It has been a while since the anime film Ghost in the Shell was first released back in 1995, a work that would give the beginning to a franchise that would last for many years with a successful journey around the world and that would give life to series, movies and even video games. But the story of the renowned mangaka Shirow is not over yet and recently it was announced by BANDAI NAMCO in official networks that none other than the animation studio Science SARU would be in charge of a new TV animation project to be launched in 2026.
Ghost in The Shell will have a new TV series in 2026
In a first cover shared by the Ghost in the Shell official account in the social network X (ex Twitter), you can see who could be Motoko Kusanagi on top of one of the most iconic robots of this huge franchise in a reddish background. We can see the provisional title of the series “The Ghost in the Shell” (Kokaku Kidotai), the release date for 2026 under the direction of the studio Science SARU plus the participation of other houses and production companies such as I.G production and Kodansha. This first promotional poster is reminiscent of one of the covers of its original manga, chapter 2 Super Spartan.
In addition, an interesting promotional teaser was shared from its official YouTube profile to increase the hype of the fans for the release of this new project. On the other hand, it was also announced that there will be a new event, with tentative date and name, scheduled for the spring of this year, in which an exhibition of Masamune Shirow’s original art will be held. “The World of Shirow Masamune” exhibition will be held at the Setagaya Literature Museum in Tokyo, Japan, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the museum’s opening.
The animation house Science SARU is known for working on interesting films such as Inu-Oh, Kimi to Nami ni Noretara (Together at Sea), Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke yo Otome (The Night is Short, Walk on Girl) and TV series such as Devilman CryBaby, Ping Pong the animation, Eizouken ni wa Te o Dasu na! (Don’t mess with the film club – Eizouken) and Dandadan among others.
The last of this franchise was Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 which premiered in April 2020 on Netflix for all regions and consisted of a total of 2 seasons with 12 episodes each in CGI format plus a compilation movies of each season. It is possible that in the course of the days and weeks there will be new news of this new project, so we will have to wait to know more and more details and that fans of the series can know different data of the production, including the exact release date.
If you want to know a little more about Ghost in the Shell, it is an original work of the 90’s that would later become one of the most exciting, it revolves its plot around the mid-21st century in which a police force is dedicated to preventing criminal offenses associated with terrorism and politics. The main character is Motoko Kusanagi, who as a child had an accident and now her body is full of mechanical prostheses. The genre is science fiction and CyberPunk with strong police action scenes, however, much of its background occurs with philosophical dilemmas, social and ethical issues that affect the world in which they live.
©士郎正宗・Production I.G/講談社・攻殻機動隊2045製作委員会