20 Facts About Tokyo Ghoul You Should Know

 

Tokyo Ghoul was one of those anime that defined the horror genre in the anime industry for the past decade. The show‘s dark nature fit really well with the audience. Created by Illustrated by Sui Ishida, the manga debuted in 2013 in Shonen’s Young Jump and was soon adapted into anime series consisting of 12 episodes. A consecutive second season was followed along with another anime series titled “Tokyo Ghoul: Re”. Tokyo Ghoul had become the 27th best-selling manga series in Japan in 2013 and rose to fourth in the second consecutive year. Both Manga and Anime have been applauded for the impressive representation of a dark storyline often filled with action accompanied with great compelling characters.

Tokyo Ghoul follows the story of Ken Kaneki who lives in an alternate reality where ghouls roam the earth in disguise as normal humans. They hunt down humans and eat their flesh in order to survive and satisfy their hunger. Tokyo Ghoul was one hell of dark anime that left a lot of stories to tell. So here we are taking a look back at some of the facts that intrigue us the most about the popular horror anime.

20. The Story Was Already Popular

Yes, you might have heard it before and it’s one of the most evident stories told for years. But with its own unique take. It’s just not because of the light novels and anime that gave it a bigger step but the whole package of compelling characters, their build-up, and the reflection of humanity that makes the story worth watching. Especially, the dark nature of humanity using zombie-like creature or ghouls. In one way or another, it has been explored before in the entertainment medium for years now. If you still don’t get our point, please also refer the fact no. 10 below.

19.The Origin Of Body Snatching

Originally, the body-snatching technique in the series was only used in Underground Cultures. It was used as a form of self-expression. The character of Suzuya and her design changed the course for it as it embodied more awareness about it and more people started taking part in the culture.

18. Meaning Of Uta’s Tattoo

If you may have noticed, Utta has a tattoo on his neck written in Greek which reads “Nec possum tecum vivere, nec shine te”. The translation for this phrase in English is “We can neither live with you nor without you”. The phrase suggests that Ghouls indeed can’t live with humans, because they look down upon Ghouls. On another hand, they also can’t live without humans because they are their food source after all.

17. Yakumo Oomori Is Inspired By Jason Voorhes

Yakumo Ooomori, who can also be referred to as “Jason Of the 13th Ward” is a clear reference to popular horror character Jason Voorhes. In fact, the character pays homage to the iconic horror character from “Friday The 13th” movies. The name Jason Of the 13th Ward is used thus to refer to him.

16. It is Inspired By the Novel “The Metamorhpios”

Tokyo Ghoul takes its cues from the 1915 Novel titled “The Metamorphosis” which was written during World War I by Franz Kafka. It serves as a pivotal inspiration for the story as they go hand in hand. The story of “The Metamorphis” follows a salesman who turns into a large insect and for the rest of his life has to adapt and to live and in that form. Much like our Tokyo Ghouls’ main character Kaneki who has to adapt to the Ghoul life.

15. Tsukiyama is bisexual

Well, the fans were dreaming high for shipping Tsukiyama and Kaneki or Tsukiyama and Rize. But the dream remains a dream until it was revealed that Tsukiyama isn’t sexually attracted to any of both characters and indeed is “bisexual”. The news came during an interview along with Mangaka Masashi Kishimoto who is known for writing Naruto and Naruto: Shippudden.

14. Kaneki’s Kakuja Is Quite Different

So, Kaneki’s Kakuja doesn’t really represent the color of his Ghoul’s eye. It instead comes from his blood and thus has a bright red color. The Kakuji was shown in the second season of the series where we saw him use it and his eye went bright much like the other ghouls from the first season.

13. Touka’s Hair Color

In Manga, Touka originally does have black hair. But the time and ink took a lot to color her hair. So, Sui Ishida decided not to conclude with it and stated that the audience should just imagine that she has black haired-color in Manga.

12. Reason Behind Nishki Targetting Torsos

Well, there was a lot of mystery behind Nishki Targetting Torsos. It’s been heavily speculated that it is because of Kimi who he loves dearly. She had a scar on her shoulder and Nishki was clearly seen targeting women who indeed had scars.

11. Tokyo Ghoul Video Games

The popularity of manga has served well for the anime which was later also adapted into video games for Tokyo Ghoul. The games are being developed since 2015. The very first title includes Tokyo Ghoul Carnaval, Toky Ghoul, Toky Ghoul Jail, Tokyo Ghoul ReInvoke, and lastly. Tokyo Ghoul: re Call to Exist. All the games were developed by Bandai Namco and are available to play on Microsoft Windows and Playstation 4.

10. Kaneki’s Rough Relationship With His Aunt

So, it’s been said that when Kaneki lost his mother he went to live with his aunt. Things started heating up when Kaneki scored higher results academically than his aunt’s son leading to his aunt becoming jealous of him. Kaneki’s aunt started making him uncomfortable and unwelcomed often giving him less food or throwing his belongings. There was a time when she literally gave him money so that he could buy his own food rather than eating at their house.

9. Tokyo Ghoul Serves As A Reflection Of Dark Secrets From Humanity

Like we mentioned in the fact no.20, here we are with some in-depth cues. So, take a closer look at the series you will see some normal beings and some other creatures who are basically zombie-looking ones. The difference that comes about these zombie-like creatures is that yes they eat humans but they are not driven by hunger the moment they look at them. Exactly, the story reflects the humans who have become monsters inside but look and act like they are normal only to live in a much darker life when they are alone.

8. Real Life Tokyo References

If you might remember, in one of the episodes Uta referred that Wards 1 through 4 are inhabitable for them and the 13th ward is the most dangerous one. The references are clear to the real-life Tokyo city. In the real world, Tokyo wards from 1 to 4 consists of Class-A of criminals in the world. The 13th class of Tokyo also serves as a home to one of the biggest crime syndicates in the world. The place involves everything from illegal drugs, human trafficking, the slave trade to firearms that are sold worldwide.

7. Tokyo Ghoul Was Originally 16 Plus

Yes, but right now, Tokyo Ghoul is a clear cut 15 Plus show. Originally it was meant to be 16 plus due to the inclusion of sexual content. But, in favor of gaining more viewership from the audience whether it be an audience below 16, the series decided to go 15 plus by removing the sexual content which was gonna be part of the show.

6. Hide’s Weird Habit

If you may have or not noticed but Hide does have a weird habit of scratching his face. This occasionally happens when he is pretty much nervous. We mean it’s okay to be nervous.,but the thing is his weird habit also arises when he is lying.  Especially we can see him touching his chin with his left hand. This makes Hide’s habit a thing to watch out for.

5. The Torture Changed Kaneki And Yamori In Completely Different Ways

So, as we saw both Kaneki and Yamori went through a very similar way of getting tortured. But the thing is despite going to similar methods, both characters came out as different persons aiming for different things in life. For Yamori, he turned into a completely psychotic killer. He literally killed for fun rather than to feed his hungry stomach. On the other hand for Kaneki also turned cold but his desire to protect his friends didn’t vanish a bit.

4. Suzuya And No. 13

Yes, everyone has observed Suzuya and his association with No.13. It’s clearly a wordplay. The number represents a lot of things including loss, conclusion, transition into a completely new person, sadness, and a lot. Looking at the character it also represents his hairclip, his connection with Jason, and working in Ward No.14. Above all, the number 13 is considered unlucky in many cultures around the world often being associated with death, loss, and betrayal.

3. Originally Kaneki Was Supposed To Eat Taguchi

One Of Ishida’s rough drafts says that Kaneki was supposed to eat Taguchi as ordered by Tartara. It had to be done so that Kaneki could prove his loyalty to Aaogiri Tree. But things went another side as Noro ate Taguchi while Kaneki and Tartara were left arguing. Anyway, at the end of the day, the scene didn’t make it to the final cut.

2. Kaneki And His Sudden Change Of Hair

Kaneki’s hair was suddenly changed to white soon he is tortured. This is a reference to a condition called Marie Antoinette Syndrome and is named after the last Queen of France. She faced the whitening of her hair during her imprisonment before execution. The condition is often caused by extreme stress or emotional trauma.

1. The Writer Of Toky Ghoul Is A Mystery

Much like Death Note’s writer Tsugumi Ohba, who writes under a pen, the writer of Tokyo Ghoul also uses an alias. Sui Ishida, the man behind Tokyo Ghoul uses the name just for print and no one knows his real name or what gender he is. Only, recently one of the editors slipped and revealed that the writer is male. But the rest about him still is a mystery.