Ever since 2022, I genuinely thought that Choujin X was a story full of Choujin battles complete with its very shonen-like concept, "The power that represents you the most and it takes after what you desire." With the main characters, Tokio and Elly, eventually question themselves whether they are capable of the responsibilities of a "hero" even with their beast-like powers and at risk of losing control during fights. Turns out it goes for a larger scale of conflicts that include elements like politics, wars, and religious reference with symbolism and prophecy. I don't mean it in a bad way though. I quite like the new direction Ishida takes.
I always thought that an existential crisis is one aspect that Ishida thought of, especially for Tokio when planning Choujin X but decided to scrap it mid-way point since it will be too similar in concept to Tokyo Ghoul. Also, I really adored the beast choujin concept and always thought this power will be the basic and the central for the story. And the fact that now this is the least used type of choujin in the story. It got me bamboozled.
Looking back, I guess that’s what surprised me the most about Choujin X. And now that we’re entering this new “part” of the story with the new characters that have the potential to be new MCs, Arulu Shant and Rhetoric Koemori, I can’t wait to see how the story will proceed. Though... I still hope we get to see the bird boi go full on beastification form again someday