Warning! Spoilers ahead for Choujin X chapter 11!
Mangaka Sui Ishida just unveiled the Sinker Choujin from his newest series Choujin X, and it definitely surpasses the gruesome aesthetic of Roma Hoito's kagune mutation from Tokyo Ghoul.
Ishida normally didn't capture the terrifying nature of Tokyo Ghoul's eponymous monsters by their appearance but through their mannerisms, for example, the large number of humans and ghouls they devour. Similarly, the ghoul's most defining and ubiquitous physical feature, the predatory organ known as the kagune, serves as more of a "badass" quality than a horror aesthetic. However, these organic weapons do possess the capability to venture into the grotesque if the ghoul cannibalizes its own kind more than it eats human flesh. Ghouls who fit this category transform into kakuja, whereby their kagune mutates all over their entire body. A ghoul known as Roma Hoito became a kakuja after practicing cannibalism throughout her youth, and her kagune mutation is quite frightening. Her actual body becomes embedded into the forehead of what's essentially a Lamprey fish-like monstrosity with multiple limbs.
With Choujin X, Ishida seems to base the transformations of his eponymous super-powered beings more so on kakuja than ghouls that only have one lone kagune organ. Some Choujin don't outright transform, but many of them, including the hero Tokio Kurohara, enter what is known as Beastification where their entire body mutates into some sort of creature. The most grotesque of these Choujin is the so-called Sinker Choujin (aka Tezuya Shiozaki), which can essentially be described as a baseball monster. Debuting at the very end of chapter 11, the Sinker Choujin's abilities are unknown but will most likely be revealed in the following installment. His appearance, however, proves a theory about most Choujin. Choujin take the form of something that's important or defines them. Tokio mutates into a vulture-like creature most likely because his classmates called him as such for how he acted around and benefited from his relationship with a kid named Azuma.
Before his mutation in Choujin X, Tezuya Shiozaki was a renowned pitcher of a high school baseball club who lived in extreme poverty with his younger brothers and sisters. Shiozaki had planned on using his talent to save his siblings from a life of destitution. But during the most pivotal moment during the most crucial game of his high school career, his Choujin powers awoke. Shiozaki pitched a sinker, and the ball essentially created a massive sinkhole where it landed, presumably killing the batter, catcher and umpire. Now, Shiozaki must use his Choujin form to steal money as part of a gang to support his siblings.
Mangaka Sui Ishida has definitely proven that he can create some hideous renderings with Roma Hoito's mutated kagune and Tezuya Shiozaki's Sinker Choujin form. But why kagune manifest certain ways as opposed to others remains one of the many mysteries in Tokyo Ghoul. The series' enigmatic tone and direction are one of the many aspects of Tokyo Ghoul that fans both enjoy and find themselves absolutely infuriated with. Sui Ishida most assuredly adopted this new approach in Choujin X as a way to deviate from an aesthetic he's stuck to for years, and, so far, this strategy seems to be effective as far as character growth is concerned.