Amazon’s Latest Ghost In The Shell Anime Is Straight Out Of The 90s In The Best Way Possible

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 43 seconds ago

When I heard that Amazon was rebooting Ghost in the Shell for another series, I’ll be honest, I was terrified. The two movies, and Season 1 of Stand Alone Complex are some of the best anime of all time. The 2017 live-action movie with Scarlett Johansson and the Netflix series aren’t nearly as good. The 2026 Ghost in the Shell remake is, if it holds this level of quality beyond the first episode, the most faithful adaptation of the manga yet. 

A Remake And Not A Reimagning

Ghost in the Shell. first published in 1989 and running through 1991 by Masamune Shirow, is one of the most influential cyberpunk works ever created. The concept of “ghosts” and philosophical musings on transhumanism elevated it beyond a simple action story. Every series adaptation has used it as the building block to tell a different story within the world, which is why the latest 2026 version sticks out. 

For starters, Major Motoko Kusanagi is a lot goofier than in previous adaptations. She’s more talkative, plays pranks, and is overall, a lot lighter of a character than the usual overly serious, cold and calculating personality she usually gets saddled with. This new characterization isn’t new, it’s straight from the original source material, and while others were great too, it’s refreshing to see a series play it this close to the manga. 

Action From the Word “Go”

The Section 9 team’s first mission is to infiltrate an orphanage that reveals its dark nature when a young boy tries to escape. Riding in their Fuckikoma spider-bots, the team is ambushed by a security captain armed with a ghost controller. Of course, they wind up succeeding, and the concept of a ghost controller is going to be very important as the season goes on, but what sticks out during the action-heavy first episode is, beyond the Major’s different personality, is how it all looks. 

Science Saru has worked on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Space Dandy, and Dandadan, but somehow, they managed to pull off with Ghost in the Shell a series that looks like it was pulled from 1995, but moves like a modern anime. The heavy inking lines, the way expressions are conveyed, the character designs, are all very 90s but it’s silky smooth, and with few exceptions, the anime of that era wasn’t this smooth. 

The Best Ghost In The Shell In Decades

I’ll admit it took me a moment to adjust to the new style that pays homage to the original manga while pushing the series into the future at the same time. As an avid Stand Alone Complex re-watcher, once my preconceptions were tossed aside, Ghost in the Shell’s premiere episode was a great way to restart the franchise. Except there was one noticeable problem. 

The subtitles provided by Amazon were incorrect. Not even slightly, in most cases they used different words that completely changed the humor and meaning of the character’s speech. The use of generative AI to provide subtitles has been an ongoing issue in the anime world, and it’s clear that Amazon not only used AI, but likely the cheapest one they could find. 

Ghost in the Shell’s 2026 remake debuted in the Amazon Prime Top Ten, which is incredibly impressive for an anime series. It speaks to the popularity of the original film and manga that over 30 years later, it’s still finding new fans. New episodes will be released on Tuesdays, only on Amazon Prime.

Ghost in the Shell (2026) First Episode