Fans of the immensely popular anime "Tokyo Ghoul" are set to be treated to yet another chapter in the life of its half-human, half-ghoul protagonist, as the anime's third season has recently been confirmed for a 2016 release.
In an interview regarding the upcoming "Tokyo Ghoul" official mobile game, Funimation President and CEO Gen Fukunaga slipped in the fact that the third season would see a release on 2016.
"Ever since we began simulcasting the anime series last year, fans of 'Tokyo Ghoul' have been clamoring for a mobile game. With Season 2 now finished and Season 3 set for 2016, the anticipation for the game has only grown higher," he said.
Though the release of the third season is all but confirmed for 2016, the exact date currently remains unknown. Speculations are high, however, that the new series would debut sometime this summer.
While the news of a 2016 release for "Tokyo Ghoul" Season 3 is indeed a great development for fans, a good number of critics for the upcoming anime have emerged. After all, while the first season of the anime adaptation basically followed the manga's storyline well, the second season, "Tokyo Ghoul Root A," deviated from the manga completely, creating a story that left a lot of fans disappointed.
If there is one thing that makes "Tokyo Ghoul" fans apprehensive about the upcoming third season, it would be the sheer lack of material from the manga. If the two seasons are to be considered canonical, the third season should tackle the events of the manga's current run, "Tokyo Ghoul:re." There is, however, one slight problem.
As of October last year, the "Tokyo Ghoul:re" manga has only managed to reach up to Chapter 43. Since that time, the manga has progressed, but not very much. Thus, it seems like "Tokyo Ghoul" would be contending with a fairly familiar problem for the third season. There is simply not enough material in the manga; not the way it currently is, anyway.
Since the third season would not have enough material, there is a pretty good chance that the anime might opt for a subtle reboot, focusing the story on another character. Or, if the anime decides not to do that, it might pursue something worse - the dreaded filler episodes.
With the release of the third season coming soon, fans could only hope that the people behind "Tokyo Ghoul" Season 3 know exactly what they are doing. With the franchise as massive as it has become, it would simply be unfair to have fans contend with yet another season that deviates from the original story. Fans definitely deserve more than that.
