Tokyo Ghoul: Season 1/ Episode 8 "Circular" – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Spoiler Alert: This post may contain spoilers. Additionally, some images and text may include affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission or receive products if you make a purchase.

Overview

A deadly face off happens in which only one is allowed to live to tell what happened.

Review (with Spoilers)

This episode is mostly about discovering the ignorance of the doves/ CCG when it comes to ghouls. For while they are hell bent on genocide, it seems doves haven’t really studied what created ghouls, much less whether they could possibly integrate within society. Though, at the same time, what is also revealed is a little bit of Mr. Mado’s past. Something which explains why he lost his mind.

Topic 1: Do I Deserve To Live? – Hinami & Kaneki

Mr. Mado tries to quickly wrap up his case in the 20^th ward by luring out Hinami and Toka by putting some of Mrs. Ryoko’s remains in a bag and letting Hinami’s nose lead her to him. Showing that Mr. Mado has absolutely no respect for ghouls, even if they are children. And with Kusaba’s death, and him being soldier-like, I fear Amon may become like Mr. Mado and not care whether the person has family or if they are a child.

Something which of course Hinami doesn’t understand. After all, she grew up around ghouls and perhaps interacted with some humans at her dad’s medical practice, and none of them did any harm to her. Yet now her dad has been murdered, then her mom before her very eyes, and understandably she is left wondering if she even deserves to live? For with it seeming like she, and her kind, are given a death sentence since birth, why even fight back when all you love will be taken from you?

Topic 2: Face Off: Amon vs. Kaneki (Featuring Rize)

And those are amongst the questions Kaneki thinks about as he faces off with Amon in an attempt to keep him from ambushing Toka and Hinami. But what makes this part especially interesting is we learn that despite how big the Dove’s organization seems, there seems to be no studies on ghouls, besides their kagune, and Amon makes it seem all they know is that Ghouls feed on humans. They don’t know how they were made, whether they can live peacefully with humans, or any of that. Their sole purpose it to wipe ghouls off the face of the earth.

Something which Kaneki doesn’t get the reason for, if just because he has lived within both the human world and ghoul world. He has met humans like Mr. Mado who seem to have no issue slaughtering innocents, just as much as he has met ghouls like Tsukiyama who would kill a child just because she smells delightful. Yet, then there are the Tokas, the Nishios, the Yomo, the Utas, and more who simply want to live a normal life. With the only issue of trying to do so being that they need flesh to live.

And while Amon really knocks Kaneki around, Kaneki tries to show that ghouls can be peaceful. However, as history has almost always showed, violence usually gets the point across quicker. So, Kaneki let’s Rize come out (1) and he fights back. Let it be known though, he doesn’t fight to kill. If anything, he fights to break Amon’s Quinque. Afterwards, he yells for Amon to leave. Something his pride doesn’t originally let him do, but with Kaneki knocking him farther away from him, and Amon noticing how hard Kaneki is trying to not kill him, he eventually gets the point.

Topic 3: Face Off: Mr. Mado vs. Toka and Hinami

Leading to the main show: Mr. Mado vs. Toka. A fight which is downright dirty, especially because we learn the origins of Quinque weapons are Ghoul’s Kagune. Then, to make things worse, you learn/ realize that Mr. Mado’s quinque are Hinami’s parents’ kagune. Something which he uses to fight Toka and nearly kill Hinami. However, he doesn’t succeed.

This is due to Hinami cutting off one of Mr. Mado’s hands. Though not his left hand, something which becomes significant as the gored Toka doesn’t seem able to finish Mr. Mado off after him nearly killing her. And while she yells for Hinami to finish him off, like Kaneki it seems Hinami doesn’t want to be a murderer. Much less does she want the revenge I’m sure Toka wants for her never mentioned parents. She is just sad, misses her parents, and while it may have been a messed up way to get her parents’ remains, at least she has something to bury and visit at a grave site. Though with Mr. Mado still being an alive threat, Toka kills him.

Thus leading to the reveal of why Mr. Mado is as mad as he is: A ghoul killed his family (2). Something which seemingly drove him nuts for I guess he may not only have witnessed it all, but survived the ghoul attack. So it became his life’s work to not only wipe out ghouls so that others wouldn’t have to suffer like he did, but also get revenge by killing the ghoul who killed his family. And perhaps his story is connected to the warning Yoshimara gave Toka. For maybe he was the ghoul which devoured Mr. Mado’s family, or knew of Mr. Mado well enough to see how revenge could consume someone.

Either way, with Amon alive, and Kaneki showing him mercy, perhaps Amon may consider not all ghouls are murderous villains. Though with now Mr. Mado and Kusaba dead, who knows if Kaneki’s kindness may mean anything to him? But, in terms of Hinami, with her questioning whether she should live, Kaneki reminds her that is what her mother wanted her to do. Thus ending the episode with Yomo, who stopped Rize from getting out of control (3), Kaneki, Hinami, and Toka going home. Perhaps with Amon, in the future, providing some sense of hope for ghouls. Assuming he doesn’t become consumed by revenge.

Things To Note

1. It seems, arguably, Kaneki may have control over Rize’s powers. However, that is until she is unleashed. Once unleashed he has some control over her kagune, but not her appetite. For, as we saw before, once she protects/ helps him, her insatiable hunger comes about.
2. A one-eyed ghoul to be specific, possibly someone associated with Jason?
3. Yomo strangely appears, in his plague doctor mask, and helps Kaneki control Rize by giving him food. But, before he can give over the food, like Toka he is gored right in the gut. Something which he doesn’t react to at all physically. If anything, he just takes note that now he understands Yoshimara’s interest in Kaneki. Who he has given the nickname “Ken.”