The best Tokyo Ghoul watch order is Season 1, the Pinto OVA, Tokyo Ghoul √A (Season 2), the Jack OVA, then Tokyo Ghoul:re and :re 2nd Season. That is 48 TV episodes plus two short OVAs, all on Crunchyroll in the US. The live-action films are optional. If you love Season 1, the manga tells the rest better.
Quick TakeArticle at a glance
- Release order and story order differ only because the Jack and Pinto OVAs are prequels; first-timers should still start with Season 1.
- Season 2 (Root A) goes off-script from the manga after its first episode, and :re 2nd Season crams about 120 manga chapters into 12 episodes.
- Watch Season 1, then switch to the manga at chapter 67 (Volume 7) if you want the real story, or finish the anime knowing it skips a lot.
Tokyo Ghoul Watch Order at a Glance
Here’s every animated entry in our recommended order, with what each one adapts and whether it’s worth your time.
| # | Title | Type | Episodes | Aired (Japan) | Manga covered | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo Ghoul | Season 1 | 12 | Jul-Sep 2014 | Ch. 1-66 (Vols 1-7) | Must watch |
| 2 | Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto | OVA | 1 (24 min) | Dec 2015 | Days light novel story | Optional, fun |
| 3 | Tokyo Ghoul √A (Root A) | Season 2 | 12 | Jan-Mar 2015 | Ch. 67-79, then mostly original; finale uses ch. 136-143 | Watch for the anime route |
| 4 | Tokyo Ghoul: Jack | OVA | 1 (30 min) | Sep 2015 | Tokyo Ghoul [Jack] spinoff | Watch before :re |
| 5 | Tokyo Ghoul:re | Season 3 | 12 | Apr-Jun 2018 | :re ch. 1-58 (Vols 1-6) | Watch, with patience |
| 6 | Tokyo Ghoul:re 2nd Season | Season 4 | 12 | Oct-Dec 2018 | :re ch. 60-179 (Vols 6-16) | Finish it, then read the manga |
Tokyo Ghoul in Release Order
If you want the Tokyo Ghoul watch order by release date, it’s six entries over four years. Studio Pierrot made all of it, and Shuhei Morita directed the first two seasons.
- Tokyo Ghoul (Season 1): July 4 to September 19, 2014
- Tokyo Ghoul √A (Season 2): January 9 to March 27, 2015
- Tokyo Ghoul: Jack (OVA): September 30, 2015
- Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto (OVA): December 25, 2015
- Tokyo Ghoul:re (Season 3): April 3 to June 19, 2018
- Tokyo Ghoul:re 2nd Season (Season 4): October 9 to December 25, 2018
Release order works fine. The only thing we’d change is moving Pinto up, for the reason below.
Tokyo Ghoul in Chronological Order
Both OVAs are prequels, so in story order they come first. Jack is set about 12 years before the main story, when Kishou Arima and Taishi Fura are high schoolers in the 13th ward. Pinto follows Shuu Tsukiyama in high school and how he met his photographer friend Chie Hori.
- Tokyo Ghoul: Jack (OVA)
- Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto (OVA)
- Tokyo Ghoul (Season 1)
- Tokyo Ghoul √A (Season 2)
- Tokyo Ghoul:re (Season 3)
- Tokyo Ghoul:re 2nd Season (Season 4)
Some guides lead their Tokyo Ghoul watch order with this list. Don’t use it on a first watch. Tokyo Ghoul is built around Kaneki stumbling into the ghoul world blind. If you open with a CCG prequel, you know more about the setting than he does before the first episode even starts. The OVAs also lean on you already caring about Arima and Tsukiyama.
How to Watch Tokyo Ghoul in Order: Our Pick
Our order is Season 1 → Pinto → √A → Jack → :re → :re 2nd Season. Here’s why the OVAs go where they do.
Pinto after Season 1. Tsukiyama, the self-styled “Gourmet,” is the breakout weirdo of Season 1’s middle stretch. Pinto is a 24-minute look at the guy behind the act, and it lands best once you’ve seen what he tries to do to Kaneki.
Jack before :re. Arima barely speaks in the first two seasons. In :re he’s suddenly one of the most important people in the story, so watching his teenage origin right before Season 3 makes him feel like a person instead of a legend.
Root A Explained: Why Season 2 Isn’t the Manga
Root A starts out faithful. Its first episode adapts manga chapters 67 to 79. Then it takes a hard left. At the end of that episode, anime Kaneki walks out of Anteiku and joins Aogiri Tree, the ghoul terrorist group that tortured him, to get stronger. In the manga, he leaves and starts his own small crew with Banjou, Hinami and Tsukiyama. They spend the next stretch hunting Aogiri and the doctor who turned him into a half-ghoul.
That one change wipes out most of the manga’s middle. Kaneki’s group, a big chunk of the Aogiri material and a lot of his quiet growth all disappear. The season only joins back up with the manga at the very end. Episode 12, “Ken,” uses the Owl Suppression Operation finale from chapters 136 to 143, but it gets there by a completely different road.
Root A wasn’t a case of the anime outrunning the manga, either. The original manga had already finished in September 2014, months before √A aired. Sui Ishida was credited as the season’s original planner. Director Shuhei Morita later said in a fan Q&A that Ishida urged him to change things, and that some of the team’s ideas got chipped away by people above him, as ComicBook.com reported. That’s why the season feels like a different story wearing the same faces.
Should You Skip Root A?
Only if you’re switching to the manga. If you plan to finish the anime, watch it. :re picks up from Root A’s ending, not the manga’s middle chapters, and jumping straight from Season 1 to :re makes an already confusing season worse. Its finale is also one of the most striking episodes in the whole anime. Just know it’s an alternate take, not “the real” Season 2.
What to Read Instead: Where to Start the Manga After the Anime
This is the part most watch-order guides leave out. The anime and manga line up neatly at two points, so you can switch over without rereading anything you’ve already seen adapted properly.
| If you’ve watched… | Start reading at | Then read | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Tokyo Ghoul ch. 67 (Volume 7) | Through ch. 143 (Volume 14), then all of :re | Season 1 ends exactly at ch. 66. This skips Root A’s original route entirely |
| Season 1 + Root A | Tokyo Ghoul ch. 67 (Volume 7) | Same as above | Root A replaced these chapters, so you haven’t actually seen them |
| :re (Season 3) | :re ch. 59 (Volume 6) | Through ch. 179 (Volume 16) | :re Season 3 ends at ch. 58; Season 4 rushes everything after it |
| Everything | Tokyo Ghoul ch. 67 | Through :re ch. 179 | You’ll be surprised how much the anime skipped |
Our honest advice: if Season 1 hooked you, stop there and pick up Volume 7. You get the real middle of the story and a :re that has room to breathe, and you can still go back to the anime later for the fights and that opening song. In the US, Viz Media publishes both series in English, 14 volumes of Tokyo Ghoul and 16 of :re, plus the one-volume Tokyo Ghoul [Jack] spinoff digitally.
Tokyo Ghoul:re Seasons 3 and 4: What You’re Getting Into
:re jumps two years ahead and opens on a new lead, CCG investigator Haise Sasaki, and his squad of half-ghoul Quinx trainees. It assumes you’ll connect the dots to the old cast fast. Season 3 adapts :re chapters 1 to 58 in 12 episodes. That’s tight but watchable, and the Auction raid and Tsukiyama family arcs hold up.
Season 4 is where it falls apart. It covers chapters 60 to 179, about 120 chapters and 11 volumes, in 12 episodes. That works out to roughly 10 chapters an episode, and it shows. Whole arcs shrink to a few scenes, and new characters show up already important. The finale, “The Final Episode,” moves so fast that even manga readers have trouble keeping up. Morita also left after Root A, and Toshinori Watanabe directed both :re seasons, so the look and pacing change too.
One practical tip: Crunchyroll lists :re as a single 24-episode season, so “:re 2nd Season” is episodes 13 to 24 there, not a separate show. If you think you finished :re after episode 12, keep going.
Jack and Pinto: Are the Tokyo Ghoul OVAs Worth Watching?
Yes, both are worth it. They’re short and self-contained, and neither one spoils the main plot.
- Tokyo Ghoul: Jack (30 minutes, September 2015) adapts Sui Ishida’s seven-chapter Tokyo Ghoul [Jack] prequel manga. Teenage Arima and Taishi Fura chase a ghoul through the 13th ward. It’s the only real look at Arima before :re.
- Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto (24 minutes, December 2015) adapts a story from the Tokyo Ghoul: Days light novel. It follows a high-school Tsukiyama and Chie Hori, the girl with a camera who isn’t scared of him at all. It’s lighter and funnier than anything else in the franchise.
On Crunchyroll they’re grouped together under “Tokyo Ghoul: OVA Season 1” in the season menu of the main Tokyo Ghoul series page, so they’re easy to miss.
Where the Tokyo Ghoul Live-Action Movies Fit
There are two Japanese live-action films. Neither one connects to the anime’s timeline, so you can watch them at any point after Season 1 or skip them entirely.
| Film | Released (Japan) | Covers | US streaming | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Ghoul | July 29, 2017 | Early Season 1: Kaneki, Rize, Touka, and investigators Mado and Amon | Crunchyroll | Curiosity watch; Masataka Kubota is a solid Kaneki |
| Tokyo Ghoul S | July 19, 2019 | Tsukiyama’s “Gourmet” arc from Season 1 | None currently; buy on disc | Skip unless you love Tsukiyama |
The 2017 film was directed by Kentaro Hagiwara. S recast Touka with Maika Yamamoto and brought in Shota Matsuda as Tsukiyama. Neither film adds anything to the story, so they’re really just a second take on Season 1.
Tokyo Ghoul Anime vs. Manga: A Practical Guide
Here’s how each part of the anime treats Sui Ishida’s manga, and what that means for you.
| Anime | How faithful? | What you lose | Best move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Mostly faithful, compressed | Side material and pacing; 66 chapters in 12 episodes | Watch it. It’s the best version of this part of the story on screen |
| Root A | Splits off after episode 1 | Kaneki’s own group, his hunt for the doctor who made him, most of the Aogiri arc | Read ch. 67-143 either way; watch Root A only for the anime route |
| :re Season 3 | Faithful order, heavy trims | Quieter Quinx and Haise character beats | Fine to watch; read from ch. 59 after |
| :re 2nd Season | Extremely compressed | Whole arcs, motivations, and the ending’s buildup | Read :re vols 6-16 even if you watch it |
Where newcomers usually get lost: the jump from Root A to :re. Root A ends with Hide and Kaneki in a moment that doesn’t match the manga, and then :re starts two years later with a new main character and no recap. Hardly anyone figures out how those two endings connect. If you hit that wall, that’s your cue to read Volume 7 onward instead of rewatching.
Tokyo Ghoul is the opposite of the shows on our list of anime adaptations that beat their manga. The source is clearly the stronger version here.
Where to Watch Tokyo Ghoul in the US (November 2026)
Crunchyroll is the place to watch every Tokyo Ghoul season and both OVAs in the US. Its Tokyo Ghoul series page carries Season 1, Root A, all 24 episodes of :re and the OVA season, with the original Japanese audio and the English dub. You can also get it through the Crunchyroll channel on Prime Video, or buy seasons on Apple TV and Amazon.
- Crunchyroll: Seasons 1-4, Jack, Pinto, and the 2017 live-action film
- Netflix (US): not available
- Hulu: not currently streaming it in the US
- Tokyo Ghoul S: no US streaming home right now; Blu-ray only
No new Tokyo Ghoul anime has been officially announced as of November 2026. The story is finished in both versions: the :re manga ended in July 2018, and the anime aired its last episode that December.
Skip or Don’t Skip: Our Tokyo Ghoul Watch Order Verdict
| Entry | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Don’t skip | The strongest stretch of the anime and the only start point |
| Pinto | Optional, recommended | 24 minutes of Tsukiyama being Tsukiyama |
| Root A | Skip only if you switch to the manga | :re follows its ending, not the manga’s middle |
| Jack | Don’t skip if you’re watching :re | Makes Arima matter before he matters most |
| :re | Don’t skip | Tight but coherent; the Auction arc is a highlight |
| :re 2nd Season | Watch to finish, then read | Roughly 10 chapters an episode; the manga lands it better |
| Live-action films | Skip | Retellings of Season 1 with nothing new for the story |
More Anime Watch Orders
If Tokyo Ghoul’s body horror is your speed, our Jujutsu Kaisen watch order and Chainsaw Man reading order cover two newer series in the same lane. Our Attack on Titan watch order deals with another franchise where the season splits get confusing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the correct Tokyo Ghoul watch order?
Watch Tokyo Ghoul (Season 1), Tokyo Ghoul √A (Season 2), then Tokyo Ghoul:re and :re 2nd Season. Add the Pinto OVA after Season 1 and the Jack OVA before :re if you want everything. The live-action films are optional and can go anywhere after Season 1.
Is Tokyo Ghoul Root A canon?
Mostly no. Root A adapts manga chapters 67 to 79 in its first episode, then follows an original route where Kaneki joins Aogiri Tree. It rejoins the manga for its finale, which uses chapters 136 to 143. The anime’s :re seasons continue from Root A’s version of events.
Do I need to watch the Tokyo Ghoul OVAs?
No, but both are worth it. Jack is a 30-minute prequel about a teenage Kishou Arima and Taishi Fura, and Pinto is a 24-minute side story about Shuu Tsukiyama and Chie Hori. Both stream on Crunchyroll in the US under Tokyo Ghoul: OVA Season 1.
Where should I start the Tokyo Ghoul manga after the anime?
After Season 1, start at chapter 67 in Volume 7 of Tokyo Ghoul and read through chapter 143, then all of Tokyo Ghoul:re. If you’ve watched :re Season 3, you can jump in at :re chapter 59 in Volume 6.
Is Tokyo Ghoul on Netflix in the US?
No. In the US, Tokyo Ghoul streams on Crunchyroll, which has all four seasons and both OVAs. Netflix availability differs by country, but the US library doesn’t carry it.
Will there be a Tokyo Ghoul Season 5?
Nothing has been announced. The anime adapted the manga’s ending in :re 2nd Season in December 2018, and the :re manga finished in July 2018, so there’s no story left for a direct sequel season.
