In the years since its launch in 1989, we have seen Its story and its leading lady, Motoko Kusanagi, have seen countless iterations in Mamoru Oshii’s animated film adaptation, multiple shows, Scarlett Johansson’s live-action film (best forgotten), and soon a new anime. day and day STUDIO Science Sir. What little we saw in the teaser Ghost in the ShellReleased in July, the anime is already distinct from its predecessors in its aesthetics, taken directly from Shiro’s colorful manga.
But my biggest hope is that by bringing Kusanagi back to its goofy roots, it will also have plenty of friendly humor.
Working for the first time under the direction of scott pilgrim flew Episode director and Toma Kimura (aka Mokachan), Ghost in the Shell It follows Major Kusanagi, the cyber leader of a cyber counter-terrorism group called Section 9. Throughout the series, he and his squad are tasked with silencing and neutralizing all kinds of red-tape cases of cyber crime from the government and terrorist organizations. Typically, many, if not all, of these cases are steeped in philosophical intrigue, where the human condition and technology meet in the not-too-distant future of 2029, with plenty of spectacular action to boot.
Ghost in the Shell creator Masamune Shirō really said it best when it comes to adaptations of his works.
It doesn’t surprise me that his favorite of the Gits movies is Innocence because it has more of Mamoru Oshii’s style. pic.twitter.com/fbnGGUJd44
– The Longest Day of Dream (@Dreamboom) 4 February 2026
As mentioned above, each permutation Ghost in the ShellOishi’s 1995 film, after all, has shaped the series as a whole and, by proxy, Kusanagi, as a self-serious series. There’s some levity here and there, sure, thanks to his right-hand man and best boy, Batou, but apart from a few pithy asides from Kusanagi, virtually every iteration, from stand alone Complex for netflix Rise, sees him as a steely, determined stoic hero, much like the film brothers consider John Wick.
This couldn’t be further from the truth of his original version. Shiro’s Kusanagi is born out of eccentricity and is forced to remain locked in the house.
The main extreme in the manga is goofiness. She will tell jokes about how Section 9 has once again been given an impossible task from their gorilla-faced dispatcher, Daisuke Aramaki. She would get drunk after hacking the guy who hired her to punch her in the face. And, depending on which version of her manga fans are lucky enough to have before she was modified by Shiro, she’ll go on trippy braindance sexcapades with her friends during a vacation on the shore.
At her core, this Motoko is obnoxious, decadent, and delightfully goofy – a far cry from the hyper-competent ideal fans regard as canon. And with the step up of Science Cypress, a studio that’s proven it can get away with dark brutality devilman crybaby to the wild, crazy energy of day and day And SandaMajor has both the skill set and the right start to bring this version of Roar back into the mainstream.
CD: Shuhei Handa pic.twitter.com/bVUUh9Jp7h
– 假报好师 (@cjAus101723) 12 April 2025
From the emotional facial expressions we’ve gleaned from earlier teaser trailers, character sheets from designer Shuhei Handa’s production materials for the show, as well as some stray key frames shown during his big art exhibit in Japan, it looks like Science Saru will be bringing that Kusanagi to dance. Ghost in the Shell Will premiere later this year. I can’t wait for fans to meet the other adaptations of the series in all their goofy glory for the first time.
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