Science SARU’s THE GHOST IN THE SHELL anime series released a new trailer yesterday, announcing the anime’s premiere date of July 7, 2026.
From the animators who brought anime hits Devilman Crybaby and Dan Da Dan to life, Science SARU dropped a big reveal trailer this past weekend. Yesterday, the third trailer for THE GHOST IN THE SHELL anime series came out on the official website and Bandai Namco Filmworks socials, revealing the premiere date set for July 7th, 2026. However, the first two episodes will make an early world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June. The site also released a third key visual featuring the members of Public Security Section 9, drawn by Nao Naito, who serves as the anime’s chief animation director alongside Shuhei Handa.
The first two episodes will screen at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival’s “Special Events” program under the session name “Dive into ‘THE GHOST IN THE SHELL‘.” The anime’s core creative team, including director Mokochan, Producer Kohei Sakita, Kengo Abe and Daichi Sasa, will take the stage to discuss the behind-the-scenes aspects of production. The film festival will be held in Annecy, southeastern France, from June 21 through June 27, 2026.
Director Mokochan was the assistant director on Dan Da Dan, and hopes to blend Masamune Shirow’s classic sci-fi manga art style within the new anime series produced at Science SARU. The series composition and scripts by Toh Enjoe (Godzilla Singular Point), character designs and chief animation direction by Shuhei Handa (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) and music by Taisei Iwasaki (Metallic Rouge), Ryo Konishi and YUKI KANESAKA (Dr. STONE). Iwasaki is also credited as music director.
This is not only a new era of cyberpunk, but it can hook new audiences to one of the oldest cult-classic anime films/series of all time. Cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi returns in the trailer, shown with the Shell Squad. Various action set pieces were shown, with the poster emphasizing the main characters of the Shell Squad. Even though 2029 is right around the corner, THE GHOST IN THE SHELL (2026) series is maintaining the timeline of the original story.
Based on the manga of the same name, there have been several other adaptations of The Ghost in the Shell since it was first published in 1989. The 1995 anime movie is the most well-known and beloved, while a live-action movie starring Scarlett Johansson was released in 2017 to mixed reviews.
THE GHOST IN THE SHELL (2026) series will be available to stream via Prime Video on July 7th.
Here is a synopsis of the THE GHOST IN THE SHELL (2026) series:
“The year is 2029, A near-future Japan, where the world has become highly information-intensive, with a vast corporate network covering the planet, electrons and light pulsing through it. But the nation-state and ethnic groups still survive.
Motoko Kusanagi, a full-body cyborg, leads an elite combat unit of fellow cyborgs, including Batou. While commanding her team, Kusanagi envisions the creation of a specialized task force to preemptively strike against emerging threats. Meanwhile, Daisuke Aramaki of the Ministry of Home Affairs, who had been planning to establish a similar unit, scouts Kusanagi and her team.
Together, they begin operations as Public Security Section 9 – an aggressive tactical organization known as “Shell Squad.” As they confront complex cyber-crimes and international conspiracies, the existence of a mysterious, unidentified hacker known as “the Puppet Master” emerges on the horizon of their investigation. What fate awaits Kusanagi? And what is the Puppet Master’s true objective? A new era of cyberpunk action begins.
