Tokyo Ghoul

Setting

Tokyo Ghoul is set in an alternate reality where ghouls, creatures that look like normal people but can only survive by eating human flesh, live among the human population in secrecy, hiding their true nature in order to evade pursuit from the authorities. Ghouls have powers including enhanced strength, speed, endurance and regenerative abilities—a regular ghoul produces 4–7 times more kinetic energy in their muscles than a normal human; they also have several times the RC cells, a cell that flows like blood and can become solid instantly. A ghoul's skin is resistant to ordinary piercing weapons, and it has at least one special predatory organ called a Kagune (赫子), which it can manifest and use as a weapon during combat. Another distinctive trait of ghouls is that when they are excited or hungry, the color of their sclera in both eyes turns black and their irises red. This mutation is known as kakugan (赫眼).

A half-ghoul can either be born naturally as a ghoul and a human's offspring, or artificially created by transplanting some ghoul organs into a human. In both cases, a half-ghoul is usually much stronger than a pure-blood ghoul. In the case of a half-ghoul, only one of the eyes undergoes the "red eye" transformation. Natural born half-ghouls are very rare, and creating half-ghouls artificially initially has a low success rate. There is also the case of half-humans, hybrids of ghouls and humans that can feed like normal humans and lack a Kagune while possessing enhanced abilities, like increased reaction speeds, but shortened lifespans. Naturally born half-ghouls can also eat like normal humans or full ghouls.

Plot

The story follows Ken Kaneki, an 18-year old university student who barely survives a deadly encounter with Rize Kamishiro (his date who reveals herself as a ghoul and tries to eat him) when she gets hit by falling construction girders. He is taken to the hospital in critical condition. After recovering, Kaneki discovers that he underwent a surgery that transformed him into a half-ghoul. This was accomplished because some of Rize's organs were transferred into his body, and now, like normal ghouls, he must consume human flesh to survive. Ghouls who run a coffee shop called "Anteiku" (あんていく) take him in and teach him to deal with his new life as a half-ghoul. Some of his daily struggles include fitting into the ghoul society, as well as keeping his identity hidden from his human companions, especially from his best friend, Hideyoshi Nagachika.

The prequel series Tokyo Ghoul [Jack] follows the youths of Kishō Arima and Taishi Fura, two characters from the main series who become acquainted when they join forces to investigate the death of Taishi's friend at the hands of a ghoul, leading to Taishi eventually following Arima's path and joining the CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul), the federal agency tasked into dealing with crimes related to ghouls as well.

The sequel series Tokyo Ghoul:re follows an amnesiac Kaneki under the new identity of Haise Sasaki (the result of horrific brain damage sustained from Kishō Arima). He is the mentor of a special team of CCG investigators called "Quinx Squad" that underwent a similar procedure to his, allowing them to obtain the special abilities of Ghouls in order to fight them but still being able to live as normal humans.

Manga

Written and illustrated by Sui Ishida, Tokyo Ghoul was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from September 8, 2011,[2] to September 18, 2014.[3][4] Shueisha collected its chapters in fourteen volumes, released under the Young Jump Comics imprint, from February 17, 2012,[5] to October 17, 2014.[6] In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Viz Media.[7] The volumes were released from June 16, 2015,[8] to August 15, 2017.[9]

In 2013, a prequel spin-off manga titled Tokyo Ghoul [Jack] was released on Jump Live digital manga service. The story spans seven chapters and focuses on Kishō Arima and Taishi Fura twelve years before the events of Tokyo Ghoul. It was compiled into a volume published digitally by Shueisha on October 18, 2013.[10] It was licensed Viz Media and published digitally on September 26, 2017.[11][12]

A full-color illustration book, titled Tokyo Ghoul Zakki, was released along with the final volume of the manga on October 17, 2014. It includes all promotional images, volume covers and unreleased concept art with commentary by Ishida.[13]

A sequel manga series, titled Tokyo Ghoul:re, was serialized in Weekly Young Jump from October 16, 2014,[14][15] to July 5, 2018.[16][17] The series is set two years after the end of the original series and introduces a new set of characters.[18] Shueisha collected its chapters in sixteen volumes, released from December 19, 2014,[19] to July 19, 2018.[20] The manga was licensed by Viz Media,[21] with the volumes released from October 17, 2017,[22] to April 21, 2020.[23]

Light novels

Four light novels have been released thus far and all are written by Shin Towada, with illustrations done by series creator Sui Ishida. On June 19, 2013, Tokyo Ghoul: Days (東京喰種トーキョーグール［日々］) was released, Illustrations were done by the series creator Sui Ishida and written by Shin Towada and serves as sidestory/spin off that focuses on the daily lives of characters from the Tokyo Ghoul series. Tokyo Ghoul: Void (東京喰種トーキョーグール［空白］) was released on June 19, 2014, and fills in the 6 month time gap between volumes 8 and 9 of the first series.

The third novel Tokyo Ghoul: Past (東京喰種トーキョーグール［昔日］) was released on December 19, 2014. Past takes place before the events of the main series and focuses on the further backstory of certain Tokyo Ghoul characters, including Touka Kirishima, Ayato Kirishima, and series protagonist Ken Kaneki. The fourth novel, Tokyo Ghoul:re: quest (東京喰種：re［quest］) was released on December 19, 2016. It takes place during the events of Tokyo Ghoul :re, focusing on the Quinx, CCG, and other characters.

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by Pierrot aired on Tokyo MX between July 4 and September 19, 2014.[24][4][25][26] It also aired on TV Aichi, TVQ, TVO, AT-X, and Dlife. The opening theme song is "Unravel" by TK from Ling tosite Sigure and the ending theme is "The Saints" (聖者たち) by People in the Box.[27] Funimation has licensed the anime series in North America.[28] A second season, titled Tokyo Ghoul √A (read as "Root A"), aired in Japan between January 9 and March 27, 2015.[29][30] The opening theme song is "Munou" (無能) by Österreich, while the ending theme is "Kisetsu wa Tsugitsugi Shinde Iku" (季節は次々死んでいく) by Amazarashi.[27] "Glassy Sky" ("Glassy sky above, As long as I'm alive, you will be a part of me") is an insert song in this season, which is a first English song written by Yutaka Yamada in Tokyo Ghoul. On March 10, 2017, it was announced that the anime would air on Adult Swim's Saturday late-night action programming block Toonami, starting on March 25.[31] Madman Entertainment announced that they had licensed the series in Australia and New Zealand, and simulcasted it on AnimeLab.[32] Anime Limited licensed the series in the UK and Ireland,[33] and later announced during MCM London Comic-Con that the series would be broadcast on Viceland UK.[34]

An anime adaptation for Tokyo Ghoul:re was announced on October 5, 2017, and started airing on April 3, 2018.[35] Toshinori Watabe replaced Shuhei Morita as the director, while Chūji Mikasano returned to write scripts. Pierrot produced the animation, while Pierrot+ is credited for animation assistance. Atsuko Nakajima replaced Kazuhiro Miwa as the character designer.[36] The opening theme of the first season is "Asphyxia" by Cö shu Nie and the ending theme is "Half" by Queen Bee.[37][38] The series aired in two seasons, with the first 12 episodes airing from April 3 to June 19, 2018,[39] and the second season airing from October 9 to December 25, 2018.[40][41] The opening theme of the second season is "Katharsis" by TK from Ling tosite Sigure, and the ending theme of the second season is "Rakuen no Kimi" (楽園の君) by Österreich.[41][42]

Video games

A video game titled Tokyo Ghoul: Carnaval Color by Bandai Namco Games was released in Japan for Android smartphones on February 6, 2015, and on February 9 for iOS.[43] The player builds a team from a number of ghoul and investigator characters and explores a 3D map.[44] Another video game titled Tokyo Ghoul: Jail for the PlayStation Vita console was released on October 1, 2015. It introduces a protagonist named Rio, who interacts with characters from the series. The game was developed by Bandai Namco Games as well and is categorized as an adventure RPG where players are able to explore Tokyo's 23 wards.[45] The mobile game Tokyo Ghoul: Dark War, released in 2018, focuses on the conflict between ghouls and the CCG that terrorizes the city of Tokyo.[46] A video game, titled Tokyo Ghoul: re Call to Exist, was released for the PlayStation 4 and Windows (via Steam) in November 2019.[47] In March 2025, Behaviour Interactive announced a collaboration between the series and the Dead by Daylight video game, where Ken Kaneki would be added as a playable Killer character on April 2.[48]

Live-action films

A live-action film based on the manga was released in Japan on July 29, 2017. Kentarō Hagiwara directed the film. The cast included Masataka Kubota for the role of protagonist Ken Kaneki and Fumika Shimizu for the role of Touka Kirishima.[49] Yū Aoi was cast as Rize Kamishiro, Nobuyuki Suzuki played Kotaro Amon and Yo Oizumi played Kureo Mado.[50] A sequel film titled Tokyo Ghoul S was released in Japan on July 19, 2019, with Maika Yamamoto replacing Fumika Shimizu as Touka Kirishima, and Shota Matsuda joining the cast as Shuu Tsukiyama.[51]

Art exhibition

An art exhibition of the anime's tenth anniversary, titled Tokyo Ghoul EX., was held at Warehouse Terrada G1 Building in Tokyo from October 21 to December 1, 2024, and from December 14 to 29 at VS. Grand Green in Osaka.[52]