Survival is never a guarantee in Sui Ishida’s manga series and its anime adaptations, but is the Hide Tokyo Ghoul character dead or alive when the show ends? In Tokyo Ghoul, Kaneki and Hide have been friends since childhood. Their close relationship, combined with Hide’s intelligence, meant that Kaneki couldn’t keep his half-ghoul identity hidden from his BFF for long, and Hide soon guessed what was going on. Kaneki needn’t have worried too much as Hide (following the tradition of many anime companions such as Riza from Fullmetal Alchemist) stayed a loyal friend to him regardless of his new hunger for human flesh. Hide even started working at the Commission of Counter Ghouls (AKA the CCG, a federal organization that investigates ghoul-related crimes) to find clues as to Kaneki’s whereabouts after he went missing.
The Hide Tokyo Ghoul character features in both Sui Ishida’s original manga and the Tokyo Ghoul anime adaptations, although the character’s journey differs in the two works. In the manga, Hide and a badly wounded Kaneki encountered each other in a sewer where the latter sought refuge following his fight with investigator Koutarou Amon. Hide insisted Kaneki eat him to regain his strength after which Kaneki blacked out only to wake up with the taste of blood in his mouth. Kaneki assumed he’d devoured his friend, but Hide later turned out to be alive and living under the alias Scarecrow in Tokyo Ghoul:re. The friends eventually reunited, with Hide revealing that while Kaneki had eaten part of his face, he’d survived the ordeal.
Hide Only Died In The Anime
However, in the season 2 finale of the anime (AKA Tokyo Ghoul √A) the Hide Tokyo Ghoul character sustained a fatal injury at the hands of ghoul Noro and died in Kaneki’s arms. Hide’s death was a departure from the manga but the decision to kill him was actually Tokyo Ghoul creator Sui Ishida’s, who took some elements of his manga but blended them with original storylines crafted just for the anime series.
The changes made in Tokyo Ghoul √A weren’t very popular with fans of the manga and when the anime adaptation of Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul:re sequel series arrived, it seemed a lot of the action in season 2 had been retconned. That applied to Hide too who appeared in Tokyo Ghoul:re when the Tokyo Ghoul anime canon adapted his Scarecrow storyline from the manga. So, despite his apparent death in the anime’s second season, Hide is indeed alive and well in the Tokyo Ghoul manga and anime series thanks to a whole load of retconning.
How Hide's Return Shows A Tokyo Ghoul:re Retcon Problem
Hide's return in Tokyo Ghoul:re caused a lot of confusion among anime fans as a whole — since he was seemingly killed off in season 2. In addition, the reasoning behind his return is flimsy at best, but plenty of anime resurrections have taken this route before. That being said, the third season of Tokyo Ghoul included a number of retcons other than Hide's death and return to the series. This is partially due to the backlash received from Tokyo Ghoul √A, which prompted series creators to go in a different direction for season 3. Interest in anime is at an all-time high, as proven by the Demon Slayer smashing box offices in 2020. Therefore, to keep up, showrunners decided to make some serious retcons of season 2 to introduce season 3 of Tokyo Ghoul. While Hide's return is certainly welcome among audiences, this retcon (among others) has confused many fans who only follow the anima, and proves that Tokyo Ghoul:re has a serious continuity problem.