Tokyo Ghoul: Past

小說 東京喰種 / Tokyo Ghoul Light Novels #3

by Sui Ishida, Shin Towada

Before the steel frame incident in the 20th Ward, there were reports of Ghouls lurking among the masses in Tokyo, carefully stalking their prey. This novel covers the events that occurred before the opening act of Tokyo Ghoul—a time when Kaneki was still human, the Kirishimas still lived together, and Rize enjoyed her feasts.

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

168 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 19, 2014

About the author

Also known as 石田スイ.

Sui Ishida (石田スイ, Ishida Sui), born December 28, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese manga artist
In 2010 he won the Young Jump 113th Grand Prix award with Tokyo Ghoul (東京喰種, Tōkyō Kushu). In March 2011, the same oneshot was published in the 2nd Issue of Miracle Jump. And later in September 2011, Tokyo Ghoul started as a series in Weekly Young Jump 2011-41 Issue. In December 2011, he made another oneshot about Rize that was published in December 2011 in Miracle Jump 6th Issue, which was later collected in the 6th volume of Tokyo Ghoul.
In 2013, he also started Tokyo Ghoul: Jack in the digital magazine Jump LIVE.

Sui Ishida is his penname; nobody knows his real name or what he looks like.

Reviews

[Nouf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hide's and ken's chapter ached my heart!
Thank you Shin towada for writing these three masterpieces 💙💙
I can never get over tokyo ghoul, it's a curse.

[Cowcannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe the translation is the issue, I've read this in English.

I have never read anything this horrendous that I had to pay for. The prose is on par with a high schooler who had to finish their assignment during the break before class. No creativity whatsoever the stories don’t have any semblance of an arc.
The quality of writing is just unbelievable. You would barely get a passing grade for this in literature class istg.

This is poor quality fan-fiction that you would skip on ao3 after the first paragraph, but it has fancy cover art and its Tokyo Ghoul!!!

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

After 日々 (Days) and 空白 (Void), I'm back with 昔日 (Past) which is, according to Ishida's note at the end, the last one (or maybe not? *fingers crossed*) of this series of light novels. If you read my previous reviews (here and there if you didn't), you may know that I LOVE this series of books and what they add to the Tokyo Ghoul universe. Well, let me just tell you that I enjoyed this one as much as I did the previous ones. (Please refer to previous reviews as I'm often too lazy to repeat what I've said once and still applies, especially when there's only been a couple of days in between.)

As in the previous light novels, there's some focus on relationships between ghouls and humans, but this one is -as the title indicates- about the past (aka. from before the events of the manga)... And it's actually particularly more focused on family. In particular, Solitary Reading and Matching could have been stories from a world without ghouls. (The only reason why they matter here (and have their place in this book) is because they're about important characters from the manga.) Different take on the characters, but nonetheless highly interesting.

Side note: In terms of structure, it's closer to Days than to Void, with the stories barely intersecting one another and being more parallel in time.


Usual breakdown story by story.

1- Different Kind: This first story is about Toka. Initially her relationship with her brother Ayato, but then what was possibly the first encounter that pushed her towards the human world. Consistently with the manga and the stories in the previous novels, Toka's understanding of how humans think is extremely limited. And I always like how we get to follow her through her discovering that not all humans only consider ghouls as their natural enemy to be eradicated.
2- Solitary Reading: KEN'S LIFE BEFORE HE BECAME A GHOUL. MORE OF HIDE'S AWESOME FRIENDSHIP. That's it, that's all you need to know. Really though, this is a really endearing story. (Yeah, there's probably one too many "really" in there but please ignore it?)
3- Femme Fatale: This is about Lize (Rize? It's written as "Lize" in the French edition, but I feel like it should be Rize?), and Banjo's admiration for her. A most definitely interesting story, and I like how it almost reads like a mini-thriller.
4- Insincerity: Mado Family kicking ass. Nice to have the POV of the one other person who didn't think of Mado as just being a freak. And I like how it followed up on the little boy from Toka's story.
5- Matching: This is about Nishino, aka. Nishio's human friend. And her meeting with Nishio. What can I say except that I love this one? (Apparently, I tend to love stories that try to tear your heart apart.) I don't think I can explain properly without spoiling the whole story, but basically it's first heartbreaking, and then quite adorable, and then it tries to break what little is left of your heart.
6- Devil Ape: On its own, I didn't find the story that interesting, but that's mostly because I feel like Koma didn't have enough presence in the manga for me to really care about his background story. However, I really enjoyed getting some insight into how the Antique café became what it is, and how the owner Yoshimura brought everyone together to make the 20th more peaceful.


Now that I think about it, I may be a bit sad that there wasn't a story about Shu (the Gourmet) this time to lighten up the mood, but I guess we have to let others take up the stage sometimes...

I'm probably gonna look for JACK next, so see you guys around! Hopefully very soon, but I have so much catching my attention lately in terms of books (mostly following up on other books I've read) that it may take a moment... especially since this one is only available as digital release.

[Sam de Laat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so for me it started out pretty bad. I didn’t like the writing and I didn’t like the stories. But when I really got into it and got back into that ghoul world, it got better. I like the characters. Still, it isn’t written well but I can live with it haha..

[Flemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75/5

[Dyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The six stories in this book:
Different Kind
About Toka and Ayato Kirishima, and how they have different opinions about ghouls and humans, how they went separate ways.
Solitary Reading
About Ken Kaneki and Hideyoshi Nagachika during their highschool years. My heart aches for Kaneki (again!), and I have more positive opinion about Nagachika now.
Femme Fatale
About Rize "the binge-eater" Kamishiro and Kazuichi Banjo. Rize is such a strong, crazy and interesting character, I almost feels sorry for what happened to her.
Insincerity
About Akira Mado and her father, Kureo Mado. You know what? I don't care about them. Need I remind you again what Kureo Mado did to Hinami's parents? I'm still not okay with that.
Matching
About Nishiki Nishio and Kimi Nishio. Their relationship is so sweet, but I still don't understand why Nishiki is interested in Kimi in the first place. Kimi's back story is very heart-breaking though.
Devil Ape
Of course, it's about Enji Koma. I wish there's more to him and Kaya Irimi's backstory... I don't get that in this (very) short story. It only explains why they're so willing to sacrifice themselves for Master Yoshimura, how eager they are to get redemption.

Overall, this is a must-read for Tokyo Ghoul fans. I'm not a fan of the story-telling style, but I love the story.

[Wan Hariz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple short stories for novice reader! As a Tolyo Ghoul fan, this is a must story as it provides backstory for several major characters in the main manga. The whys are all answered here. Great!

[Francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I picked this up assuming it was number 1 and didn't check because I'm a dumbass.

I really, really liked this. The manga has enough heart and power to bring me to tears at times but written books are my true comfort zone and this book only brought me more love for these characters. Each story was bittersweet; each gave us a glimpse of a simpler, happier time but never let us forget that it won't last and that there is so much horror to come.

I adored how the author kept a simple thread of connection through all of the stories through overheard conversations. That was a really nice touch.

I haven't decided yet if I'll read them in complete reverse order, or try to correct course. I might just close my eyes and spin around before picking one.

[Danielle Stiglich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little stories of the past

[Wandering Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the 3 LNs, but I'm not upset that I read it. Of the six short stories though, only Kaneki and Hide's really got any emotion from me. It really showed how important they are to each other. I love seeing healthy friendships between males portrayed in books.

[Rhitta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Tokyo Ghoul! <3

[Sushi (寿司)]

#001 Specie Differenti: Storia sul passato di Tōka e Ayato. La Jpop ha usato il macron, miracolo, per il nome Shōta ma ha lasciato Tōka (Touka) con la u invece. Però è già un passo avanti.

[Kirsty Le Dain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t really anything for this light novel that I didn’t say for the others. I absolutely loved these mini novelisations of events in the Tokyo Ghoul universe. What I especially loved about this collection was that they revolved much more closely around events that we hear about or actually see in the Tokyo Ghoul manga but are explored more deeply here.
I think my favourite of the stories was Solitary Reading, which is a short story that explores Kaneki’s life before Kamii and his relationship with his mother’s sister whilst living with her after his mother’s death. I feel like the relationship between Hide and Kaneki is at its most heartfelt during this story. Besides that I also loved Matching Femme Fatale.
I’m really sad that this is the last in the series as I would absolutely love to read more of these as it adds such a richness to the world and characters of Tokyo Ghoul.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for fans of Tokyo Ghoul. Unlike the first two book of the series which take place during the show/manga, this one takes place before the manga/show starts giving you a look into some of the characters backgrounds. My favorite story in this one is Matching, the story of how Kimi and Nishiki meet.

[Bookish Dungeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Direview kali ini, aku akan sedikit menjabarkan siapa-siapa saja yang akan diceritakan masa lalunya oleh Sui Ishida-sensei dan Shin Towada-sensei. Ada enam pasang karakter yang saling berkaitan disetiap ceritanya. Mulai dari Toka dan Ayato; Akira dan Kureo Mado; Hide dan Kaneki; Kimi dan Nishiki; Banjo dan Rize; terakhir adalah Irimi dan Koma.

Kalau kalian mengikuti serial anime Tokyo Ghoul season 1 dan 2, kalian tidak akan asing dengan karakter diatas dan justru kalian akan lebih memahami tentang karakter-karakter tersebut (dalam arti masalah mereka atau bagaimana mereka bisa menjadi seperti itu).

Serial PAST ini benar-benar spin-off dari Tokyo Ghoul, pure spin-off tidak seperti serial Days dan Void yang masih memiliki keterkaitan timeline waktu dengan serial animenya.

PAST ini akan menceritakan flashback satu persatu karakter, baik karakter utama maupun pendukung. Yang kita pertanyakan seperti, kenapa Kimi bisa pacarana dengan Nishiki yang ternyata adalah ghoul? Atau bagaimana kehidupan Toka dan Ayato sebelum mereka berseteru di serial animenya? Semuanya jawabannya terkemas dalam serial PAST ini.

Aku akan jelaskan singkat mengenai isi 6 cerita yang ada didalam novel seri Past ini.

Toka dan Ayato—diceritakan dalam judul Differend Kind, menceritakan kehidupan kakak beradik setelah kepergian sang Ayah sekaligus Toka sudah mengenal kafe bernama Anteiku.

Akira dan Kureo Mado—diceritakan pada Insincerity, ini lebih fokus dengan Akira yang masih menjadi calong investigator Ghoul, berusaha untuk memecahkan kasus Ghoul bertopeng Kepik.

Hide dan Kaneki—dalam judul Solitary Reading, mengenai Hide yang mencari buku peninggalan ayah Kaneki yang dibuang seenaknya dengan Bibinya.

Kimi dan Nishiki—dalam judul Matching. Disini kita akan mengetahui bagaimana Kimi bertemu dengan Nishiki yang ada Ghoul, setelah meninggalnya keluarga Kimi karena kecelakaan.

Banjo dan Rize—pada judul Femme Fatale, adalah awal mula karakter Rize diperkenalkan dengan Banjo di Distrik 11. Dalam cerita ini Banjo berusaha untuk membersihkan nama Rize dari pelanggaran aturan di Distrik 11.

Irimi dan Koma—keduanya akan dipertemukan pada judul Devil Ape. Dimana menceritakan Koma yang bekerja di Anteiku bersama ketua Black Dobers—Irimi.

Masih tetap gaya penulisan dan alur cerita yang mengesankan bagiku, membuatku terus membaca hingga selesai. Dari 6 cerita spin-off tersebut, ada dua cerita yang paling aku sukai.

Kisah pertemuan Kimi dan Nishiki dan Irimi dan Koma (alias Devil Ape dan Black Dobers). Kenapa aku suka itu? Karena kemistri mereka sangat kuat, lihat saja diserial anime Tokyo Ghoul season 1 diperlihatkan hubungan Nishiki yang mati-matian menyelamatkan Kimi dari perburuan Shuu Tsukiyama.

[Tayfun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das "Alte Zeiten" Light Novel ist sooo gut. Das Szenario spielt vor dem ganzen Vorfall mit Ken. Man erfährt über die Vergangenheit mancher Charaktere und wie diese zu dem geworden sind, die sie jetzt sind. Mir hat ganz besonders das Kapitel mit Ken und Hide gefallen. Es hat mir das Herz zerbrochen, was der Hauptcharakter alles durchmachen musste. Ich konnte mich erschreckend gut in beide Figuren hineinfühlen. Ich hab mich verstanden gefühlt, was mich sehr glücklich gemacht hat.

Ehrlicherweise muss ich zugeben, diesmal haben mir nicht mehr Illustrationen gefehlt, ganz im Gegenteil, somit hatte man als Leser die Möglichkeiten seine Imagination ins Leben zu rufen (und es ist mehr Platz zum Lesen da :)). Ich wollte nicht, dass es endet, das hat es aber und das hat es sehr gut hinbekommen. Jedes Kapitel hatte eine angemessene Seitenanzahl, als auch Inhalt (klar kann man sich wünschen, dass es mehr Seiten/Inhalt gewesen wären, aber das wäre meckern auf hohem Niveau (was ich eigentlich gut kann, aber in diesem Fall lasse ich es sein))
Ich bin schon sehr gespannt wie die anderen Light Novels auf mich wirken werden.

“It's better to be hurt than to hurt others. Nice people can be happy with just that.”
― ishida sui (Ken Kaneki)

[Razorchann03 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love Tokyo ghoul tho the anime was not it
The manga was absolutely incredible and the novel series too
This is the last book out of the three novels and I gotta say I loved it so much
Each story teaches u some kind of little life lesson tho it’s mainly related to ghouls and the Tokyo ghoul franchise
Kaneki and hide chapter intrigued me the most! Kanekis love for books and hide helping him to find the books when kanekis auntie threw them out was so adorable
I really loved that chapter and the chapter of kimi and nishiko was super cute!!! That chapter just shows how love can really heal and make u forget the sadness of old memories. Nishiko really saved Kimi despite not knowing about the death of her late family
Absolutely loved this novel! If ur a big fan of Tokyo ghoul, this gives an insight on how life was for each characters before kaneki had turned into a half ghoul and their paths crossed. Definitely recommend if ur a fan of Tokyo ghoul like me!!

[Răzvan Timar · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far I've only watched the anime, but damn, this really got me excited to pick up the manga! As far as stories go, none of the six that make up this book is groundbreaking or unheard of, but, still, every single one has it's own charm. Revisiting the chatacters that I got to know during the 4 seasons of the show and seeing what their lives have been like before the incidend with Kaneki was like returning home after being away for a a very, very, very long time. It's a quick and enjoyable read, that will get you emotional more than once. A must read for any Tokyo Ghoul fan. And, yes, I know that this is the last one of the light novels that were published, but chronologically it's the first one in the series and an excellent starting point.

[Gerin Fajardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tokyo Ghoul Past by Shin Towada follows a series of characters within the Tokyo Ghoul universe created by Sui Ishida. These characters are seperated by short stories but are connected with intertwining plot points further developing both the story and characters. This novel acted as a prequel to the the Tokyo Ghoul storyline, building upon the ever so expansive world.

As a big fan of the series I loved this novel. It stayed true to the Tokyo Ghoul universe. It has a good mixture of feelings in the novel. Containing, sadness, happiness, tense moments, with the occasional funny ones. Overall I loved this novel and would definitely recommend it to any Tokyo Ghoul fans out there.

[Monika Holy Mpr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Menceritakan masa lalu dari beberapa karakter dalam Tokyo Ghoul seperti Toka dan Ayato, kisah Kaneki saat tinggal bersama bibi nya, Akira Mado saat masih sekolah investigator, Banjo yg tiba2 menjadi pemimpin ghoul district 11, kisah nishiki bertemu dengan Nishio serta kisah bagaimana devil ape bisa bergabung dengan cafe anteiku.


Menurutku kisahnya ringan dan cocok menemani waktu luang.

Banyak kisah yg membuatku penasaran ketika membaca komiknya dan rasa penasaran itu mulai terungkap dalam novel ini.

[Trisha-Lee]

This was an amazing read! It isn't like the other Tokyo Ghoul books where you have to read it from left to write, you read it from right to left and surprisingly it's with actual storyline dialoge and stating what each character is doing. It's different, yet perfect. I would recommend this to anyone who has read the Tokyo Ghoul series, likes manga, anime, and has a stomach for a little bit of gore. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

[Sarul Sakulthong · Rating 5 out of 5]

เล่มนี้เป็นนิยายเล่มที่ 3 ในจักรวาล Tokyo Ghoul ซึ่งเหตุการณ์ทุกตอนเกิดขึ้นก่อนมังงะเริ่มต้นขึ้น ตัวนิยายย้อนให้เราได้เห็นเรื่องราวในอดีตของตัวละครหลายๆตัว ซึ่งผู้เขียนสามารถตรึงคนอ่านไว้กับหนังสือได้อย่างงดงาม อ่านแล้ววางไม่ลงเช่นเคย รู้ตัวอีกทีก็จบเล่มเสียแล้ว

ปล.ถ้าถามผมว่าควรอ่านเล่มนี้ตอนไหน ผมคิดว่าหลังจากอ่าน Tokyo Ghoul ภาคแรกครบ 14 เล่มแล้วค่อยมาอ่านเล่มนี้น่าจะเหมาะที่สุด เพราะจะทำให้เราอินกับนิยายเล่มนี้ได้อย่างเต็มที่

[O. E. Laguna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Fun Book to Read

This was a fun little book to read, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of Tokyo Ghoul. However, some of the writing was a bit awkward, but I feel that this has more to do with it being translated from Japanese to English. Either way, I enjoyed reading the backstories of many prominent characters from the series, and I wish there were more novels from the Tokyo Ghoul universe.

[Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories about the Tokyo Ghoul cast- I think this might be a translation issue but I didn't enjoy this at all, just very stilted and boring, with a lot of the information already being told to us in the main story. That being said my favourite story was Akira's, as I felt like this gave us some insight into her that was new and it helps that I just like her character a lot. The last line? Ate so hard, especially knowing she told Amon she hated him.

[Dika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm like how they explore rize and banjou story.
Oh,other story are great tho

1.Don't kill on another ghoul's hunting ground
2."Residence Tax" was due at the end of the month
3.One meal a month
4.Never leave tracks.
5.

5.......................................................................................

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kaneki’s chapter was my favorite…

Hide truly is the friend that we, the introvert bookworms, need in our lives!!!! He told that b*tch what’s up and got Kaneki’s books back … *tears*

Also, I read this book first but I guess it’s the third in the light novel series? lol I was just going in chronological order I guess!!!!

[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.

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the back, both authors say this is the last light novel. If that's the case, I'm sad, because, while I've not read a lot of Japanese light novels, these were certainly some of the best. Looking forward to continuing the manga series!

[Rosenblue · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really liked it.

[ベティ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved to read more about these characters, to find out more about their past and lives.