is a Japanese
dark fantasy manga
Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...
series written and illustrated by
Sui Ishida. It was serialized in
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's
''seinen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Jump'' between September 2011 and September 2014, and was collected in fourteen ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or m ...
'' volumes. A prequel, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul
ack', ran online on ''Jump Live'' in 2013 and was collected in a single ''tankōbon'' volume. A sequel, titled ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'', was serialized in ''Weekly Young Jump'' between October 2014 and July 2018, and was collected in sixteen ''tankōbon'' volumes. The story is set in a world where humans and vicious species, known as
ghouls, creatures that look like normal people but can only survive by eating human flesh, live among the human population in secrecy.
A 12-episode
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
television series adaptation produced by
Pierrot, aired on
Tokyo MX
JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...
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 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 sam ...
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. In North America,
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
licensed the manga for English language release, while
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializ ...
has licensed the anime series for streaming and home video distribution.
As of 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
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 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 human eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber. In humans, and s ...
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 speed and reaction speed, but shortened lifespans. Naturally born half-ghouls can also eat like normal humans or full ghouls.
Plot
The story follows Ken Kaneki, a student who barely survives a deadly encounter with Rize Kamishiro, his date who reveals herself as a ghoul and tries to eat him. 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 as 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
''Tokyo Ghoul'' is written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It began serialization in 2011's 41st issue of the
''seinen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Jump'', published by
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
on September 8, 2011, and the final chapter appeared in 2014's 42nd issue, released on September 18, 2014.
The series has been collected in fourteen ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or m ...
'' volumes, released under Shueisha's Young Jump Comics imprint between February 17, 2012, and October 17, 2014. The series has been licensed for an English release by
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
and the first volume was released on June 16, 2015.
In 2013, a prequel spin-off manga titled ''Tokyo Ghoul
ack' was released on ''Jump Live'' digital manga. The story spans 7 chapters and focuses on Arima Kishō and Taishi Fura 12 years before the events of ''Tokyo Ghoul''. The manga features several characters from the main series including the above stated Kishō Arima, Taishi Fura, and future key characters Itsuki Marude and Yakumo "Yamori" Ōmori. It was compiled into a ''tankōbon'' volume published digitally by Shueisha on October 18, 2013.
On October 17, 2014, a full-color illustration book known as ''Tokyo Ghoul Zakki'' was released along with the 14th and final volume of the manga. Zakki includes all promotional images, Volume covers and unreleased concept art with commentary by the creator Sui Ishida.
A sequel titled ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'' began serialization in 2014's 46th issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'', published on October 16, 2014.
The series is set 2 years after the end of the original series and introduces a new set of characters. This series was concluded on July 19, 2018, with Volume 16.
Light novels
Four
light novel
A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language ...
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, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...
between July 4 and September 19, 2014.
It also aired on
TV Aichi,
TVQ,
TVO,
AT-X, and Dlife. The opening theme song is "
Unravel" by
TK from Ling tosite Sigure
, better known as TK, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band Ling tosite Sigure, which formed in 2002. In 2011, he started to release solo material as .
Bi ...
and the ending theme is by People in the Box.
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializ ...
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 will premiere on
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
's Saturday late-night action programming block,
Toonami starting on March 25.
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
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 will be broadcast on
Viceland
Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...
UK.
An anime adaptation for ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'' was announced on October 5, 2017, and started airing on April 3, 2018. Toshinori Watanabe 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
is a Japanese rock band. The band's current members are musicians Miku Nakamura and Shunsuke Matsumoto; previously in the group were Kōjirō Yamazaki and Ryōsuke Fujita.
Formed in 2011, Cö shu Nie's early work consisted of independent rele ...
and the ending theme is "Half" by
Queen Bee
A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...
. 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
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games 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 gener ...
titled ''Tokyo Ghoul: Carnaval ∫ Color'' by
Bandai Namco Games
is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California an ...
was released in Japan for
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
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, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international terri ...
console was released on October 1, 2015. It is set to introduce a new protagonist by the name of Rio, who will interact with characters from the manga/anime. The game was developed by Bandai Namco Games as well and is categorized as an adventure RPG where players will be able to explore Tokyo's 23 wards. The mobile game ''Tokyo Ghoul: Dark War'' focuses on the conflict between ghouls and the CCG that terrorizes the city of Tokyo. In the June 2018 edition of ''
V-Jump'' it was revealed that a new game, titled ''
Tokyo Ghoul: re Call to Exist'', was released in 2019.
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
is a Japanese actress, gravure idol and model. In February 2017, she announced her temporary retirement from the entertainment industry to join the controversial Happy Science religion, declaring she had been a member of the group since childhood ...
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.
Reception
''Tokyo Ghoul'' was nominated for the 38th
Kodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga
Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in ea ...
in 2014. ''Tokyo Ghoul'' was chosen as one of the Best Manga at the
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...
Best & Worst Manga of 2016. The
Young Adult Library Services Association 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 the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...
for Best Manga. On
TV Asahi
JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Com ...
'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 1.6 million estimated sales. As of 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 print worldwide as of January 2018. As of July 2018, both manga had 37 million in print. From December 2017 to December 2018, the franchise sold 2.3 billion yen, and was ranked at 16th place as one of the top-selling media franchises in Japan. As of March 3, 2019, both manga had 44 million copies in print. As of January 21, 2021, both manga had over 47 million copies in print.
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'' and ''
Inuyashiki'', was banned from distribution on two unspecified websites in Russia.
Notes
References
External links
* official manga website at ''
Weekly Young Jump''
*
*
*
{{Toonami Adult Swim
2011 manga
2013 manga
2014 anime television series debuts
2014 manga
2015 anime OVAs
2015 anime television series debuts
2018 anime television series debuts
Animated television series about teenagers
Anime series based on manga
Cannibalism in fiction
Censored television series
Comics set in Tokyo
Crunchyroll anime
Dark fantasy anime and manga
Funimation
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
Toonami
Tokyo MX original programming
Urban fantasy anime and manga
Viz Media manga
Viz Media novels
Works banned in China
Works banned in Russia