‘Tokyo Ghoul’ Season 3 Anime Staff: Pierrot Announces Writer-Director, Tokyo Ghoul: re Manga Story To Change?
The Tokyo Ghoul Season 3 anime staff has been officially announced by Studio Pierrot and already the fans are upset. The story is going to be based on the Tokyo Ghoul: re manga by series creator Sui Ishida, but it’s possible the anime will be up for some major changes since the key staff members have changed.
Director Shuhei Morita of Studio Perriot was in charge of the first two seasons, but he’s going to be replaced by Odahiro Watanabe. While he has plenty of experience in doing key animations, as a director he’s best known for Soul Buster, a 2016 anime that only garnered a 5.94 score on MyAnimeList. Watanabe also directed a yaoi anime called Super Lovers, which told the story of an amnesiac man who romantically falls in love with his much younger, adoptive brother.
Needless to say, the announcement of the Tokyo Ghoul Season 3 director has not inspired much confidence in anime fans. Many responded to the news with Twitter memes about drinking bleach, crying, or wanting to die. Even anime reporter Yonkou could not hide his dismay.
“Tokyo Ghoul: re TV anime will be produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Odahiro Watanabe,” he tweeted. “Yep, given the circumstances, though, it might turn out worse than expected, but d**n.”
Other fans have speculated that having Watanabe “as a director [means] there [is] a real good chance that Re won’t be animated by Studio Pierrot and will be entirely outsourced.” This idea has not be substantiated, although subsidiary studio Pierrot Plus (formerly Studio Kikan) is being credited for animation production assistance.
There may also be some changes to the art direction since character designer Atsuko Nakajima is replacing Kazuhiro Miwa. If that happened, it would be similar to the upcoming High School DxD Season 4, which notably changed character designs. However, the early trailer video for Tokyo Ghoul Season 3 seems to keep a similar style with new characters like Haise Sasaki and the Qs Squad.
Tokyo Ghoul:re TV anime will be produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Odahiro Watanabe. pic.twitter.com/H3qs5QlhUM
— YonkouProductions (@YonkouProd) October 30, 2017
The one Studio Pierrot staff change that fans probably desired is not going to happen. Writer Chuji Mikasano was responsible for anime series composition and scripts for the first two seasons and the OVA Tokyo Ghoul: Jack (but not the other OVA, Tokyo Ghoul: PINTO). Mikasano has been confirmed to be returning for the third season, Tokyo Ghoul: re.
Many fans of the manga were upset by the story of Tokyo Ghoul: Root A because the anime adaptation had main character Ken Kaneki joining the Aogiri Tree ghoul organization rather than form his own group to protect his friends. There were also many details left out that led to plot developments in the Tokyo Ghoul: re story.
Fans are hoping that Mikasano will retcon Root A and pretend it never happened when writing the script for the Tokyo Ghoul: re anime. If he does not, it’s possible the anime will stray even further from the source material. Unfortunately, fans will just have to wait for Tokyo Ghoul Season 3 to come out to see if it’s a gourmet meal or a rotten corpse.
[Featured Image by Studio Pierrot/Tokyo Ghoul Anime TV Still]
