Did 'Tokyo Ghoul:re' Just Reveal Its Canon Ties To Season Two?

If there is one thing anime fans like to do, it is debate the quality of canon. These debates can turn into full fan-wars if left unattended, but there are some histories everyone agrees with. In the case of Tokyo Ghoul, most fans are fine leaving season two in the past, but others argue it belongs in the canon.

So, you can see what fans of Tokyo Ghoul:re are a lot happy and a little confused over its latest episode.

This week, the anime went live with its sixth episode, and the update saw Haise Sasaki delve deeper into his identity crisis while the Quinx Squad continued tracking down a naughty ghoul. The episode is being heralded as a standout thus far, but one scene was quick to grab everyone's attention. That is, if they have read the manga.

Fans noticed this latest episode debuted a familiar character from the manga, and his connection details a bit more about Tokyo Ghoul:re's canon status. A masked figure appeared in the anime looking much like a scarecrow, and manga readers know exactly who the character is.

Tokyo Ghoul:re confirmed the vigilante known as Scarecrow is a very close friend to Ken Kaneki. Hideyoshi Nagachika is the man behind the mask, and anime lovers will know why that revelation means a lot in terms of continuity. At the end of Tokyo Ghoul's second season, the adaptation ended with Hide's death. The boy was killed after the Owl Suppression Operation went down. Hide was injured by Noro, but Ken could do nothing when the CCG newcomer bled out in his arms. The traumatic death varied wildly from Hide's more ambiguous fate in the manga, so it sounds like Tokyo Ghoul:re is ignoring that second two shocker in lieu of the manga.

Still, there are some moments which are tripping up the new season's canon debate. Take for instance the fact that Tokyo Ghoul:re's preview for episode seven references a scene shown in season two exclusively. For now, fans are assuming this new season has cut ties its immediate predecessor, but that may not be totally true after all.

Tokyo Ghoul: re is set two years after the events of the original series and follows Haise Sasaki, a member of the CCG and leader of a special squad of investigators who have implanted the CCG's specialty weapon, the Quinque, into their bodies and essentially have become half ghoul. The kicker, however, is that Haise is actually Ken Kaneki from the original series who's suffering from a bout of amnesia.

For those unfamiliar with Tokyo Ghoul, the series was original created by Sui Ishida. The story follows Ken Kaneki, a student who survives an encounter with his date, who turns out to be a ghoul. Kaneki's world is filled with Ghouls, beings who eat humans, and they've been living among humans in secret. After surviving this attack he wakes up to realize that he himself has become a ghoul because of a surgery that implanted organs from the ghoul who attacked him. In order to live somewhat a normal life, Kaneki needs to eat human flesh to survive. Luckily he's taken in by a group of ghouls at the cafe Anteiku, who help him reintegrate into society.