It's safe to say that Sui Ishida is one of the most recognized and instantly iconic manga artists working today. Ishida quickly rose to fame when Tokyo Ghoul was first published in 2011, especially after it was adapted into a hit anime in 2014. Even after Tokyo Ghoul ended, Ishida remained as iconic as ever, thanks to his amazing art.
While they're incredibly familiar with Tokyo Ghoul's lore and characters, anime and manga fans barely know anything about Ishida. He's a private individual who has yet to show his face. At most, fans have heard his voice online. Despite his understandable need for privacy, there's thankfully a lot about Ishida that fans can learn right now.
10 Sui Ishida Has A New Ongoing Manga
Something even Tokyo Ghoul's biggest fans may have missed was that Ishida has a new ongoing manga. Choujin X began publication in 2021. It currently has 41 chapters and isn't ending any time soon. Those who miss Ken Kaneki's plight will be glad to know that Tokyo Ghoul has a spiritual successor in Choujin X.
Choujin X follows the childhood friends Tokio and Azuma. They live in a world of humans and "Choujin," people with dangerous supernatural powers. Tokio and Azuma become Choujins and must now find their place in both worlds. Choujin X is similar to yet different enough from Tokyo Ghoul for fans of the latter to appreciate it.
9 Tokyo Ghoul Was Sui Ishida's First Published Work
Besides how it quickly made a lasting impression on seinen fiction and anime/manga fans that can still be felt today, another thing that made Tokyo Ghoul so impressive was that it was only Ishida's first published manga. His debut manga didn't just expand into a successful franchise — it also became an irreplaceable pillar of 2010s pop culture.
Shortly after Tokyo Ghoul debuted on the pages of Weekly Young Jump, Ishida won many awards for his art and writing. As of 2022, Tokyo Ghoul has sold more than 47 million copies worldwide. It was adapted into a divisive but otherwise popular anime that defined seinen anime of the 2010s and continues to influence others today.
8 Sui Ishida Started With Raunchy Webcomics
Before he broke into the scene with Tokyo Ghoul, Ishida worked on webcomics. In sharp contrast to the gory and often tragic dark fantasy Tokyo Ghoul, Ishida's webcomics were explicit comedies. These were The Tale of Longing for Sex and THE PENISMAN. Despite their silliness, Ishida's signature art and pathos shone through.
Little is known about The Tale of Longing for Sex since most of its backlinks are now dead. Ishida also lost the files after a hard drive crash. THE PENISMAN, meanwhile, starred the titular superhero who had a phallus for a head. The comic was surprisingly emotional and even wholesome in parts, but Ishida left it incomplete a long time ago.
7 Sui Ishida Wrote & Illustrated A Hunter X Hunter One-Shot
Ishida never hid his love for Hunter x Hunter. On April Fool's 2015, he joked that he was tapped to make a prequel for Hisoka Morow (pictured). This became a reality shortly after, when Ishida did, in fact, write and draw Hisoka's 69-page origin. "Hisoka's Past" was more of a collection of storyboards than a finished manga, but it was still worth a read.
The one-shot showed how Hisoka (voiced by Daisuke Namikawa) discovered his Nen abilities. It also showed where he got his circus aesthetic from and how he embraced his bloodlust. Hunter x Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi approved of "Hisoka's Past," effectively canonizing it even if it has yet to be referenced by the manga or anime.
6 Sui Ishida Made A Visual Novel
One of the more surprising things about Ishida is just how talented he is. His visual novel Jack Jeanne displayed how many skills he had. Not only did Ishida write the story and design the characters, but he also wrote the soundtrack's songs. The only thing he didn't do was compose the score, which was a job that fell to Akira Kosemura.
Jack Jeanne was an otome visual novel set in the all-boys Univeil Drama School. To search for her missing older brother, Kisa Tachibana disguised as a male student and enrolled in the school. Jack Jeanne was commended for its solid gameplay and art, while its writing and mature approach to gender identity received high praise.
5 Sui Ishida's Biggest Influences Include Classic Literature
Although he never confirmed it, Ishida was clearly influenced by classic literature. The biggest ones were Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. The latter was obvious in Ishida's focus on inhuman transformations. Tokyo Ghoul's Eto Yoshimura (the One-Eyed Owl) even wrote a book titled "Dear Kafka."
Ishida quoted The Little Prince in many of Tokyo Ghoul's supplementary material. This made sense, given Tokyo Ghoul's thematic similarity of finding one's self in uncertain or even deadly circumstances. Ishida also found inspiration in Haruki Murakami, especially in his reflections on loneliness. Murakami was even used as Eto's basis.
4 Sui Ishida's Mangaka Hero Is Yoshihiro Togashi
Like many mangaka of his generation, Ishida was a big fan of Yoshihiro Togashi's work, especially the '90s hit Hunter x Hunter. Ishida talked about his admiration for the legendary mangaka in interviews and on social media. He expressed this through his Hunter x Hunter fanart and joked about making a Hisoka spinoff before it became a reality.
Ishida studied Togashi's art when he had just started. One way he practiced was by recreating the panel where Hisoka finished bathing. Ishida met his idol and interviewed him for a Jump special. The experience was so invigorating that Ishida told his editor that meeting Togashi reminded him that he needed to have fun while making manga.
3 Sui Ishida Made His Musical Influences & Favorites Public
One thing Ishida really loves is music. By the looks of his fanart of bands and recommendations, Ishida generally likes J-pop and J-rock music. Tokyo Ghoul and his other works referenced the likes of the pop singer ano, the dance group FANTASTIC from EXILE TRIBE, and the rock band Queen Bee through titles, poems, character designs, and more.
The acts Ishida has a deep affection performed for the Tokyo Ghoul anime. He even went out of his way to request that Ling tosite Sigure's lead singer, TK, perform the first season's now-iconic opening, "Unravel." Ishida thanked Amazarashi and österreich for their work on the soundtrack by drawing their album art and appearing in the former's music video.
2 Sui Ishida Loves Making Fanart
Many mangaka create fanart of their favorite anime or their friend's works, and Ishida was no exception. The striking colors and palpable melancholy of Ishida's style made his fanart more distinct than other mangaka's tributes. Ishida made fanart for the likes of Attack on Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Tokyo Revengers.
The most touching of Ishida's many fanart was the illustration he made in honor of The Voice contestant and known Tokyo Ghoul fan Christina Grimmie. In 2016, Grimmie was murdered during a fan meet-and-greet. Ishida offered his condolences and paid tribute to Grimmie by drawing her and writing a heartfelt message as well.
1 Sui Ishida Has A YouTube Channel
Most mangaka prefer to keep their lives private and limit interactions with fans, but this wasn't the case for Ishida. The Tokyo Ghoul creator has a healthy online presence and even runs his own YouTube channel. When he isn't uploading his artistic process, Ishida posts game playthroughs or animatics of his webcomics online.
Ishida doesn't upload as frequently as some would like, but his channel isn't totally dead. As of this writing, his last upload was from a year ago. His latest upload was the webseries Animal Rap, which starred anthropomorphic animals competing in a rap contest. Naturally, the raps were written and sung by Ishida himself.
