When the story first appeared on the market, Tokyo Ghoul became an instant hit for Sui Ishida. The bizarre and uniquely special story attracted a lot of fans around the world and now, years after the series’ end, we’re still talking about the manga and the anime. Anime series are usually known for their depth and Tokyo Ghoul is a good example of a show filled with relevant and memorable quotations you should certainly know.
This list is going to include a total of the best 50 Tokyo Ghoul quotes you need to know from various episodes and seasons. The quotes are taken from various contexts and situations, and we have decided to group them based on the message they are conveying.
8. “You make me laugh. Trying to play the paragon of justice? Or perhaps the protagonist? Associate Special Class… The sole fault for the breaking of this world lies with you. Get it?! You saw the City of Tokyo, didn’t you?! How did it look?! How did it look?! Streets choked with the foul stench of the dead… bodies of the humans felled by your hands! Not just humans. Whenever it suited you, you took the lives of ghouls, too! You preach high and mighty ideals, but you’re really just a shallow narcissist! And thanks to that flaw of yours, I’ve had more than my share of fun! At Aogiri’s hideout, when you tried to protect yourself from an overwhelmingly powerful foe… When you tried to protect that cafe in the 20th Ward… When you tried to protect your false family as Haise Sasaki… When you tried to protect the nation of ghoulkind as the One-Eyed King… You failed every single time! Man, it really was exhilarating to watch! No matter how you writhe and wriggle, there are things in this world you simply cannot change! And yes, today, too, you will fall! Everything will have been for naught!” – Kichimura Washū
32. “Furuta, I was the sort of human you’d find anywhere. The kind that just loves reading. But on that fateful day with Rize, I was sundered from the human world. And everything began to change. My life was threatened. I was horrifically tortured, unable to achieve what I wanted, I even lost. But I found a new place I belonged. Allies. Friends. People I could call my teachers. People I love. and even though I have erred so much, and hurt so many, I simply don’t believe that it was all for naught. And that’s why even if I were to know everything that’d happen after, I still would have gone to meet Rize that day. To me, all of it was necessary. This world… This world isn’t wrong. It just is. And even if “eventually” everything will come to naught, I’ll still strive like I did today, Furuta.” – Ken Kaneki
35. “Eventually everything will come to naught. I ever since I was a child, I have know. Living, dying, creating, consuming. Valueless, meaningless, it’s all pointless. You, your wife, you child, your friends and your enemies. They’ll all die anyway. It’s all be gone, one day. This world is just a toy chest. You can play with it while you can, but when the time comes, it’s all over. The chest is shut, and there’s no reopening it.” – Kichimura Washū
50. “If, lets say, you were to write a story with me as the main character, it would certainly be a tragedy. No. Everyone’s the same, in fact. He’s the main character of his novel, and she’s the main character of her movie. All those that walk this earth are the main characters of their own tragedies. All steal, and from all, something is stolen. We can’t help it. That’s who we are. Steal, and be stolen. Imprison, and be imprisoned. Follow, and be followed. Do, and be done. Affirm and negate over and over. We fight ceaselessly to save ourselves from loss. And yet the people and places we love will one day surely be lost. We will all surely be forgotten. Life is sad. Empty. But, despite knowing we will one day be bereft, despite knowing we will one day disappear, we still strive in wretched ways. We still wish to be beautiful. And I consider. “Which one?” I choose. “This one.” Forever choosing, forever being chosen. Nothing more. Nothing less.” – Ken Kaneki
1. “Events that happen in this world, are a continuous series of trifling things, and within those myriad pieces of puzzles, there is always a fragment that leads to the truth.” – Kishō Arima
2. “Ghoul investigator Amon Koutarou at the age of 20, enrolled in the [CCG] academy and graduated at the top of his class. After becoming First-Class Mado Kureo’s partner, beginning with [Apple Head] and [Red Jam], He either exterminated or captured numerous heinous ghouls– In little less than three years after he was appointed, He was promoted to Rank 1 investigator. In the [11th ward Aogiri subjugation battle] He exterminated the Bikaku Brothers and other Aogiri affiliated ghouls. At the age of 27 He was further promoted to First-Class investigator. His true self is a zealous muscle builder at his subordinates home. A [Perverted Investigator]…Don’t make a face like that it’s just a joke.” – Akira Mado
3. “People suck. They’re bound by stupid laws, have an idiotic love for groups, and convinced that they’re in the right, they lump together those they hurt and drive them out. But though they’re weak, some of them care about others; they may be fragile, but they show love to the people who are important to them; they may not have claws or fangs, but they will fight to defend someone. Do ghouls do that? Do I?” – Tōka Kirishima
4. “Kaneki of ‘Anteiku,’ huh? I have a strong interest in that scent.” – Shū Tsukiyama
5. “Just in case, I guess I’ll tell you my wish anyway. Kill the One-Eyed King.” – Eto Yoshimura
6. “I want you to save lonely people… and eventually… my child as well.” – Yoshimura
7. “645 times. 645 times I could have fatally wounded you. 645. 645 times I decided not to. It would take me two seconds to kill you. Your eyes are the eyes of a dead man. The dead cannot stop me.” – Kishō Arima
8. “You make me laugh. Trying to play the paragon of justice? Or perhaps the protagonist? Associate Special Class… The sole fault for the breaking of this world lies with you. Get it?! You saw the City of Tokyo, didn’t you?! How did it look?! How did it look?! Streets choked with the foul stench of the dead… bodies of the humans felled by your hands! Not just humans. Whenever it suited you, you took the lives of ghouls, too! You preach high and mighty ideals, but you’re really just a shallow narcissist! And thanks to that flaw of yours, I’ve had more than my share of fun! At Aogiri’s hideout, when you tried to protect yourself from an overwhelmingly powerful foe… When you tried to protect that cafe in the 20th Ward… When you tried to protect your false family as Haise Sasaki… When you tried to protect the nation of ghoulkind as the One-Eyed King… You failed every single time! Man, it really was exhilarating to watch! No matter how you writhe and wriggle, there are things in this world you simply cannot change! And yes, today, too, you will fall! Everything will have been for naught!” – Kichimura Washū
9. “Ironic, isn’t it? For we, who lived for justice this whole while, to be reduced to these bodies…” – Seidō Takizawa
10. “Do you suddenly forget that you’re a monster, and become happy when around those humans?” – Ayato Kirishima
11. “I already knew man!… Who cares about that, let’s just go home already.” – Hideyoshi Nagachika
12. We’re always trying to justify our actions with ideals. But ideals cannot give grounds for killing another person. The act of taking a life will always be considered… evil.” – Yoshimura
13. “You know, once I grow up… I want to be an investigator, just like you!” – Kuki Urie
14. “Well… Men say this and that, but… Shove a pair of big tits in their face and they shut up right quick.” – Saiko Yonebayashi
15. “Amon Kōtarō I… Hate you the most.” – Akira Mado
16. “As the long and harsh life of torture continued, I tried desperately to come up with a way to escape the pain… Truly ‘desperately.’ ‘I am not the ghoul named “Yamori.” I am the investigator meting out the torture,’ I convinced myself. When I believed that… most mysteriously, it was unclear — was I suffering pain or inflicting pain? As if the enemy and I had become a single person, I felt a strange sense of unity. And then one day, in a split second chance, our roles were reversed in reality. Though it was but a short hour, I felt as if I had really become a human. I’ll never forget that thrill.” – Yakumo Ōmori (Jason)
17. “This world is wrong.” – Kōtarō Amon
18. “You are a single person who has two worlds in which to belong.” – Yoshimura
19. “‘Surrender,’ you say? I would never do that. My father… and the servants… have all risked their lives to make sure I survive… This body is no longer my own. Are you saying I should surrender, and just sit around carelessly at Cochlea until I get killed? I will fight in order to survive. Mister Sasaki… I don’t know anything about you.” – Shū Tsukiyama
20. “Mama. The only things you’ve given me are scars. Those are the only things I remember… It doesn’t matter what the people around me say, I… don’t hold a grudge against you or anything. This is just… my job.” – Jūzō Suzuya
21. “✕✕…‼ ✕…! ✕✕⁉… ⬜▽▽⚪～… △⬜⚪⬜⚪⚪▽⚪” – Hideyoshi Nagachika
22. “645 times. 645 times I could have fatally wounded you. 645. 645 times I decided not to. It would take me two seconds to kill you. Your eyes are the eyes of a dead man. The dead cannot stop me.” – Kishō Arima
23. “Gentlemen, the One-Eyed King is… not me.” – Eto Yoshimura
24. “I am the One-Eyed King.” – Ken Kaneki
25. “For the sake of food and anger I’ve also killed a lot of people!” – Tōka Kirishima
26. “The CCG is a slaughter house! Saiko doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore!” – Saiko Yonebayashi
27. “Because I love him and I don’t need another reason. Hehe.” – Hideyoshi Nagachika
28. “Even if time has passed, even if our bodies have changed, even if he’d forgotten me completely… As long as he came back home, things’ll be all right.” – Tōka Kirishima
29. “I… I’ve… always… hated it. I hated myself, who only ever stole from others… I was finally… able to leave something…” – Kishō Arima
30. “The ones with the reason are the ghouls. If no one steps up, ghouls will continue to die without rhyme or reason. And this puppet-like world will dance on. That might not be a bad thing in or of itself, but…the world’s like an egg. To give birth to something, you’ve gotta destroy the world right before your eyes.” – Eto Yoshimura
31. “Ah, this is the stuff. Without lives on the line, games are just no fun. Insurance for anything and everything is so boring. Besides, every last man jack of us is just a pawn on a great board. Now… let’s play house.” – Kichimura Washū
32. “Furuta, I was the sort of human you’d find anywhere. The kind that just loves reading. But on that fateful day with Rize, I was sundered from the human world. And everything began to change. My life was threatened. I was horrifically tortured, unable to achieve what I wanted, I even lost. But I found a new place I belonged. Allies. Friends. People I could call my teachers. People I love. and even though I have erred so much, and hurt so many, I simply don’t believe that it was all for naught. And that’s why even if I were to know everything that’d happen after, I still would have gone to meet Rize that day. To me, all of it was necessary. This world… This world isn’t wrong. It just is. And even if “eventually” everything will come to naught, I’ll still strive like I did today, Furuta.” – Ken Kaneki
33. “Now then, shall we play a game of chef? I’ll be the chef and you’re the pig.” – Jūzō Suzuya
34. “Hatred, rage… I understand what it feels like to live supported only by those emotions. When they finally dissolve, it feels like you’re left hollow. I… after becoming like this, I too have had to live side-by-side with that emptiness. I thought that all the time I had spent as an investigator was for naught. As was the coming future… But… Everything’s not totally gone. If ’emptiness’ is another feeling then it, too, exists… Gazing into that emptiness is painful. It’s hard. But if you can face it, unfaltering, it will eventually give you the answer you seek… How you want to live your life.” – Kōtarō Amon
35. “Eventually everything will come to naught. I ever since I was a child, I have know. Living, dying, creating, consuming. Valueless, meaningless, it’s all pointless. You, your wife, you child, your friends and your enemies. They’ll all die anyway. It’s all be gone, one day. This world is just a toy chest. You can play with it while you can, but when the time comes, it’s all over. The chest is shut, and there’s no reopening it.” – Kichimura Washū
36. “I’m not the protagonist of a novel or anything. I’m just a college student who likes to read, like you could find anywhere. But… if, for argument’s sake, you were to write a story with me in the lead role, it would certainly be… a tragedy.” – Ken Kaneki
37. “Amon. You always burned so bright. Bright enough to blind. Your rectitude was nothing but torture to me. But I realized. I can’t spout pretty words about justice like you can. I won’t take back the crimes I’ve committed. Seidō Takizawa died in that prison. I can no longer walk the straight and narrow path. If I could, I’d want to turn time back. I, too… want to be like you… but now that that’s never going to happen… I’m just a loose cannon. Loose cannon. Bit different than a ticking time-bomb. Just one thing. That’s all. ‘This above all else.’ Something like that. The one thing that holds everything else in place. And I’ll… see it through.” – Seidō Takizawa
38. “We shoulder their deaths and bring peace to us all! And those despicable Clowns mixed normal citizens within their ranks, using them as meat shields! Such a reprehensible and foolish plan! From this moment forth, the CCG will direct all its might into exterminating every last one of them… Our objective is ‘complete cleansing of Tokyo’!!! Complete annihilation of all ghouls!!! Please lend me your power… It’s time to (party) strike back.” – Kichimura Washū
39. “At Death’s door, I finally stumbled upon the twisted truth. Rize, Hide, it was always all inside me, after all. They were nothing but an extension of myself. The people I want to meet. The things I want to be told. ‘Hide’ll stop me for sure.’ As soon as I began to think that somewhere inside me, I myself began wishing for it. Wishing that I’d live.” – Ken Kaneki
40. “Dear Mother and Father, Long ago there was a period of time when Mother began to feel insecure after a ghoul killed Satou-obasan, who lived in the neighborhood. When I saw that, I felt that I wanted to protect Mother and made the decision to become a ghoul investigator. Even now, the determination I held then is strong. I am very proud of this job where I must put my life on the line for the sake of other people. This time, I was included as a member of a large suppression operation. If I do not make it back, please do not be too sad. As always (blurred). The meals I was able to eat we- (blurred) delicious. (Blurred) of Seina and Rocky. I DON’T WANT TO DIE.” – Seidō Takizawa
41. “M-my fingers… on the plier… C-centipedes… i-in my ears… [laughs] A thousand minus… A-A thousand minus… s-seven… seven is what…?” – Ken Kaneki
42. “I’ve known. I’ve known, but I’ve ignored it all this time. This world is twisted… and among those twisting it… among the ones twisting it was me.” – Kōtarō Amon
43. “Fiction books give the reader a chance to step away from their own reality and into the shoes of the characters, and they show you a world that isn’t the one you already know. And sometimes the story’s not so different from you own, and it lets you get closer to your own feelings. So when you close a book you’ve just finished reading and return to reality, all the pain and sadness you couldn’t put into words before are still there on those pages. And that can be comforting.” – Ken Kaneki
44. “Try not to hate me too much, okay?” – Jūzō Suzuya
45. “I’m not going to protect you by being your shield or armor, but I’ll be the dagger hidden below your pillow.” – Shū Tsukiyama
46. “It’s not because we can’t take vengeance that we should feel sorry. The real reason to feel sorry… is when one is hung up on revenge and can’t live their own life.” – Yoshimura
47. “Mommy! Daddy! I’m sorry! I can’t help it! I couldn’t help it!” – Seidō Takizawa
48. “Doing what one likes is the right of the strong.” – Yakumo Ōmori (Jason)
49. “Saiko doesn’t want anyone to die anymore.” – Saiko Yonebayashi
50. “If, lets say, you were to write a story with me as the main character, it would certainly be a tragedy. No. Everyone’s the same, in fact. He’s the main character of his novel, and she’s the main character of her movie. All those that walk this earth are the main characters of their own tragedies. All steal, and from all, something is stolen. We can’t help it. That’s who we are. Steal, and be stolen. Imprison, and be imprisoned. Follow, and be followed. Do, and be done. Affirm and negate over and over. We fight ceaselessly to save ourselves from loss. And yet the people and places we love will one day surely be lost. We will all surely be forgotten. Life is sad. Empty. But, despite knowing we will one day be bereft, despite knowing we will one day disappear, we still strive in wretched ways. We still wish to be beautiful. And I consider. “Which one?” I choose. “This one.” Forever choosing, forever being chosen. Nothing more. Nothing less.” – Ken Kaneki
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Arthur S. Poe is a writer based in Europe. He has a Ph.D. and speaks five languages. His expertise varies from Alfred Hitchcock movies to Bleach, as he has explored a lot of fictional Universes and authors. He is currently focusing on anime, his childhood love, with special atten...
