Warning: Spoilers for Choujin X volume one (chapter 1-6)As mangaka Sui Ishida's follow-up series to his beloved Tokyo Ghoul manga, Choujin X was bound to draw comparisons to his earlier work from fans who have hungered for more stories. Lucky for them, direct correlations and other allusions abound in Choujin X's upcoming first volume of chapters 1 through 6.
While it's understandable that creators might prefer it if their fans tried to disconnect their latest projects from their earlier works, Ishida almost seems to be inviting these comparisons by going out of his way to make the first name of his protagonist's name Tokio, alluding to Tokyo Ghoul. So with Ishida basically giving them the green light, readers felt it was almost their duty to compare the two, and it's clear by how Ishida constructed his new manga that any correlations fans come up with may have been his intent all along.
As early as volume one's debut chapter, Ishida appears to be drawing inspiration from Tokyo Ghoul by how Tokio gains the special abilities of his world's eponymous super-powered beings. It is just as grisly and barbaric as how Tokyo Goul's Ken Kenaki transforms into a human/ghoul hybrid. The difference, however, is that rather than getting the organs of a deceased ghoul implanted into him like Ken, Tokio feels compelled to inject himself with a serum that makes him become a super-powered choujin. But the comparisons don't stop there.
Choujin X's Differences From Tokyo Ghoul Make it Fresh
Near the end of the first volume, Ishida even appears to introduce a newer version of Rize's character in Choujin X. Like the ghoul, Choujin X's Rize lures her world's hero into a false sense of complacency with the intent of doing anything except what her unsuspecting prey hopes. But this time, Tokio has already assumed his supernatural powers upon meeting her, unlike Kaneki, except the end of the volume suggests that what Tokio gains from the experience actually shares more with how Tokyo Ghoul's Rize indirectly caused Kaneki's own transformation.
The first volume also alludes to other iconic relationships in Tokyo Ghoul along with how Kaneki originally attempts to adapt and accept his newfound power. All these developments will excite those who appreciate Ishida's earlier work, and these fans can rest assured that these similarities will only grow in the coming volumes.
The only possible friction that Tokyo Ghoul fans could experience in reading Choujin X is that Ishida has adopted a much less realistic artistic style in his new manga than before. That said, this isn't to say that Ishida no longer draws this way in Choujin X, as he usually reverts to illustrating how he once did in Tokyo Ghoul to capture either traumatic or critical moments, a strategy that accentuates them even more in his new manga. He even employs the same gothic-like techniques he used whenever Kaneki lost himself or became more ghoulish, creating a nightmarish atmosphere. In fact, his attempts in Choujin X could even be considered to be more grotesque than anything he ever drew for Tokyo Ghoul. And although Tokyo Ghoul's kagune (and especially kakuja) are an acclaimed staple of his earlier masterpiece, Ishida did essentially draw himself into a corner by how he could portray them, and it's clear that, in Choujin X, he's having an absolute ball with his new world's choujin powers that are inherently diverse and limitless.
Choujin X volume one comes out February 21, 2023, from Viz Media.