Is Tokyo Ghoul Over or Will There Be More? (Anime & Manga)

Tokyo Ghoul has a very complex narrative and a lot of characters so people often find some of the narrative elements confusing, which is why there are a lot of questions asked on a daily basis. As it usually is with popular anime and manga, fans often demand more and one of the more frequent questions regarding Tokyo Ghoul is – is it over, or is it getting a season 4?

Tokyo Ghoul is definitely over, both the manga and the anime. Seeing how Ishida closed of his narrative, leaving little space for a continuation, and said himself that he grew tired of drawing his major work, the chances of seeing new Tokyo Ghoul material are slim. At best.

In the rest of the article, you’re going to find out whether Tokyo Ghoul is finished, both the manga and the anime series. You’re going to see whether you can expect more material anytime in the future and the reasons behind all these answers so keep reading and enjoy!

Is the Tokyo Ghoul manga finished?

Sui Ishida started publishing Tokyo Ghoul, the manga, in Weekly Young Jump, a seinen magazine, on February 17, 2012; there was a one-shot released in 2011, but that’s not really part of the main series, it was more of a test run than an actual story. This marked the beginning of the initial Tokyo Ghoul series that ended on October 17, 2014 after 143 chapters and an epilogue, published in a total of 14 tankōbon volumes. This story chronicles the events starting with Ken Kaneki becoming a half-ghoul to him almost dying after his battle with Arima.

During this period, two light novels – Tokyo Ghoul: [Days] and Tokyo Ghoul: [Void] – were released in 2013 and 2014, respectively, while a third light novel, Tokyo Ghoul: [Past], was released on the same day as the sequel manga, Tokyo Ghoul:re, began. In addition to that, two side stories – Tokyo Ghoul: [JACK] and Tokyo Ghoul: [zakki] – have also were published, in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Tokyo Ghoul:re started coming out on December 19, 2014, and was set two years after the original manga’s ending, following Kaneki’s adventures as Haise Sasaki and him regaining his memory and becoming the One-Eyed King who would reconcile the ghouls and the humans. The manga ended on July 19, 2018, after 179 chapters, published in 16 tankōbon volumes. A tie-in light novel, Tokyo Ghoul:re: quest, was published in 2016.

The whole series thus ended in 2018 and Sui Ishida managed to conclude the story, portraying an epilogue that showed us what happened to all the surviving characters several years after Kaneki’s defeat of the Dragon. So, we can state that the manga is, indeed, finished and that there are no plans for Sui Ishida to continue the story.

To this, we can add the fact that Ishida did an interview with the press, confirming that had grown tired of writing and drawing the manga, which resulted in a below-quality rushed ending, and strongly indicates that there are no plans for any additional stories.

Is the Tokyo Ghoul anime finished?

As far as the anime is concerned, Tokyo Ghoul was adapted as a four-season franchise, with each season having 12 episodes, meaning that there are 48 episodes in total. In addition to that, there are also two OVA episodes.

The first season of the anime was simply titled Tokyo Ghoul and it aired from July 4, 2014, to September 19, 2014. The season had a total of 12 episodes and it adapted roughly half of Sui Ishida’s manga.

The story of the first season follows Ken Kaneki, a college student who barely survives a fatal encounter with Rize Kamishiro, his date that turns out to be a ghoul. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Once recovered, Kaneki discovers that he has undergone an operation that has turned him into a half-ghoul.

The second season of the anime was titled Tokyo Ghoul √A and it aired from January 9, 2015, to March 27, 2015; it had a total of 12 episodes, just like the first one. The story was an original one written by Ishida himself and although it has some similarities with the manga, it is mostly a reinterpretation of the second part of Ishida’s manga.

Two OVA episodes were released after Tokyo Ghoul √A was done. Tokyo Ghoul: [Jack] is the first OVA episode released as part of the Tokyo Ghoul series. It was released on September 30, 2015, about six months after the second season of the anime ended. [Jack] has a total runtime of 30 minutes and is based on a manga written by Ishida himself. [Jack] is a prequel that chronicles the youth of Kishō Arima, before he joined the CCG and became its best enforcer.

Tokyo Ghoul: PINTO is the second OVA episode from the Tokyo Ghoul series and is, like [Jack] part of the same narrative canon. It was based on a story from the novel Tokyo Ghoul: Days and tells the story of how Shū Tsukiyama and Chie Hori met and became so close. It has a runtime of 25 minutes and was released on December 25, 2015, roughly three months after [Jack].

After a three-year pause, Tokyo Ghoul finally returned with the first season of Tokyo Ghoul:re, which was a direct adaptation of the first half of Ishida’s sequel manga of the same name. With a total of 12 episodes, the first season of :re aired from April 3, 2018, to June 19, 2018. The fourth and final season of Tokyo Ghoul, i.e., the second season of Tokyo Ghoul:re, was finally released on September 29, 2018, and aired on December 25, 2018. It also contained 12 episodes, just like all of the previous seasons.

The second season of :re adapted the final part of Ishida’s sequel manga of the same name and it focused on Ken Kaneki’s path to becoming the true One-Eyed King and the leader of the ghouls who would establish a working relationship between them and the humans.

To summarize, the anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul began in 2014 and ended in 2018, with a three-year pause between seasons two and three. The adaptation consists of a total of 48 episodes, 12 of which are original stories, while the remaining 36 are adaptations of the manga, although a lot of elements from the manga have been excluded from the anime.

In that respect, we can clearly state that the anime is also finished and that there remains no part of Ishida’s story that needs to be adapted, as the anime also ended in the manner of the manga.

Will Tokyo Ghoul ever continue?

We’re pretty certain that it won’t. Seeing that both the anime and the manga are over and the story was closed in a proper way, there doesn’t seem to be any way of continuing it, save for a completely new story. But, if we consider the fact that Ishida himself said that he was done with the story, we don’t think it’s very likely that he’ll be coming back to it. Certainly, there are light novels that could be adapted and an additional side story, but knowing how the anime industry works – we don’t think that’s very likely.

Ishida could, though, change his mind and come back to this world after a while, but as things stand now – it’s not happening, but never lose hope, as they say, you might be surprised in the end.

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