The History of Tokyo Ghoul
A one-shot that placed in a new-talent prize became one of the best-selling manga of its decade.
Tokyo Ghoul began as a one-shot by Sui Ishida that took second place in the 113th Young Jump Grand Prix in 2010. Shueisha published it in the second issue of Miracle Jump in March 2011, and the serialised version opened in Weekly Young Jump on September 8, 2011.
The series ran until September 18, 2014 and was collected in fourteen volumes. The sequel, Tokyo Ghoul:re, began in the same magazine on October 16, 2014, four weeks after the first series ended, and ran to July 5, 2018, collected in sixteen volumes. By January 2021 the franchise had passed 47 million copies in circulation worldwide.
THE SHAPE OF THE RUN
2010–20182010 · The one-shot
Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul one-shot takes second place in the 113th Young Jump Grand Prix, the new-talent award run by the magazine that would serialise him.
2011 · Print and serial
The one-shot appears in Miracle Jump No. 2 (March 2011). Serialisation begins in Weekly Young Jump 2011 No. 41, on September 8. A second one-shot, Tokyo Ghoul: Rize, follows in Miracle Jump No. 6 that December.
2012–14 · The fourteen volumes
Volume 1 reaches bookshops on February 17, 2012. The run closes with volume 14 on October 17, 2014, published the same day as the Zakki illustration book.
2013 · Jack and the novels
The prequel Tokyo Ghoul [Jack] runs on the Jump Live digital service in August and September 2013. Shin Towada’s light novels begin the same year, illustrated by Ishida.
2014–18 · :re
Tokyo Ghoul:re starts October 16, 2014, set two years later, and ends July 5, 2018. Sixteen volumes, the last on July 19, 2018.
Screen and games
Studio Pierrot’s anime runs 2014–18 in four cours, including the anime-original second season, √A. Live-action films follow in 2017 and 2019; the games are documented on the games page.
KEEP READING
The Tokyo Ghoul shelfThe one-shot
How the series began as a prize entry: the one-shot and the side stories.
The author
Ishida’s path from webcomics to Young Jump: Who is Sui Ishida?
The anime question
Why the second season leaves the manga’s road: the √A divergence, documented.