# Gannibal (ガンニバル)
**Gannibal** (ガンニバル) is a Japanese suspense drama series streamed exclusively on Disney+, adapted from the manga of the same title by Masaaki Ninomiya (二宮正明). It follows Daigo Agawa (阿川大悟), a police officer posted with his family to the remote mountain village of Kuge (供花村), where a rumor circulates that people are being eaten, and it is presented as a "village psycho thriller" in which a closed rural society shakes an outsider's common sense.[1](https://disneyplus.disney.co.jp/program/gannibal) The series ran for two seasons totaling 15 episodes and concluded the manga's story.[2](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7255.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original work | Manga by Masaaki Ninomiya, serialized in Nihon Bungeisha's *Weekly Manga Goraku* from October 5, 2018 to November 26, 2021; 13 volumes (complete)[2](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7255.html) |
| Season 1 | 7 episodes, streamed on Disney+ from December 28, 2022 to February 1, 2023[2](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7255.html) |
| Season 2 | 8 episodes, exclusive on Disney+ "Star" from March 19, 2025; the concluding season[3](https://finance-frontend-pc-dist.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/disclosure/20250319/20250318596364.pdf) |
| Lead cast | Yuya Yagira as officer Daigo Agawa; ensemble includes Masaru Kasahara, Riho Yoshioka, and Mitsuko Baisho as Gin Goto[1](https://disneyplus.disney.co.jp/program/gannibal) • [4](https://filmarks.com/dramas/11380/15787) |
| Production | Directors Shinzo Katayama, Takahide Sano, and Kohzab Masamune; scripts by Cannes-winning screenwriter Takaaki Oe and Akira Hirohara[1](https://disneyplus.disney.co.jp/program/gannibal) |
| Reception | IMDb 7.4/10; Filmarks 4.2/5 for Season 1 (32,672 reviews) and 4.1/5 for Season 2[5](https://wired.jp/article/disney-plus-gannibal-interview/) • [6](https://house-of-gucci.jp/gannibal-drama-manga-reviews/) |
| Manga sales | Cumulative circulation exceeded 4 million copies as announced with the 2025 complete edition[3](https://finance-frontend-pc-dist.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/disclosure/20250319/20250318596364.pdf) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and story
The story begins when Agawa, a police officer, moves with his family to Kuge, a village far from the city, to serve as the local resident officer. The community welcomes him warmly, but the death of an elderly villager raises doubts about the place, and the rumor that "in this village, people get eaten" hangs over everything.[1](https://disneyplus.disney.co.jp/program/gannibal) • [7](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/serie/Gannibal) As Agawa investigates with his convictions as a policeman, the village's calm daily life begins to show a frightening face, and he is driven toward madness, unsure whether he or the villagers are the abnormal ones.[1](https://disneyplus.disney.co.jp/program/gannibal)
The central mystery concerns the Goto family (後藤家), the clan that dominates the village with absolute authority, and the secret behind the rumor of cannibalism.[8](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0148324) In Season 2, as Agawa closes in on the truth, the Goto family crosses a line to protect the village's secret and clashes with a police squad; the key to everything lies in the cursed family's past.[9](https://www.disneyplus.com/ja-jp/explore/gannibal_s2)
## Production
**Direction and writing.** The series is led by director Shinzo Katayama, whose debut feature *Cape Nostalgia* (岬の兄妹, 2019) he financed and made himself, and who says he learned from the director Bong Joon-ho the value of filming freely without being bound by genre conventions.[10](https://www.creativevillage.ne.jp/category/topcreators/visual-creators/film-director/129931/) The screenplay is by Takaaki Oe, who won the screenplay award at the 74th Cannes Film Festival in 2021, together with Akira Hirohara; Season 2 adds directors Takahide Sano and Kohzab Masamune.[3](https://finance-frontend-pc-dist.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/disclosure/20250319/20250318596364.pdf) • [9](https://www.disneyplus.com/ja-jp/explore/gannibal_s2) Producer Akihisa Yamamoto has said the production's decisive point was the authenticity of Kuge village itself, with the cast and crew filming across locations throughout Japan.[11](https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2266836/full/)
For the concluding season, Katayama said he deliberately avoided over-explaining, cutting what could be cut so the pacing stayed comfortable for viewers, and sought action made to a world standard that would surprise audiences in a good way.[8](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0148324) He also explained the choice of [Yuri Tsunematsu](https://www.edgepedia.org/yuri-tsunematsu) for the role of the young Gin, citing her combination of bewitching quality and strength of will.[12](https://thetv.jp/news/detail/1260184/)
## Adaptation differences
The drama covers the full 13-volume manga across its 15 episodes, but it restructures the material. The manga leaves the ending ambiguous about whether the village's curse has been severed, while the drama adds an original conclusion in which the Agawa family chooses to remain in Kuge.[2](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7255.html) Character portrayals also differ: in the manga, Agawa's wife Yuki is depicted as composed and level-headed, and the pacing and treatment of the mysterious figure haunting the village differ between the two versions.[2](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7255.html) • [13](https://pim.jcb.com/Hatsune-matsu/1791791/)
## Reception and performance
**Audience scores.** On the review site Filmarks, Season 1 holds 4.2 out of 5 from more than 32,000 reviews, with 54 percent of ratings in the 4.1 to 5.0 band and almost none below 2.0; Season 2 holds 4.1 from about 20,000 reviews. The manga scores 4.1 on the ebook service Mecha Comic.[6](https://house-of-gucci.jp/gannibal-drama-manga-reviews/) Praise centers on the atmosphere of a village where everyone seems to be hiding something and on the gradual release of mysteries, such as the fate of the previous resident officer; recurring criticisms include lengthy flashbacks and an ending some viewers found unsatisfying.[6](https://house-of-gucci.jp/gannibal-drama-manga-reviews/)
**Viewership and awards.** Disney+ describes Gannibal as the Japanese drama that recorded the highest viewing numbers in the service's history, and Japanese media reported that it reached 1 million viewing hours faster than any previous Disney+ Japan drama after launch.[14](https://chanoma-vod.com/gannibal-haishin/) • [15](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7242.html) The database IMDb rated the series 7.4 out of 10, and lead actor Yuya Yagira received the Asian Excellence Award at the Asian Content & Global OTT Awards 2023, held alongside the Busan International Film Festival.[5](https://wired.jp/article/disney-plus-gannibal-interview/) • [15](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7242.html)
## The manga
The source manga ran in *Weekly Manga Goraku* from 2018 to 2021 and was collected in 13 volumes under the Nichibun Comics label; a re-edited **complete edition** (完全版) in 7 volumes, with substantially expanded artwork, reproduced color pages, and newly drawn covers, was published from March 18 to April 17, 2025, timed to the second season's release.[2](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7255.html) • [6](https://house-of-gucci.jp/gannibal-drama-manga-reviews/) Because the two editions divide the story differently, volume numbers do not correspond between them. Publisher announcements put cumulative circulation above 4 million copies; an earlier corporate release in January 2023, around the first season's broadcast, had reported more than 2 million.[3](https://finance-frontend-pc-dist.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/disclosure/20250319/20250318596364.pdf) • [16](https://f.irbank.net/pdf/20230116/140120230116589941.pdf) A French-language edition is published by Meian, translated by Vincent Marcantognini.[7](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/serie/Gannibal)
## Availability
Both seasons stream exclusively on Disney+ under its Star brand in Japan; the series is not available on Prime Video, U-NEXT, Hulu, DMM TV, or TVer, and no domestically released Blu-ray or DVD was found by one survey.[14](https://chanoma-vod.com/gannibal-haishin/) Season 2's eight episodes run from episode 1, "内通" ([Collusion](https://www.edgepedia.org/collusion)), to the final episode 8, "終焉" (Demise).[17](https://entame.all-connect.co.jp/gannibal-season-2-haishin/)
## References
1. [『ガンニバル』｜ディズニープラスで独占配信, Disney+ official program page](https://disneyplus.disney.co.jp/program/gannibal)
2. [ガンニバルの原作漫画とドラマの違いは？結末・変更点を比較, GEEK-INDUSTRY](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7255.html)
3. [株式会社メディアドゥ：『ガンニバル』シーズン2配信開始プレスリリース (2025年3月19日)](https://finance-frontend-pc-dist.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/disclosure/20250319/20250318596364.pdf)
4. [ガンニバル - ドラマ情報・レビュー・評価, Filmarksドラマ](https://filmarks.com/dramas/11380/15787)
5. [日本発のDisney+ドラマ「ガンニバル」、実写化による世界的ヒットの舞台裏, WIRED.jp](https://wired.jp/article/disney-plus-gannibal-interview/)
6. [ガンニバルの評価をドラマ版と原作漫画の両方から徹底解説, house-of-gucci.jp](https://house-of-gucci.jp/gannibal-drama-manga-reviews/)
7. [Gannibal - Manga série, Manga news](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/serie/Gannibal)
8. [「ガンニバル」完結編、片山慎三監督インタビュー, シネマトゥデイ](https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0148324)
9. [『ガンニバル』シーズン2｜ディズニープラスで独占配信, Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/ja-jp/explore/gannibal_s2)
10. [『ガンニバル』片山慎三監督が語る制作舞台裏, CREATIVE VILLAGE](https://www.creativevillage.ne.jp/category/topcreators/visual-creators/film-director/129931/)
11. [『ガンニバル』山本晃久プロデューサーに聞く, ORICON NEWS](https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2266836/full/)
12. [＜ガンニバル＞恒松祐里"銀"起用の狙い, WEBザテレビジョン](https://thetv.jp/news/detail/1260184/)
13. [『ガンニバル』あの人の正体と結末, pim.jcb.com](https://pim.jcb.com/Hatsune-matsu/1791791/)
14. [ガンニバルはどこで見れる？配信はディズニープラス, 茶の間VOD](https://chanoma-vod.com/gannibal-haishin/)
15. [ガンニバルの評価は？面白い・つまらないと言われる理由, GEEK-INDUSTRY](https://geek-industry.com/archives/7242.html)
16. [日本文芸社 IR資料 (2023年1月), irbank](https://f.irbank.net/pdf/20230116/140120230116589941.pdf)
17. [ドラマ『ガンニバル(シーズン2)』の配信まとめ, ミルレコ](https://entame.all-connect.co.jp/gannibal-season-2-haishin/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Cr to In*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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