The Ghost in The Shell New 2026 Anime Series First Two Episodes Review

Date: 2026 June 27 09:55

Posted by Joe

We've just seen the first two episodes of the new The Ghost in the Shell anime series. It's exceptional. It captures the original manga perfectly. The style, the tone, the humour and the whole spirit of it have all been animated.

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©2026 Shirow Masamune/Kodansha/The Ghost in the Shell Committee

It has all the action you'd expect, but they've also nailed the way they portray Makoto. Yes, she's a cyborg killing machine, but her goofy goblin side is also brought to screen. She pouts and gets all frustrated, makes mistakes and goofs off too.

If you've read the original manga you'll know exactly what to expect. This new anime series follows the original manga closely. Like other Science SARU works, it a big budget effort, some sneaky cost cutting measures folded in if you're really paying attention. The budget cranks up when it's needed and it feels lavish where it needs to be.

Music wise, instead of a cyber synth fest, they've gone for a warm analogue tone. We've got flutes, saxophone, trumpet along with string instruments. It meshes with the show surprisingly well.


©2026 Shirow Masamune/Kodansha/The Ghost in the Shell Committee

We think those who haven't read the manga will be in for a big surprise, as they'll be expecting something more like the original Oshii movie or the later Standalone Complex Series. This new version feels very much like it was animated in the era of the original manga, as a result it has kind of a retro-futurism vibe to it. While other anime adoptions of GiTS feel precise and clinical, this version feels rough and ready, it's very much a grungy cyberpunk adaption, like the original manga itself. It's fresh and original, but also nostalgic if you discovered Ghost in the Shell in print form in the 90s.

As you'd expect certain mandatory scenes have been included in this version too. Most notably the famous visual where Makoto is falling from the sky scraper and her optical camo kicks in. For those wondering, yes Makoto's "on leave" scene is shown, but it's not as spicy as the original manga.


©2026 Shirow Masamune/Kodansha/The Ghost in the Shell Committee

With Standalone Complex the blue Tachikomas stole the show, especially with the Tachikoma-kun shorts at the end of each episode. This time around the original red Fuchikoma spider tanks are featured, they've got similar personalities and include a cat like smile when going into a chibi mode. There's lots of subtle nods and visual cues as well, like when they're searching data, their hands spin like a tape drive / cassette tape.

The Science SARU team have brought Shirow's style and character back for this adaption. In the extra making of documentary that was included in the screening we saw, it was shown much extra effort they made. In the manga the characters have lots of different costumes in different scenes, in anime, they normally rein this in as it means extra work with character design and details, in this adaption they've kept it in and we get to see lots of glorious 1980's an 90's style clothing with a slight twist, we really want Ishikawa's track suit in the bar scene.


©2026 Shirow Masamune/Kodansha/The Ghost in the Shell Committee

We're hoping this new adaption paves the way for more reboots of Shirow's earlier work in a similar vein, we'd love to see Dominion Tank Police, Orion or Black Magic refreshed with as much love, care and attention this version has been given.

When we first heard that Science SARU would be making a new Ghost in the Shell anime series, we were excited. Then when they released the visual showing us the direction they were going in, we were even more excited. This adaptation doesn't disappoint. It captures that raw energy of discovering anime for the first time. We've only seen two episodes, but we're left wanting more. So we'll have to wait until Tuesday 7th July 2026 to catch it on Amazon Prime Video.