Science SARU Produces New 'Ghost in the Shell' TV Anime for 2026

by Vindstot
May 25, 7:53 AM | 53 Comments

A new Koukaku Kidoutai (Ghost in the Shell) television anime was announced by production company Bandai Namco Filmworks on Saturday. The new television anime adapting Masamune Shirow's sci-fi action manga is scheduled for a 2026 airing.

The anime was unveiled through an announcement trailer at the DEEP DIVE in sync with GHOST IN THE SHELL music event on Saturday, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the original manga's serialization. The event also showcased a teaser visual, featuring the protagonist Motoko Kusanagi (pictured).

Science SARU—the animation studio behind Devilman: Crybaby, Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!), and Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara (Ride Your Wave)—is producing the new anime. The production committee consists of Science SARU, Bandai Namco Filmworks, publishing company Kodansha, and animation studio Production I.G.

The latest installment in the franchise, Koukaku Kidoutai: SAC_2045 - Saigo no Ningen (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 - The Last Human), compiling the second season of the Koukaku Kidoutai: SAC_2045 (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045) 3DCG anime series, opened in Japan on November 23 last year.

Announcement

Official site: https://theghostintheshell.jp/
Official X (Twitter): @thegitsofficial

Source: Comic Natalie

Koukaku Kidoutai (TV) (The Ghost in the Shell) on MAL

Adapts Manga New Anime

20 of 53 Comments Recent Comments

@ProudElitist

Alright^^ you turned me around.

You win.
My bad.

May 27, 12:57 PM by Merve2Love

@Merve2Love most people of the fandom prefer the 1989 manga Masterpiece (the best comic to ever come out of the 80's period, the american mainstream superhero industry can easily suck the toes of Masamune Shirow) over any animated iteration. Race? I'm a gaijin too, it simply means foreigner in japanese. The oshii movies are reductions for the western Gaijins of something that, if you ever read the manga, you know it wasn't rooted in the west besides the cyberpunk design inspired by William Gibson and the likes. Particularly the ending chapter has nothing of the west in it and it's all about japanese stuff first and foremost.

May 27, 3:17 AM by ProudElitist

@ProudElitist

No. No, they don't^^
Most people did not the the original Manga.

Let's leave race out of it :)

May 27, 2:35 AM by Merve2Love

@Merve2Love most fans of GITS love the original manga before anything else. I've been part of the GITS fandom for years at this point, most of the people like the original manga more. Being the movies more easier for consumption for western Gaijins or not.

May 26, 9:52 PM by ProudElitist

I only really enjoyed Stand Alone Complex and its second season, bless Kamiyama Kenji for his godly work on it! I actually wonder what he's up to these days.

I would still check this out as the studio choice makes me curious. I hope it turns out decent.

May 26, 4:41 PM by Mirorin

GitS hasn't been good since Stand Alone Complex, hopefully since this is Science SARU they can turn things around.

May 26, 3:59 PM by Wind_Falcon

@ProudElitist

Ah, Im sorry^^
But that's not most people.

Most of the fans love this "overblown" Movie. Just talking about the first legendary one, for the sake of argument. Same with Stand Alone Complex.
The Manga isn't popular, compared to those two.

I get it - you're different.
But that's not most people.

May 26, 11:50 AM by Merve2Love

@Merve2Love what fans love the most is the 1989 manga, not the overblown and pretentious movies (I used to be a fan of them until I read the original manga, it's the only exception in my general preference for animes over mangas). SAC 1 is simply an interpretation of the mangas, and the 1995 movie it's not serious nor particularly mature. Being a clone of Blade Runner with useless christian crap inbetween does not particularly make you more serious or mature than single reflections Shirow made in the manga (for example, the whole thing about the hospital radioactive garbage being possible terrorist equipment), or single lines of dialogue spoken by the characters in the 1989 Masterpiece. The manga is serious when it has to be and funny when it has to be, it is equilibrated.

May 26, 11:09 AM by ProudElitist

@Ten

Maybe that's mystery solved then -> If, as you say, the rest of the manga is a bit more quirky and lighthearted I can suddenly see Scinece Saru making a lot of sense.

May 26, 10:02 AM by Merve2Love

@Merve2Love Yeah, I get what you mean. I read the manga after I watched the movie and expected it to be as serious, but it turned out to be completely different in tone. If this adaptation sticks to manga it could offer a new perspective, something that hasn't been done before.

May 26, 10:00 AM by Ten

@Ten

Don't know about that.
But Stand Alone Complex and the original Movie are serious and pretty mature. And I think these are the ones fans love the most.

You're right tho. Let's wait and see.

May 26, 9:13 AM by Merve2Love

@Merve2Love The original manga isn't all that serious though, and has a lot of goofy moments. So this can actually be a good fit. Personally I'm excited to see what they'd do with it.

May 26, 9:08 AM by Ten

Will watch this one? Will be a potential hit or miss.

May 26, 8:17 AM by CQLLIST

Lil-Bird said:
If it's going to adapt the manga more proper, leave in the VR lesbian threesome or SARU's credentials are bust.

Unfortunately that's probably the only part they'll not adapt. I think there's even a revised manga edition without those scenes, redrawn by Shirow Masamune himself. Well, maybe there's a non-zero chance if it's a Netflix exclusive.

May 26, 3:19 AM by DarkDooM2

@Miragee a one and done thing doesn't excuse the fact that the rest of the output made with the contribution of the same company sucks ass. Which is the reason why I say there's nothing else anymore of this franchise to tell. After SAC 1 the only thing that was somehow interesting was the Stand Alone Society movie, and then a big ladfill of utter garbage that should have never been made. This IP has nothing else to say to anyone anymore, fans or not fans.

May 26, 2:48 AM by ProudElitist

@ProudElitist Production I.G. also animated the first SAC. Honestly, it's about the people involved, not the studio name. In this case, Production I.G. is not even animating the show, they are producers for this project.

I feel this is the first real chance to a get a good GitS anime in 20 years.

May 26, 2:12 AM by Miragee

@Lil-Bird Good luck airing that scene on tv, of course it'll be censored.

May 26, 12:03 AM by fudish123

@perseii The film was something of its own, this new anime, by the looks of it, will adapt the actual manga.

May 26, 12:02 AM by fudish123

reminder yuasa is not part of science saru anymore so that simple character designs of his is not part of the studio anymore https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2020/4/1/maasaki-yuasa-retires-as-president-of-anime-studio-science-saru

May 25, 11:53 PM by deg

Is this going to be a faithful adaptation of the manga, or will it be doing its own thing? If its the latter, where is it going to fit in the continuity of the previous anime shows?

Merve2Love said:
The free and "sloppy" Style of Science Saru and something as convincingly serious as Ghost in the Shell seems to be contradictory

Yeah, their usual art style doesn't seem to suit GiTS. But I will reserve further judgement until we see a proper trailer.

May 25, 7:20 PM by Alpha-Nine

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