chronology with one picking up roughly where the previous one ended, adding even more elements and depth to what has already been told. (Except for the last chapter Misato which is more like a parallel story.)

The main theme is also different from the previous book. While Embroidery follows the same line of thought as the first book by trying to show how friendship can develop between humans and ghouls, the rest of this book goes on a different path, Heat Haze and Photography being more along the lines of the manga, while Injury Name's main point seem to be to give us a deeper insight into events from the manga.

And then, there's the thing that bothered me in the previous book (reminder for those who haven't followed my previous review: the narration switching from first to third person) that was not in this book, so that makes this one better in terms of writing for me. Like I said earlier: better put together.


Once again. Quick breakdown story by story.

1- Heat Haze: This story is much longer than the others (with about 70 pages against 30-40 for other stories in my edition), partly because it has more to tell, partly because it also serves to set up the context leading to the other stories. I never really liked Amon, and it again showed in this story. I mean, I don't necessarily dislike him, but he's just kinda boring to follow. On the other hand, I really enjoyed discovering Morimine (who's, once again, someone I don't remember seeing in the manga?) without whom the story would have much less flavor. The whole story itself stands a some kind of mini-thriller/investigation and was quite interesting though. (And I also really liked how there were actually more to it to be revealed in the following stories.)
2- Embroidery: Possibly my favorite. (Now that I think about it, I guess I just have a soft spot for stories about human/ghoul friendships.) It gives a couple more elements about the events investigated in the first story, but the goal was definitely to show us how ghouls and humans can develop strong bonds. Seeing Asa grow from being this rude annoying girl/ghoul to a caring human being towards Tsumugi was really endearing.
3- Photography: HORI AND SHU ARE BACK. The story isn't anything fantastic, but Hori and Shu's personalities make it worth reading. Also, that illustration of Ken is splendid!
4- Injury Name: Emotionally speaking, I'd say this is the best one. Seeing everyone care for one another is just... it broke my heart a little. (With that being said, this is probably the hardest to follow if you haven't read the manga, because it's deeply linked to the events in it.)
5- Misato: I found it kinda boring at first, but it ended up being quite funny. Feels more like a bonus chapter (like the last chapter about Yoshida in the previous book).


I know that the third light novel recently came out here (I've seen piles of it when I got the two first ones), so I might go and pick it up tomorrow. See you guys for 東京喰種―トーキョーグール― 昔日 / Tokyo Ghoul: Past very soon!

[Sarul Sakulthong · Rating 5 out of 5]

เล่มนี้เป็นนิยายเล่มที่ 2 ในโลกของ Tokyo Ghoul โดยมีเนื้อเรื่องอยู่ระหว่างมังงะเล่ม 8 และ 9 ไม่ต่างกับนิยายเล่มแรก (Tokyo Ghoul: Days) Void ได้ช่วยขยายโลกของ Tokyo Ghoul ให้กว้างและดูมีมิติในมุมที่เราไม่เห็นในมังงะ อ่านแล้วรู้สึกดำดิ่งและรับรู้ความรู้สึกของบางตัวละครที่ไม่ถูกเปิดเผยในมังงะมาก่อน โดยแต่ละตอนในเล่มเป็นเรื่องสั้นที่ถักทอเกี่ยวข้องกันได้อย่างลงตัว โดยรวมก็ยังอ่านได้วางไม่ลงไม่ต่างจากนิยายเล่มแรก หากเป็นแฟนของ Tokyo Ghoul รับ���องไม่ผิดหวัง

ปล.ผมแนะนำให้อ่านเรียงตามลำดับไทม์ไลน์ นั่นคืออ่านมังงะเล่ม 8 จบให้มาอ่านนิยายเล่มนี้ก่อน แล้วค่อยอ่านมังงะเล่ม 9 เพราะตัวละครหลายๆตัวในนิยายเล่มนี้จะมีบทบาทต่อไปในมังงะเล่ม 9 เป็นต้นไป และการอ่านเรียงแบบนี้จะได้อรรถรสมากกว่าไว้อ่านหลังมังงะจบ

[Wandering Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, rounded to 5.

Even though we don't get much in the way Kaneki action 🥺, I still really enjoyed this LN. Also, because it's told more as a complete side story than a collection of short ones, I liked this better than Tokyo Ghoul: Days.

The main plot (-> a decades long case of high school girls going missing) was interwoven through all the chapters, each one told by a different character, thus offering a different viewpoint and portion of the story. It was fun having that "Ah-Ha!" lightbulb moment when each new clue clicked into place. Interconnected short stories like these give the type of whole world depth that I enjoy and sometimes miss in LNs. 💜

I'd definitely recommend if you love TG and want to spend a little more time with these beloved characters.

[Dyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aku suka sekali pengaturan timeline dari tiap cerita, dan bagaimana kelima cerita tersebut saling berhubungan. Kalau sudah baca komiknya, kumcer ini mengambil periode waktu setelah pembobolan penjara Cochlea, pasca rambut Kaneki berubah putih semua karena stress tingkat tinggi.
.
Selain diperkenalkan pada tokoh2 baru, ada juga tokoh2 lama dari Tokyo Ghoul: Days (kumcer pertama) yang muncul kembali.
Ngenes sama nasib Kaneki sudah tentu... Tapi ada juga perasaan ngenes sama Kotaro Amon juga, padahal tadinya aku bomat sama dia.
Tsukiyama tetap juara absurdnya 😅
.
Sekarang jadi ngga sabar pengen baca kumcer ketiganya, Tokyo Ghoul: Past.

[Kirsty Le Dain · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say? Like the first in this series of light novels, this book managed to bring some extra detail to the Tokyo Ghoul universe that is much appreciated. Some of the stories add context and texture to some characters that don’t have enough time to shine in the manga and fills in voids of time that are missing in the timeline.
I love the stories of Tsukiyama and his friend Chie Hori and I loved being able to see the thoughts of Hinami after Kaneki left Anteiku.
Just good some good shit.

[A.J. Culpepper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and, for a light novel, spectacular. Really well developed short stories that flow into each other making for a cohesive over all story arc that is nothing short of a pleasure to read. One actually had me in tears and the last one...well, it was a great way to end the emotional roller coaster with a laugh. Exceedingly well written. Highly recommend!

[Ernest Ridley · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are, in some way, filler to the Tokyo Ghoul universe.

I wouldn't say its BAD filler. It shows us the lives of some of the other main characters and a few smaller characters and gives us a glimpse of what happens in between events.

If you really like learning about your favorite characters then these will be worth reading.

[Melati Tegugur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ini lebih menarik dari yg Days. Karena sensei konsisten mempertahankan 1 benang merah untuk merangkai cerita pendek yg ada. Beda dengan sebelumnya yg terkesan tidak beraturan dan benar2 terlihat seperti kumcer. Kalau yg Void ini udah bukan kaya kumcer. Jd ga bingung pas baca.

[Wan Hariz · Rating 4 out of 5]

All 5 short stories are connected somehow. I like it. It's like you are reading a mystery novel. Shin Towada did a great writing on this one. Plus, it shows how much the characters developed throughout the 6 months gap between volume 8 and volume 9.

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun one. I liked the second and fifth stories the best, the fifth one making me laugh out loud a whole lot, it was so funny. One more TG light novel to go!

[Kailen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is fairly bland, but if you like the characters, it's still a fun read!

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

391 - 2018

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful addition to the Tokyo Ghoul world. Beautifully connected collection of short stories. I highly recommend the second Embroidery.

[Fanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

byla dobra i když jsem byl malí

[František Klodner]

nejlepší knížka ze sady

[Feil Abejaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a decent read, but I felt that Days and Past were better! Plus there were a few spelling errors in Void.

[Ff]

5ffcvgumko,llp[

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very touching stories. I found myself crying while reading some. The last story was my favorite and it was a nice way to end the novel. I needed a laugh!!!

[Bookish Dungeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suka banget sama ceritanya, terutama saat masing-masing karakter mempunyai keterkaitannya di setiap cerita.

Full review at IG book.dungeon

[Dom Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars***

[Kayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[Filip Bula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ke světu tokijského ghúla jsem se po letech vrátil pomocí této light novely a už se nemůžu dočkat, až si přečtu zbylé dvě. Byl jsem mile překvapen, jak je knížka napsaná.