The Offer That Started With a Whispering Ghost
The panel's best story explained how Science SARU (Dandadan, Inu-Oh) ended up with the franchise in the first place. Producer Kengo Abe of Bandai Namco Filmworks, whose franchise history includes Ghost in the Shell: Arise and SAC_2045, said the challenge was figuring out how to carry the manga's groundbreaking appeal into a new anime. His answer borrowed the franchise's most famous turn of phrase: "a ghost whispered" that Science SARU could pull it off.
The studio itself was caught off guard. Animation producer Shuhei Shindo admitted Science SARU was surprised to receive the offer, since grounded, realistic material has rarely been its territory. What sold him was the pitch's key phrase: this adaptation would be based on the original manga.
Kodansha editor Takeshi Katsurada opened his segment by asking the room who had read Shirow Masamune's manga. Hands went up everywhere, and he looked a little surprised. He noted that serialization began in 1989, before the internet had meaningfully spread, and argued that the times have finally caught up to the source material. In his words, this TV series became the first anime to engage with the original manga "100 percent."
A Packed Room for the English-Dub Premiere
According to an on-the-ground report from WebNewtype, the web outlet of Japanese anime magazine Newtype, the July 4 session at the JW Marriott's Diamond Room filled up before its scheduled start. Overflow fans gathered in the lobby just to soak up some of the atmosphere.
The reveals started before the screening did. Japanese rock band King Gnu was announced as the opening theme artist, appearing via video message. Episodes 1 and 2 then screened in their English dub, with the crowd loud through the action and comedy beats. The biggest cheer of the day went to Motoko Kusanagi's first appearance on screen.
A five-person talk session followed, and every panelist used their self-introduction to talk about their love for the series. After the talk, autographed posters were handed out at random, and the English dub cast made a surprise appearance to close out the event.
Blade Runner, Blomkamp, and an 'Anime Mentor'
Director Mokochan said the goal was to preserve the manga's atmosphere, not just its story and characters. For the character designs, the director and character designer Shuhei Handa, who also serves as chief animation director, studied Shirow's other manga, including Appleseed and Black Magic, along with his art books.
The influence list ran well past manga. Mokochan named live-action filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, Blade Runner, and Masaaki Yuasa, whom the director described as a mentor in anime. Asked how the show captures the appeal of characters like Kusanagi, Mokochan said the production does use 3DCG, but wanted to protect the primal excitement of hand-drawn pictures in motion.
Looking Ahead
The Ghost in the Shell premiered in Japan on July 7, 2026, and airs Tuesdays at 11:00 p.m. on the Kansai TV and Fuji TV network. The series streams on Prime Video, and the English dub that Anime Expo attendees saw is already in circulation.
The panel closed with pitches from the stage. Abe called the show something newcomers can enjoy with no franchise knowledge at all and asked the audience to watch every episode. Mokochan pointed out that Ghost in the Shell fans come in many types, from manga-first readers to anime-only viewers, and said the team made this series with all of them in mind. The official global site carries updates on what comes next for the franchise.