Tokyo Ghoul
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is a Japanese
dark fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It was serialized in
Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...
's manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's '' Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in volumes under the "Y ...
'' from September 2011 to September 2014, with its chapters collected in 14 volumes. The manga has been licensed for English release in North America by
Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...
. The story is set in an alternate version of Tokyo where humans coexist with ghouls, beings who look like humans but can only survive by eating human flesh. Ken Kaneki is a college student who is transformed into a half-ghoul after an encounter with one of them. He must navigate the complex social and political dynamics between humans and ghouls while struggling to maintain his humanity. A prequel, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul ack', ran online on ''Jump Live'' in 2013, with its chapters collected in a single volume. A sequel, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'', was serialized in ''Weekly Young Jump'' from October 2014 to July 2018, its chapters were collected in 16 volumes. A 12-episode
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series adaptation produced by Pierrot, aired on
Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
from July to September 2014. A 12-episode second season, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul √A'' (pronounced ''Tokyo Ghoul Root A''), which follows an original story, aired from January to March 2015. A
live-action film Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a Live-action animation, live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define ...
based on the manga was released in Japan in July 2017, with a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
being released in July 2019. An anime adaptation based on the sequel manga, ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'', aired for two seasons; the first from April to June 2018, and the second from October to December 2018. By January 2021, ''Tokyo Ghoul'' had over 47 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.


Synopsis


Setting

''Tokyo Ghoul'' is set in an alternate reality where
ghoul In folklore, a ghoul (from , ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid, often associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In the legends or tales in which they appear, a ghoul is far more ill-mannered and foul than go ...
s, 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 , 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 The sclera, also known as the white of the eye or, in older literature, as the tunica albuginea oculi, is the opaque, fibrous, protective outer layer of the eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber. In the development of t ...
in both eyes turns black and their irises red. This mutation is known as . 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 ack' 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.


Media


Manga

Written and illustrated by Sui Ishida, ''Tokyo Ghoul'' was serialized in
Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...
's manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's '' Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in volumes under the "Y ...
'' from September 8, 2011, to September 18, 2014. Shueisha collected its chapters in fourteen volumes, released under the Young Jump Comics imprint, from February 17, 2012, to October 17, 2014. In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by
Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...
. The volumes were released from June 16, 2015, to August 15, 2017. In 2013, a prequel spin-off manga titled ''Tokyo Ghoul ack' 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. It was licensed Viz Media and published digitally on September 26, 2017. 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. A sequel manga series, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'', was serialized in ''Weekly Young Jump'' from October 16, 2014, to July 5, 2018. The series is set two years after the end of the original series and introduces a new set of characters. Shueisha collected its chapters in sixteen volumes, released from December 19, 2014, to July 19, 2018. The manga was licensed by Viz Media, with the volumes released from October 17, 2017, to April 21, 2020.


Light novels

Four
light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...
s have been released thus far and all are written by Shin Towada, with illustrations done by series creator Sui Ishida. On June 19, 2013, 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. 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 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, 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 JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
between July 4 and September 19, 2014. It also aired on
TV Aichi Aichi Television Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (TVA; ), also referred to as , with the callsigns JOCI-DTV (channel 10) is a Japanese television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity ...
, TVQ, TVO, AT-X, and Dlife. The opening theme song is " Unravel" by TK from Ling tosite Sigure and the ending theme is by People in the Box.
Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
has licensed the anime series in North America. A second season, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul √A'' (read as "Root A"), aired in Japan between January 9 and March 27, 2015. The opening theme song is by Österreich, while the ending theme is by Amazarashi. "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 Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
's Saturday late-night action programming block
Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late-night television programming block that broadcasts Japanese anime and American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and currently produced by Williams Street, a subsidiary of W ...
, starting on March 25. Madman Entertainment announced that they had licensed the series in Australia and New Zealand, and simulcasted it on AnimeLab. Anime Limited licensed the series in the UK and Ireland, and later announced during MCM London Comic-Con that the series would be broadcast on
Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps; also known as Vice TV in the United States) is a brand used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. The brand launched on February 29, 2016, with two cable channels in North America. The Vice ...
UK. An anime adaptation for ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'' was announced on October 5, 2017, and started airing on April 3, 2018. 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. The opening theme of the first season is "Asphyxia" by Cö shu Nie and the ending theme is "Half" by Queen Bee. The series aired in two seasons, with the first 12 episodes airing from April 3 to June 19, 2018, and the second season airing from October 9 to December 25, 2018. The opening theme of the second season is "Katharsis" by TK from Ling tosite Sigure, and the ending theme of the second season is by Österreich.


Video games

A
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
titled ''Tokyo Ghoul: Carnaval Color'' by
Bandai Namco Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...
was released in Japan for Android smartphones on February 6, 2015, and on February 9 for iOS. The player builds a team from a number of ghoul and investigator characters and explores a 3D map. Another video game titled ''Tokyo Ghoul: Jail'' for the
PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...
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. 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. A video game, titled '' Tokyo Ghoul: re Call to Exist'', was released for the
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
and
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
(via
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
) in November 2019. 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.


Live-action films

A
live-action film Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a Live-action animation, live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define ...
based on the manga was released in Japan on July 29, 2017. Kentarō Hagiwara directed the film. The cast included
Masataka Kubota is a Japanese actor. History Kubota was born in Kanagawa Prefecture. He is the youngest of three male brothers. He hoped to become a vehicle mechanic and enrolled in the mechanical department of Kanagawa Technical Senior High School. While Kub ...
for the role of protagonist Ken Kaneki and Fumika Shimizu for the role of Touka Kirishima. Yū Aoi was cast as Rize Kamishiro, Nobuyuki Suzuki played Kotaro Amon and Yo Oizumi played Kureo Mado. 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.


Art exhibition

An
art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanen ...
of the anime's tenth anniversary, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul EX.'', is set to be held at Warehouse Terrada G1 Building in Tokyo from October 21 to December 1, and from December 14–29, 2024 at VS. Grand Green in Osaka.


Reception

''Tokyo Ghoul'' was nominated for the 38th
Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...
in 2014. ''Tokyo Ghoul'' was chosen as one of the Best Manga at the
Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
Best & Worst Manga of 2016. The
Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...
in the United States named the series one of its "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" and "Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults" in 2017. In 2018, it was nominated for the 30th
Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...
for Best Manga. On
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, ''Tokyo Ghoul'' ranked 41st. ''Tokyo Ghoul'' was the 27th best-selling manga series in Japan in 2013, with over 1.6 million estimated sales. By January 2014, the manga had sold around 2.6 million copies. It was the fourth best-selling manga series in Japan in 2014, with 6.9 million copies sold. The whole original series sold over 12 million copies. The sequel series, ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'' sold over 3.7 million copies in Japan during its debut year in 2015, and 4.3 million copies in 2016. It was the fifth best-selling manga series in 2017 with sales of over 5.3 million copies. It was the tenth best-selling manga series in 2018 with 3.2 million copies sold. Both series combined for over 24 million copies in circulation by June 2017, and they had 34 million copies in circulation worldwide by January 2018. By July 2018, both manga had 37 million in circulation. From December 2017 to December 2018, the franchise sold 2.3 billion yen, and was ranked at sixteenth place as one of the top-selling media franchises in Japan. By March 2019, both manga had 44 million copies in circulation. By January 2021, both manga had over 47 million copies in circulation. On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed ''Tokyo Ghoul √A'' among 38 anime and manga titles banned in China. In February 2021, it was reported that the series, along with ''
Death Note ''Death Note'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to ...
'' and '' Inuyashiki'', was banned from distribution on two unspecified websites in Russia. However, the ''Tokyo Ghoul'' series became unavailable for Russian audiences from March 2022 after Russia invaded its neighboring Ukraine. As a result, Sony, who distributes the series via Crunchyroll, has closed down its
Wakanim Wakanim was a French subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service specialized in online streaming and simulcasting of Japanese anime series. It was also the first platform to offer videos for download without digita ...
and
Crunchyroll EMEA Crunchyroll EMEA, formerly known as Viz Media Europe, is a European anime distributor. Established as Viz Media Europe, it was Viz Media's European sister company until 2019. It holds partnerships with TV channels, DVD distributors, and manga pu ...
services in the country, in line with global sanctions and boycotts.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * *


External links

* official manga website at ''
Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's '' Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in volumes under the "Y ...
'' * * * {{Pierrot films 2011 manga 2013 manga 2014 anime television series debuts 2014 manga 2015 anime OVAs 2015 anime television series debuts 2018 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga Fiction about cannibalism Censored television series Comics set in Tokyo Crunchyroll anime Dark fantasy anime and manga Jump J-Books Manga adapted into films Manga adapted into television series Mass media franchises Medialink Pierrot (company) Seinen manga Shueisha manga Supernatural thriller anime and manga Television censorship in China Tokyo MX original programming Urban fantasy anime and manga Viz Media manga Viz Media novels Works banned in China Works banned in Russia