comic
Attending a Tokyo Ghoul Dinner Event — The Gourmet's Banquet (Tsukiyama's Promotional Party)
Hey Tokyo Ghoul Fan — You’ve Got an Invitation from a Certain Gourmet
I’d heard the Tokyo Ghoul live-action film was coming, and since there were various events being held around it, I figured why not enter a few. Then on July 13, 2017, I checked my inbox and there it was — a subject line that read:
7/20 (Thu.) Tokyo Ghoul Movie “A Banquet for Gourmets” — Invitation
WAIT WHAT?! I actually won the lottery?! And it’s next week!
The moment I saw it I went into a frenzy searching for domestic flights around Japan, and finally tracked down an affordable ticket. So off I went with absolutely zero regrets >///<
One fun thing: the movie actually came out on July 29, 2017, and the plot only covers up to Hinami’s arc — Tsukiyama the gourmet hasn’t even appeared yet at that point. But Tsukiyama is apparently the most versatile character for promotional purposes, so the whole event was framed around his “banquet for gourmets” concept. I suppose it really is iconic.
A Banquet Only Gourmets May Attend
Fast-forward to July 20, 2017 — the event was held at Tennozu Warehouse G3 in Tokyo.
The surrounding area was almost entirely office buildings, but luckily there were already plenty of people gathered outside the venue. Once your identity as a “ghoul” was confirmed, you received an invitation card <TOKYO GHOUL LOWCHI PARTY — MASKED PARTY> and a mask.
Below is the front and inside of the invitation — it came in both Japanese and English, which was a really thoughtful touch.
The top of the inside maintained the “gourmet” theme and basically confirmed yes, there would be food XD
Dear Ghouls,
Good evening.
Whether you are struggling to find your next meal or not —
within this venue, we are all equals.
For there is not a single human here.
And while I cannot reveal the source of the ingredients,
we have prepared a special feast that should suit all of your tastes.
Forget the hustle and bustle of human society, and enjoy this special time together.Welcome all our special GHOUL guests!
First of all, I regret to inform you of bad news that
there is no human meat at this venue.
However, we have prepared a special feast for all of you tonight,
with mystery ingredients that I cannot specify what it is.
All our guests who are and who are not starving for food, forget the hustle and bustle of human society, and enjoy the special time together here at this event.
The bottom half of the inside listed the event rules:
Banquet Rules
Rule 1:
Please wear your “mask” throughout this event.Rule 2:
A meal will be served if you satisfy “certain conditions.”Rule 3:
Please keep all your belongings, including “your life,” with you at all times.Rule 4:
Photography is prohibited until the host gives permission.
Because there are also rare species that dislike photography extremely.
Stepping Inside — The Décor
Since this was a film promotional event, the venue was full of props and elaborate decorations — I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves! The lighting was quite dim that evening, so some shots didn’t come out as clearly as I’d have liked.
Right when you enter there’s a section with movie-related props. Remember how ghouls in the series have to wear masks to blend in with human society? This section displayed the masks the ghouls wear in the film.
Of course the display wouldn’t be complete without books — Kaneki is a reader, and naturally they all had to be by his favorite author, Sen Takatsuki. I really wanted to take one home!
There was also a section with movie stills and the costumes worn by the two main characters — this was the spot with the longest line for photos all night.
I especially loved the small posters on the walls — all specially designed for the film, super clever! Though — wait, aren’t we at a ghoul gathering? Why is there a CCG poster here? Tsukiyama, did you secretly book the CCG hall for your banquet? XD
Stepping Inside — What Do Ghouls Eat?
So what exactly were we “ghouls” having for dinner? Each attendee received three drink exchange vouchers (left) and a character card.
You could redeem them at the bar.
Each drink was paired with a passage from a classic literary work referenced in the manga. The creativity here was genuinely impressive — you could tell the team put real care into this :)
Here they are in order of appearance in Tokyo Ghoul:
The Setting Sun (斜陽)
The Setting Sun (Shayou) is a novel by Osamu Dazai, and it first appears in Vol. 1, p. 21 (Chapter 1). Kaneki is completely captivated by Rize the first time he sees her, desperate to exchange thoughts on what they’re reading. He’s in the middle of this very book at the time, and comes across this passage:
I want to believe that human beings were born for love and revolution.
Kaneki: “I want to believe that too.”
Anyway, this drink is cranberry juice XD
Metamorphosis (変身)
“変身” (Henshin, Metamorphosis) comes from Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and appears in Vol. 1, p. 49 (Chapter 2). Kaneki recalls how he once read The Metamorphosis and idly wondered what he’d do if he turned into an insect — little knowing he’d undergo his own transformation soon enough…
This one is basically a sweet juice syrup drink, haha.
Demian (デミアン)
This drink, “Demian,” is based on Hermann Hesse’s Demian, which appears in Vol. 1, pp. 195–196 (Chapter 8). Kaneki awakens to save Hinami, and the text is accompanied by this passage from the novel:
The bird fights its way out of the egg.
The egg is the world.
Whoever wants to be born
must destroy a world.
This one had a hint of yogurt flavor and came with tapioca pearls XD
Gon, the Little Fox (ごんぎつね)
“ごんぎつね” (Gon-gitsune) comes from the classic Japanese children’s story by Niimi Nankichi, and appears in Vol. 8, p. 30 (Chapter 30) during Touka and Ayato’s story.
Touka and Ayato’s father used to read Gon, the Little Fox to them:
“Gon, were you the one who kept bringing me chestnuts?”
Gon nodded weakly, his eyes closed.
The matchlock slipped from Hyouju’s hands and thudded to the ground,
a faint wisp of smoke still trailing from the barrel.
This drink — the color of a sunset — was sweet, tasting a bit like fruit juice.
Once all your vouchers were redeemed, there was also free-drink water available — bluish-green water with floating eyeballs… which were actually just colored water. Haha.
After drinks, it was time for food.
I’d honestly imagined it would be like a Tsukiyama-style affair — elegantly slicing eyeballs while eating Western cuisine. Totally wrong XDD
Here’s where the character card from the invitation came in. To claim your food, you had to find three other people holding the same character card and form a group of four — only then could you exchange for food.
There were three flavors: green meat (pesto chicken), red meat (tomato sauce hamburger steak), and Gorogoro (Japanese-style hamburger steak).
The Banquet Begins
The already-dim lights went even darker. The event officially started. The big screen played the film’s promotional reel.
When the video ended, the two hosts on stage suddenly ripped off their masks and said they were too tired to keep them on XD
They then explained the food-exchange process.
Due to my own carelessness, my character card vanished almost immediately… While I went to ask the staff for a replacement, everyone had already fanned out across the room looking for their groups orz
The staff gave me a new card quickly — it turned out to be Kaneki <3
And I managed to find three partners fast. Apparently we were pretty quick, because they almost immediately ushered our group off to the side of the stage?????
Turns out we were going on stage!!!!!
After the previous group finished their interview, it was our turn.
Going up on stage was absolutely mind-blanking, and they handed everyone a microphone…
When it got to me I shamefully admitted I couldn’t follow everything and my Japanese wasn’t great XD
They seemed to find it kind of charming that I’d come all the way from Taiwan.
The questions varied — one person was asked if wearing the mask felt strange, another was asked who their favorite character was.
When our group stepped down, a new group took the stage.
I remember thinking they were dressed way too nicely — and then a massive wave of screaming erupted from the crowd…
Of course — it was the cast.
Once they took their masks off, photography was prohibited, so anyone curious can look it up in the news coverage.
The actors present were those playing Kaneki, Nishiki, Hinami, and Amon! The highlight of this section: Masataka Kubota (Kaneki) brewed coffee on stage and invited one lucky guest — the one whose invitation had a special mark — to come up and drink it with him XD
I couldn’t make out much of the interview section (probably also because I was starving and had already gone off to get my food).
Our group was down to three though — one of our ghouls had vanished into the crowd completely —
so one member had to explain the situation to the staff to finally get our food. (Rough.)
The three of us each picked a different kind and swapped for photos.
Honestly the food looked way too real… When mine was handed to me, my hands were shaking just like Kaneki the first time he held real ghoul food XDDDDD
One girl in our group completely gave up on eating hers, hahaha.
Then it was photo time for everyone. My group was lucky enough to snag one of the eyeball drinks from the free bar!
These were done so well.
I was so impressed I even ordered a special drink and dropped the eyeball in to sip it XD
And then right at the very end, I noticed there was a small side space I’d completely missed — a Twitter fan art exhibition. The arrangement was stunning Q_Q I didn’t have enough time left, but thankfully I’d already photographed it earlier, so no major regrets :)
That’s pretty much the full rundown! The evening’s banquet was also covered in the official Tokyo Ghoul news XD
If you read Japanese, feel free to check it out!
July 20 (Thu.) Pre-premiere event “A Banquet for Gourmets” — event report
It’s been quite a while since Tokyo Ghoul wrapped up, but I still look back fondly on my fangirl days in Japan.
Sui Ishida has been collaborating on a game recently — I really hope I improve my Japanese enough to play it someday Q_Q
Thanks for reading :D
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click the coffee button in the lower right to support us and give Lottery a can 🐾
Comments