A shy young bookworm has his idyllic life turned into a nightmare when he is attacked by a monster, in the new anime series Tokyo Ghoul.
It follows the plight of Ken Kaneki, a young college freshman who finds himself transformed into a half-human, half-ghoul.
Life was going well for Ken: college was fun and he managed to get a date with Rize, a girl he liked. But when it's time for dinner, he's surprised to find out that Rize is a ghoul - and Ken's on the menu!
He barely survives the attack, which only ends when Riza is crushed under falling beams. At the hospital, unwitting doctors are forced to transplant some of her organs into Ken to save his life.
This is just the beginning of Ken's ordeal. The transplant has left him fundamentally changed: food tastes awful to him now and he is unable to keep anything down.
Starving, he wanders the streets of the 20th ward of Tokyo and stumbles upon a ghoul attacking a human. The sight triggers a change within him - and it's then that Ken realises that he is no longer entirely human anymore.
The show is based on the Sui Ishida manga series by that has appeared in the anthology magazine Weekly Young Jump since September 2011.
What will happen to the bookish Ken? And what lies along the dark path ahead? Be sure to check out this ghoulish new programme when it comes to an anime channel near you.
James Whittle