What happens when college student Kaneki finally goes on a date with his crush Rize? Well, she turns out to be a ghoul and tries to eat him. When the smoke clears on this situation, Kaneki is part-human, part-ghoul, and has to figure out how to navigate as different person–holding to his “human values” (not eating people, etc.) while fighting his nature (only human flesh can satisfy his hunger).
It’s a philosophical sort of manga, with references to Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Herman Hesse (“Who would be born must first destroy the world”). Volume 1 was super-interesting, and if the following mangas are as engaging, I’m going to be reading this one for a while.
Ultracrepidator 