THE GHOST IN THE SHELL has officially revealed its main voice cast following the broadcast of its first episode in Japan, confirming a complete recast. Among the biggest changes, Maaya Sakamoto has been cast as Motoko Kusanagi, succeeding the late Atsuko Tanaka, who passed away in August 2024.
The newly announced cast also includes:
- Maaya Sakamoto as Motoko Kusanagi
- Kazuhiko Yamaji as Daisuke Aramaki
- Hiroki Yasumoto as Batou
- Yuichi Nakamura as Togusa
- Kosuke Goto as Ishikawa
- Toru Nara as Saito
- Tomoko Kaneda as Fuchikoma units
THE GHOST IN THE SHELL anime by Science SARU revealed a completely original main voice cast ahead of its premiere today. The anime previously confirmed global streaming plans, with Prime Video set to simulcast the anime in Japan and more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Prime Video streams the anime globally just 30 minutes behind Japan.
The theme song by King Gnu is titled “GO GHOST” and you can check out the opening video below.
The full staff for the anime includes:
- Director: Mokochan
- Script: EnJoe Toh
- Character Design & Executive Animation Director: Shuhei Handa
- Art Direcotor: Emi Katanosaka
- Art Supervisor: Osamu Masuyama
- Color Design: Satoshi Hashimoto
- Compositing Director: Hikari Itoh
- Editor: Kiyoshi Hirose
- Sound Director: Yuji Tange
- Sound Effect: Shota Yaso
- Sound Mix: Hiroaki Ota
- Music Director & Music: Taisei Iwasaki
- Music: Ryo Konishi, YUKI KANESAKA
- Animation Production: Science SARU
- Produced by: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL COMMITTEE
- Title Logo Design: Hajime Sorayama
The anime previously revealed the ending theme “Blue,” performed by MILLENNIUM PARADE and features Canadian-Japanese artist Saya Gray and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar. You can watch the ending below
The anime held its U.S. premiere today at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles. The event will include screenings of Episodes 1 and 2, a staff panel featuring members of the production team, and autograph sessions with director Moko-chan and character designer/chief animation director Shuhei Handa.
Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese cyberpunk franchise created by Masamune Shirow. It began as a manga series serialized from 1989 to 1991, following Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cybernetically enhanced government agent in a futuristic society where technology and consciousness intertwine. The original manga has several sequels, including:
- Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface
- The Human Algorithm (a recent sequel launched in 2019 by Junichi Fujisaku)
The franchise is best known globally for its anime adaptations, beginning with the 1995 film directed by Mamoru Oshii. It was followed by:
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
- The acclaimed Stand Alone Complex TV series (2002–2005) and its follow-up film Solid State Society
- The Arise reboot series (2013–2015)
- The Netflix original SAC_2045 (2020–2022)
In 2017, a Hollywood live-action film starring Scarlett Johansson was released.
Science SARU also has Jaadugar: A Witch’s Life in Mongol which premiered on July 4.
Source: Ghost in the Shell Official X
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