The Ghost In The Shell was a huge success among anime fans during the 2026 summer season. As opposed to being a remake of the classic film from 1995, Science Saru’s take on the series was meant to be a more faithful adaptation of the original manga by Masamune Shirow, complete with a stunning retro polish to the character designs and environments seen throughout the show.
The series follows Major Motoko Kusanagi of Section 9 in Niihama City in the not-so far away year 2029. The city is something of a technological metropolis, boasting cybernetics that the average person can replace their own body parts with to enhance just about any part of themselves. The Ghost In The Shell drops audiences into this cyberpunk-esque reality as she hunts down the elusive Puppet Master, a vicious threat whose body is primarily robotic and leaves their victims stripped of all memories when they’re finished tormenting them. Now the director has opened up about its recent finale.
After the new anime’s finale aired on September 8th, The Ghost In The Shell‘s director, Mokochan, took to X (formerly Twitter) to thank fans for supporting the release of the new series. On the official The Ghost In The Shell page, the statement reads: “Thank you for watching all the way to the end. If even one of the things we set out to portray in this series has stayed with you, that would make me very happy. And I hope that THE GHOST IN THE SHELL will go on reaching many different people, in many different forms, for years to come.”
Fans sent an outpouring of love in the replies to the post, thanking Mokochan and the production team at Science Saru for giving The Ghost In The Shell a uniquely faithful adaptation of the original series. In Science Saru’s signature, charming animation style, The Ghost In The Shell was able to capture the retro charm of the original series while bringing it to life with stunningly drawn action sequences and adorable character art of Major Kusanagi. The series was able to perfectly balance playing into nostalgia for the original film while giving fans something entirely new to fall in love with, which is no easy feat, even for a studio like Science Saru.
For those interested in checking out Summer 2026’s top show, The Ghost In The Shell is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The series had a brisk 10-episode run, but it follows the original manga much more closely than the 1995 films, which is something to keep in mind for those looking for a ground-up reboot of Production I.G. and Mamoru Oshii’s original duology. For fans interested in reading the original manga before diving into Science Saru’s take on the franchise, the manga is published in English by Kodansha USA, which can be picked up at retailers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Books-a-Million.
