:re Chapter 1

A narrator opens by describing a hidden species that blends into human crowds while feeding on human flesh, creatures soon named ghouls. Brief glimpses show Hinami Fueguchi with Ayato Kirishima, and Karren von Rosewald grieving over Shuu Tsukiyama's condition as Chie Hori looks on. At Tagami Park, ghoul investigators work a crime scene tied to a suspect called Torso, and the story establishes the Commission of Counter Ghoul as the sole body worldwide that handles such cases.

Inside the 1st ward headquarters, Haise Sasaki welcomes fresh recruits and asks after Akira Mado, guessing she is off serving free naan at a curry shop. Elsewhere the anxious rookie Tooru Mutsuki gives blood at Doctor Shiba's clinic despite a fear of it, a weakness that undercuts his fitness for the job. Rival investigators from the Hirako Squad make no secret of their contempt for the newcomers.

Over curry, Akira reminds Sasaki that his unit lags far behind Hirako's and urges him to train hard enough to one day eclipse Kishou Arima, the CCG's finest. With Aogiri Tree gaining strength, she frames Sasaki and his squad as the organization's real hope and nudges him to seek out Arima, who cares for him like a parent. Mutsuki reports that Urie and Shirazu are working the Torso case alone, prompting Sasaki to gather intelligence. A visit to Shimoguchi's team turns humiliating when its leaders mock the whole squad as inferior and pin the blame on Sasaki.

Across town, Kuki Urie rides in a taxi whose driver, Akashi Kobayashi, turns out to be a ghoul obsessed with blood. Suspecting him of being Torso, Urie provokes a fight. When Shirazu arrives, Akashi's kagune strikes him, and Urie takes the ghoul down himself using the powers granted by his Quinx modification.

The narration pauses to explain the setting's core rules: a ghoul's predatory organ, the kagune, is a liquid muscle as tough as steel yet fluid as water, powered by special Rc cells that also grant strength and rapid healing. After the fight, Urie and Shirazu bicker over credit until Sasaki scolds them for going solo. Urie warns his mentor that refusing to kill ghouls will never end the threat, words that linger with Sasaki, leader of the human test subjects known as the Quinx Squad. A final twist confirms Kobayashi was not Torso at all, leaving the real culprit still loose in Tokyo.