'Tokyo Ghoul' season 3 release date update: Series set for a summer return but lacks material for a full season?

"Tokyo Ghoul" season 2 ended on a closing note but fans of the original manga will point out that the series continues the story of Ken Kaneki several years forward. However, according to a report from When Will, season 3 will deviate greatly from the source material in order to have enough story to fill an entire season.

Tokyo Ghoul - Ken KanekiStudio Pierrot

According to the report, the manga is roughly only 43 chapters as of October last year, with only a few chapters added in since. This means there is hardly enough material for the anime studios to create an entire season, therefore the studios will instead need to create filler content or to deviate from the source material to fill in the gaps.

It was previously reported that season 3 will be taking the latter route by focusing the story on Touka Kirishima instead of Kaneki, the main protagonist of the manga and the first two seasons. While this will cause a drastic shift in tone due to the differences in character arcs and history, it is stated that season 3 will not be a direct reboot either.

Kirishima will be portrayed as Kaneki's new partner, with the latter now suffering from amnesia and a re-programmed purpose. This may allow season 3 to subtly reboot the franchise without disregarding the story of the first two seasons, similar to Hollywood films like "Predators" serve as both a reboot and a sequel to the original.

Fans speculate that season 3 may be the final season of the show as there are petitions from the viewers asking for the series to be taken off Studio Pierrot and to hand the responsibility of making an anime adaptation to Madhouse Productions, the studio responsible for massively popular anime series such as "Death Note."

Either way, When Will reports that season 3 may be launching this summer, presumably with its altered story that may bear little resemblance to the source material's plot.