Tokyo Ghoul fans will be able to watch all of the anime's 50 episodes for free as part of Studio Pierrot's 10th-anniversary celebration campaign for the series.
This July marks 10 years of Tokyo Ghoul, the anime based on Sui Ishida's dark fantasy manga series. To celebrate the milestone, Naruto's Studio Pierrot commenced a celebration campaign with a teaser visual of Kaneki's mask interlaced with scenes from the TV show. 48 TV episodes and two OVAs of the anime will also be free to stream from Studio Pierrot's YouTube channel for a limited time starting on April 5. The episodes are released in batches every Friday, with each batch only available for two weeks following release. This offering provides a good opportunity for Tokyo Ghoul fans to congregate at Studio Pierrot's YouTube channel every week for watch parties.
The studio has confirmed the release schedule for the episodes, starting with Season 1, "Tokyo Ghoul," on April 5, followed by Season 2, "Tokyo Ghoul √A," on April 12. The two OVAs "Tokyo Ghoul: Jack" and "Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto" will be released separately in the next two weeks, followed by Season 3 "Tokyo Ghoul: re" and Season 4 "Tokyo Ghoul: re (final chapter)." The episodes will be temporarily unavailable on Japanese public holidays. Studio Pierrot has teased that this is just the initial offering for the campaign, with more to be announced at a later date.
Tokyo Ghoul's Anime Series Has a Divided Fan Base
The first season of Tokyo Ghoul had 12 episodes and aired in Japan from July to September 2014, with a follow-up season launched between January and March 2015. Two prequel episodes to the first season ("Tokyo Ghoul: Jack" and "Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto") were released in September and December 2015, respectively. "Tokyo Ghoul: re" was released in two 12-episode seasons in 2018. The anime faithfully captured the tone and spirit of the manga, but fans noted significant visual style differences. There was also a shift in animation style between seasons of the anime, largely attributed to the studios in charge of each. Many Tokyo Ghoul fans agree that the manga is superior to all subsequent adaptations, including the live-action films.
Tokyo Ghoul ran for 143 chapters as a serialized manga in Weekly Young Jump from September 2011 to September 2014. The chapters have since been compiled into 14 volumes released from 2012 to 2014. Despite the manga's popularity -- the 4th best-selling series in Japan in 2014 with almost seven million copies sold -- creator Sui Ishida has admitted that he's oblivious to the demographic of his fan base. "I have no precise idea what kind of people like to read my manga," he said in an interview. Ishida has worked on several projects aside from Tokyo Ghoul, including an untitled Hunter x Hunter story and Choujin X, his latest and currently ongoing manga series.
"Tokyo Ghoul: re" is available to stream on Crunchyroll. The manga is available via Viz Media in the U.S.
Source: Tokyo Ghoul official site, X (formerly Twitter)
