It’s been almost 3 years since Sui Ishida’s dark fantasy, Tokyo Ghoul has made any announcements of a renewal. Even though the anime began airing in 2014, many fans have still hung on to the show in expectations of a new release.

The series has been adapted by Studio Pierrot and broadcasted its fourth and last season on 25th December 2018. The last installment to the show received mixed reviews with many fans disapproving the studio’s decision to adopt multiple chapters within just 12 episodes.

Regardless of this, the anime community continues to be on its toes for any new announcement regarding the anime.

However, so far, it seems unlikely that there will be any signs of a season 5.

The anime has covered its entire source material and if the producers were to announce a new season, they would have to write it themselves. This seems highly unlikely as neither the production house nor the author of the show has any intention of releasing out extra content for the show.

To date, Season 4 has covered all the 178 chapters of the Tokyo Ghoul: re manga series.

Despite this, the anime is still a great watch for newcomers.

Plot

Set in a world where humanity lives in fear of ghouls, supernatural beings that eat humans to survive, Kaneki Ken is your normal college student who loves reading and chilling with his best friend Hideyoshi Nagachika.

One day while the two are talking in Anteiku, a small neighborhood cafe, Kaneki meets Rize Kamishiro and develops a crush on her.

He is ecstatic that he can take her out on a date but finds out she is a ghoul who wants to eat him. He barely survives trying to run away from her and is taken to the hospital in critical condition. In an attempt to save him, the doctors of the hospital decide to transplant Rize’s organs into his body.

After his surgery, Kaneki becomes incredibly suspicious of how his body was acting up and showing ghoul-like symptoms. He later finds out that he has been turned into a one-eyed ghoul and now like other ghouls, he must consume normal flesh to be able to survive.

Later he meets Touka Kirishima, a worker at Anteiku who helps him deal with his hunger for human flesh. She then reveals that the small neighborhood cafe is run by peaceful ghouls who teach him how to live a normal life as a half-ghoul while simultaneously trying to hide his identity as a ghoul from his best friend, Hide.

Tokyo Ghoul Watch Order

Tokyo Ghoul has released 48 episodes, spanning over 4 seasons, 2 OVAs, and a live-action adaptation. The watch order is relevantly easy if you are aware of the titles of the seasons.

Since all 4 seasons of the show have different names, except season 3 and season 4 which are a part of Tokyo Ghoul: re, it might be difficult for newer fans to understand the watching order.

By watching it according to this list, you can very easily follow the anime as it is in the exact timeline that the incidents in the universe occur. Nevertheless, many fans say that watching it according to their release date is probably a better experience.

This is the best way to watch it chronologically:

Tokyo Ghoul: [Jack]
Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto
Tokyo Ghoul ( Season 1)
Tokyo Ghoul Live-Action Film
Tokyo Ghoul Root A ( Season 2)
Tokyo Ghoul: re (Season 3)
Tokyo Ghoul: re (Season 4)

However, you are best advised to stick to the timeline according to the release date if you’re watching the show for the first time.

This is because new watchers might have a harder time grasping the references and mythology if they watch the OVAs first. For people going for a re-watch, this is the ideal timeline as it follows the plot chronologically.

Where to Watch Tokyo Ghoul ?

Tokyo Ghoul can be streamed on these platforms:

Main Characters

Kaneki Ken

Kaneki is the main protagonist of the series and was a normal human being until Rize Kamishiro, his date and a ghoul, tries to eat him. After escaping death, he finds out that he has been transformed into a half-ghoul.

At the beginning of the series, Kaneki is shy, caring, and naive. Even after he turns into a ghoul, he continues to retain some of these qualities. Only after he was captured and tortured by Aogiri Tree, a ghoul terrorist organization, that his personality drastically changed.

Kaneki’s personality became that of a cold-blooded killer. He mercilessly kills his enemies and those who are a threat to him and his friends. His appearance also changed quite significantly as his once black hair turned white and his fingernails became black. This was reportedly due to the mental torture and forced regeneration that he went through when he was kidnapped by Aogiri Tree.

Touka Kirishima

Touka is one of the first ghouls that Kaneki meets in the series, she is also a waitress in Anteiku. After finding out that Kaneki turned into a half-ghoul, she takes him to Anteiku and helps him adapt to his new lifestyle.

Touka appears to be quite shy and kind but also suffers from opening up to others due to her abandonment issues. She has a strong desire to be human and to fit in the normal society due to her father telling her that she must live as a human to survive.

She is often shown wearing a rabbit mask while hunting which gave her the nickname ‘Rabbit’.

Why You Should Watch Tokyo Ghoul?

Tokyo Ghoul is definitely worth the watch if you wish to experience a beautifully written in-depth plot along with a set of well-developed characters.

While the anime was not as good as the manga itself, the show remains to have the perfect mix of action, romance, gore, and comedy. Moreover, it’s one of the few rare shows out there which have played out the concepts of ‘ghouls’ very well.

Supernatural action adventures can be hard to keep watching due to their unrealistic nature at times, however, Tokyo Ghoul takes you on an emotional rollercoaster that doesn’t stop till the end. The mental fight between wanting to live as a human or as a ghoul, the bad and the good, friendships and betrayals, the series explores several such themes and doesn’t shy away from showing blood where it needs to.

In my opinion, Tokyo Ghoul is an entertaining watch and one of the best dark fantasy shows out there.

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