How to watch Tokyo Ghoul in order
Your guide to watching the classic anime horror franchise in the correct order.
As the name suggests, Tokyo Ghoul is one of Japan's darker, more unsettling anime shows.
Based on Sui Ishida's 2011 manga (now one of the best-selling of all time), the story follows a student named Ken Kaneki who's attacked by a flesh-eating ghoul and ends up becoming one himself - or at least a half-ghoul, thanks to some surgery that helps him retain his humanity.
Still, the hunger for flesh remains and his new ghoul friends aren't making things any easier for him, either…
Pierrot's anime adaptation began airing in July 2014 and since then, there have been a few prequels and live action spin-offs added to help flesh the story out further on screen.
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But don't worry. If you're confused, we're on hand to help you figure out how to devour Tokyo Ghoul the best way possible, in all its gruesome glory.
How to watch Tokyo Ghoul in the correct order
After you've watched the first two seasons in full, the Jack and Pinto OVAs help flesh out what you've seen so far with a lot of interesting background information. After that, the two "re" seasons, which are essentially seasons 3 and 4, help complete the story.
- Tokyo Ghoul (season 1)
- Tokyo Ghoul: √A (season 2)
- Tokyo Ghoul: Jack & Pinto OVAs
- Tokyo Ghoul: re (season 3)
- Tokyo Ghoul: re second season (season 4)
- Tokyo Ghoul (live action movie)
- Tokyo Ghoul S (live action movie)
The live action movies, released in 2017 and 2019 respectively, aren't vital when it comes to understanding Tokyo Ghoul's wider story. In fact, they're a bit cheesy in places, but we'd still recommend giving them both a watch.
The first film includes information from the manga that's not included in the main anime series, and Tokyo Ghoul S takes things in a brand new direction that might intrigue long-time fans of the source material.
How to watch Tokyo Ghoul in release order
If you're a stickler for tradition and want to experience Tokyo Ghoul in the same way that fans did when it first came out, you could choose to watch each instalment in the order that they were released in. For the most part, this running order doesn't diverge too much from our recommended schedule listed above, except the first live action film appears earlier to mix things up.
- 2014 Tokyo Ghoul (season 1)
- 2015 Tokyo Ghoul: √A (season 2)
- 2015 Tokyo Ghoul: Jack (OVA)
- 2015 Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto (OVA)
- 2017 Tokyo Ghoul (live action movie)
- 2018 Tokyo Ghoul:re (season 3)
- 2018 Tokyo Ghoul:re second season (season 4)
- 2019 Tokyo Ghoul S (live action movie)
It's been four years since Tokyo Ghoul appeared on our screens - five if you ignore the live action sequel - and fans are already calling for an animated reboot. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but we wouldn't be surprised to see Ken Kaneki return in a new anime one day.
How to watch Tokyo Ghoul in the UK
Tokyo Ghoul (season 1), Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto (OVA) and Tokyo Jack (OVA) are available to stream on Netflix.
The series is also available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to find out what else is on.
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Authors
David Opie is a freelance entertainment journalist who writes about TV and film across a range of sites including Radio Times, Indiewire, Empire, Yahoo, Paste, and more. He's spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and strives to champion LGBTQ+ storytelling as much as possible. Other passions include comics, animation, and horror, which is why David longs to see a Buffy-themed Rusical on RuPaul's Drag Race. He previously worked at Digital Spy as a Deputy TV Editor and has a degree in Psychology.
