Ghost in the Shell keeps coming back. A brand-new animation project based on Shirow Masamune's manga was announced on Friday, with Science SARU, the studio behind Dan Da Dan and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, producing the animation. It will be the studio's second take on the franchise after this summer's TV series, The Ghost in the Shell.
The project has a working title of The Ghost in the Shell and a teaser visual, but no format, director, cast, or release window yet. Here is the announcement from the franchise's official account:
From Manga Page To Hollywood
Shirow's manga launched in 1989 in a special edition of Kodansha's Young Magazine and was published in English by Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s, later moving to Kodansha's English line. It followed Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg agent working for a counter-cyberterrorism unit called Public Security Section 9, in a near future where human brains can be hacked through cybernetic implants.
Mamoru Oshii's 1995 film turned the comic into a global phenomenon. The Wachowskis have spoken about the film as an influence on The Matrix, and its imagery of digital rain, rooftop chases, and thermoptic camouflage shows up in science fiction movies to this day.
Hollywood eventually made its own version. Paramount Pictures released a live-action Ghost in the Shell in 2017 starring Scarlett Johansson as the Major, with Pilou Asbaek as Batou and Takeshi Kitano as Aramaki. The film drew backlash over its casting and underperformed at the box office, though its visual effects were widely praised. Since then, the franchise has stayed in animation, including Netflix's SAC_2045 and the 2026 TV anime.
Oshii followed up with Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence in 2004, which competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Production I.G then took the franchise to television with Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, directed by Kenji Kamiyama, which reimagined Section 9's cases as a procedural and became a fixture of late-night anime blocks on Adult Swim in the United States. For many American fans, that series was their first real introduction to the Major and her team.
The 2026 Series And What Comes Next
The latest TV series premiered in July and streams on Prime Video. Director Mokochan, novelist EnJoe Toh, and voice actress Maaya Sakamoto as Motoko brought the story back to the original manga, while King Gnu and millennium parade provided the theme songs. The title logo was designed by famed illustrator Hajime Sorayama.
The new project was revealed through a surprise flyer at a press preview at Dover Street Market Ginza in Tokyo, where Mokochan was signing autographs for a collaboration with apparel brand GEEKS RULE. It is not yet clear whether Mokochan will direct the new work, and Bandai Namco Filmworks says more will be shared through its official social channels.
Science SARU has built a strong track record with adaptations of beloved comics. Its Scott Pilgrim Takes Off series for Netflix reunited the cast of Edgar Wright's film and boldly reworked Bryan Lee O'Malley's story, and its Dan Da Dan adaptation has become one of the biggest anime hits of the last few years. That history makes the studio an interesting choice to keep reinventing a comic franchise that has already been adapted many times over.
Would you rather see Science SARU's next Ghost in the Shell project be a feature film for theaters, or another TV series that can explore the manga's cases in more depth?
Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.