The anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul has received significant criticism all over the world. The show is known as one of the most disappointing anime series of all time, even today.
The Tokyo Ghoul anime is considered awful when compared with the original source material. Fans believe that unnecessary changes in the original plot and failure to adapt the original storyline resulted in its downfall.
This has not only ruined the anime adaptation but also the reputation of the manga. So what actually went wrong with Tokyo Ghoul?
Why Tokyo Ghoul Anime Adaptation Failed
After the conclusion of the manga series, the anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul was released in 2014. The show was under the production of well-known anime studio, Pierrot, who was also responsible for many successful anime shows like Naruto and Black Clover.
This was a fortunate case for the makers of the anime as it meant they did not have to create a lot of filler episodes in the anime series to match the ongoing manga series. The first season of Tokyo Ghoul comprised 12 episodes a lot of positive response and was the best adaptation of the manga.
I finished the Tokyo Ghoul/re: manga and I really hope one day we get a better anime adaptation because it's truly amazing pic.twitter.com/loLU6YWZXz
— CLK🐮 (@NotCLK) August 29, 2023
Tokyo Ghoul season one covered the first 66 chapters of the manga series. And left enough story to potentially adapt into additional seasons.
However, the creators decided to take a different approach with the release of the second season named Tokyo Ghoul √A. Instead of continuing a faithful adaptation of the manga’s story, the next season of Tokyo Ghoul loosely combined elements from the later chapters of the manga.
This was the decision of the creator of the Tokyo Ghoul franchise, Sui Ishida, who was also involved in writing the new story for season two. However, unfortunately, the second season of the franchise was not well received.
With this new approach, the characters were introduced only to be quickly forgotten. In addition to this, even the well-established characters from the first season exhibited dramatic changes in their actions and behavior.
This resulted in an overall jumble, where characters fought with each other without much context. Along with the skipping of important plot points from the original manga.
How Tokyo Ghoul Anime Affected Manga
When it comes to Japanese pop culture, fans often group anime and manga together as one and the same. However, in reality, watching anime has become a much more mainstream and easily available hobby as compared to reading manga.
When the anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul started airing, manga were not as widely available in stores and shops outside of Japan. This means, there were a lot more people in the West watching the anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul than there were the manga readers.
After the decline in the quality of the anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul, the whole franchise, including the manga series started to get a bad reputation.
You can watch Tokyo Ghoul on Crunchyroll.
