Tokyo Ghoul author Sui Ishida once said a bad anime can be better than a good one. In a 2021 livestream he joked that a terrible adaptation makes people want to check out the original story. The comment came while he was responding to fans who disliked how much the anime changed from the manga. Ishida has also said he is just grateful that people even know the series title. So the joke doubles as his own explanation for why the rough adaptation still brought new readers in.