[Exclusive] - From new technology to Sui Ishida's art - “Tokyo Ghoul EX.” is set to revive the fandom

While October was an exciting anime month for marking the full start of the Fall 2024 broadcast season, the "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event also made the month noteworthy. The special exhibition celebrated the 10th anniversary of the television anime adaptation of mangaka Sui Ishida’s original Tokyo Ghoul series.

Ahead of the ongoing "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event in Japan, Sportskeeda Anime spoke with Sony Music Solutions, the organizers of the event, regarding the currently active celebration. The organizers gave us important insights about Ishida-san’s involvement in the exhibition, the process of curating it, what its highlights are, and more.

"Tokyo Ghoul EX." is the culmination of a year of planning with the anime’s production committee

Promotional artwork for the "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event (Image via Sui Ishida/Shueisha,Tokyo Ghoul Production Committee)

Speaking with the "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event organizers, our first question focused primarily on Ishida-san’s involvement with the exhibition, with the team responding:

“We shared the concept and planning materials for the exhibition with the original author, Ishida Sui, and he has created two new illustrations to give away to all visitors. The Tokyo venue features “Kaneki in his Anteiku uniform,” and the Osaka venue features “Kaneki awakened as a ghoul.” The two illustrations are designed to connect when placed side by side, so we hope many people will get their hands on one.”

Also read: Tokyo Ghoul creator says the anime was not his best work, leaves everyone confused

They then discussed the process of curating the "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event overall, beginning by confirming that the event was in preparation for about a year. They also emphasized that Sony Music Solutions has been “driving the project forward” as the organizer, but stressed the Tokyo Ghoul Committee's involvement as well. They also emphasized that the project team is surprisingly minimal and made up of members from various Sony Music Solutions divisions.

The team totals 16 members, split into various subsets ranging from individuals to groups of nine. These subsets handle "Tokyo Ghoul EX."’s general planning, design and construction, sponsor sales, and more. They also emphasized that the overseas popularity of Ishida-san’s series necessitated the involvement of Sony Music Solutions’ Overseas Business Department. They focused on overseas approaches and promotions, including translation work and liaisoning with foreign media.

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They then dove into the specifics of the Tokyo Ghoul Production Committee’s involvement:

“In addition, since “Tokyo Ghoul” is a very popular work overseas, the sales team from Sony Music Solutions’s Overseas Business Department has also joined the team to focus on overseas approaches and promotions, including translation work and sending news release and media coverage.

They added:

“We are also in close communication with the members of the “Tokyo Ghoul” Production Committee, who are cooperating with us from the people of various fields, such as brushing up exhibition plans and making announcements, to help us celebrate the 10th anniversary of the TV animation “Tokyo Ghoul” together.”

They further said,

“The members of the production committee know the world of “Tokyo Ghoul” better than anyone else, so by receiving flat opinions from the perspective of fans about how they would like to experience the show, we can discuss what kind of exhibition would be best to achieve this goal and create a more enjoyable experience for visitors. We believe that we were able to create a good creative work that would be more enjoyable for the visitors.”

Also read: 10 most terrifying transformations in Tokyo Ghoul

We then asked what, in the group’s opinion, was the exhibit’s crowning jewel and why:

“The highlight of the exhibition is the “Kaneki vs. Yamori Immersive Theater,” which combines a large, powerful three-screen theater with “haptics technology” developed by Sony Corporation that simulates the sense of touch by vibrating the floor to recreate a famous scene in anime history, the battle between Kaneki and the Yamori, in a space lasting just under four minutes. The immersive visuals can be enjoyed on a large screen with headphones.”

They added:

“In addition, there is an interactive photo spot area called “Quinx Treatment,” which uses 3D animation technology to allow visitors to experience the appearance of the radiant body of a member of the Quinx Squad. Please enjoy the experience of becoming a member of the “Quinx Squad,” an organization of half-ghouls artificially created by the CCG. We hope you will also take note of the one-of-a-kind “Ghoul Mask,” “Quinque” and other realistically created three-dimensional sculptures on display.”

Also read: Megan Thee Stallion breathes new life into the Tokyo Ghoul fandom with her latest reference

They also emphasized the auditory aspects of the event, emphasizing that attendees should pay attention to what they hear when entering each unique area. They also discussed the ambience of the event, which will be “dark and thrilling.” Finally, they discussed the creation of more than 100 original items, ranging from staples of the series to those that are “a little more interesting.”

One of many iconic scenes from the anime series is Ken Kaneki's fight versus Yamori (Image via Pierrot)

We then broached the topic of the event going to international locations, to which they responded:

“We will have translated maps available for overseas visitors to enjoy at our Japanese venues as well. We are of course looking at touring the event overseas, but the details are yet to be determined.”

Also read: 12 anime to watch for fans of Tokyo Ghoul

They also discussed the presence of cast and staff from the anime production at the "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event:

“We are grateful for the cooperation of everyone involved in the TV anime “Tokyo Ghoul,” including voice actors, anime production staff, committee members, etc. In addition, Hanae Natsuki (voice of Kaneki Ken) and Amamiya Sora (voice of Kirishima Touka) appeared at the opening ceremony on the day before the event.”

Our final question focused on what the organizers hope to achieve with this exhibition. More specifically, the question focused on whether “Tokyo Ghoul EX.”‘s event was meant to pay homage to Ishida-san’s series or create a buzz ahead of upcoming announcements:

“We would like to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the TV animation “Tokyo Ghoul” not only with the fans, but also with everyone who was involved in this work as mentioned above, We hope that this event will be an opportunity for those who have loved the work since its inception, as well as those who have recently come to know and love it, to enjoy it once again.”

Event information

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The “Tokyo Ghoul EX.” event is running in Japan at two different locations—Tokyo and Osaka. The Tokyo venue began on Monday, October 21, 2024, at 10 a.m. Japanese Standard Time (JST) and is being held at the Warehouse Terrada G1 Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Daily last admission for the event is 7:30 p.m. JST. The Tokyo venue will run through Sunday, December 1, 2024.

The Osaka venue will begin on Saturday, December 14, 2024, and will run through Sunday, December 29, 2024. The Osaka venue will be held at the VS. space inside the Grand Green Osaka. The last admission of the event for each day will be 7:30 p.m. (JST), the same as in Tokyo.

Also read: Why is the Tokyo Ghoul anime criticized? Where the adaptation went wrong, explained

Base tickets for both venues are still being sold, but the sales period for certain higher-end tickets has ended for both the Tokyo and Osaka venues. Preschool children can attend for no cost, but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

For more information on tickets and other important points, please check the official website.

[Tokyo Ghoul EX. Official Website]

In summation

Fans lucky enough to attend the "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event will get to see a new side of Kaneki's story (Image via Pierrot)

Sony Music Solutions has clearly crafted the upcoming "Tokyo Ghoul EX." event with love for Ishida-san’s original series in mind. The event features creative nods to the series’ most iconic moments and also unveils new artwork from Ishida-san specifically for the event. While international dates have yet to be announced, those fans who can attend the events should definitely do so.

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