| Quick facts | |
|---|
| Format | Manga, 16 volumes |
| Run | 2021–present · ongoing |
| Community score | AniList 7.6 · MAL 7.6 · MangaUpdates 7.3 |
| Content | Violence |
| Where to read | VIZ — official |
Overview
Choujin X is the latest from Sui Ishida, creator of Tokyo Ghoul, and it's a strange, raw superhuman action manga. In a world where ordinary people can suddenly become "Choujin," superhumans with bizarre, often animal-themed powers, Tokio, an anxious and indecisive teenager, takes a desperate measure that transforms him, dragging him and his charismatic friend Azuma into a hidden world of superhuman threats and the organizations that fight them. It's experimental, fast, and idiosyncratic, with Ishida's distinctive, sketchy art and a real knack for weird, creative power design. It's ongoing.
What it does well
The imagination is the draw. Ishida fills the world with wildly creative powers and strange, specific ideas, and you genuinely don't know what kind of bizarre Choujin or transformation is coming next. It has the unpredictable energy of a creator following his own weird instincts rather than a formula, and the world hints at far more than it has shown.
The art is a big part of that. It's distinctive and experimental, rougher and looser than Tokyo Ghoul but full of striking imagery and kinetic, unconventional action. Love it or not, nothing else quite looks like it.
Tokio is also a more interesting lead than he first appears. His anxiety and indecision are treated as a real, central theme rather than a flaw to be quickly cured, which gives the superhuman action an unusual emotional undercurrent. When the ideas and the character click, it's exciting and fresh, the kind of series that makes you curious where it could go.
Where it falls short
It's early and unfinished, and Ishida releases it on an irregular, often slow schedule, so committing now means a lot of waiting. The story is still finding its footing, and the plot and supporting cast are underdeveloped compared to the potential on display.
The style is also divisive. The rough, sketchy art combined with dense, fast storytelling can be genuinely hard to follow, with action that sometimes reads as chaotic rather than clear. It asks more effort from the reader than a cleaner series would.
Verdict
Choujin X is an intriguing, ambitious, idiosyncratic action manga with real potential, and an easy recommendation for Tokyo Ghoul fans or anyone who wants something weird and singular. Go in for the creativity, the strange powers, and Ishida's distinctive vision rather than polish or clarity. If you want clean art, easy-to-follow storytelling, or a finished, steadily released series, it'll frustrate you, but if you're up for a rough, inventive work in progress from a real original, it's well worth watching.