It is impossible to talk about this work without bringing up the 1995 film. While I do believe the work should be viewed as its own thing, and given what it is, it very much is doable at that.

As the person writing the review I however cannot without looking at some of the other adaptations, and out of all of them the first adaptation being the one to most compare it to. As this adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, is by design truly accurate to the manga.

Ghost in the Shell is a tent pole, a monolith of anime. The original 1995 adaptation became instrumental in so many works especially outside of Japan, for good and ill. It became the core depiction of what Ghost in the Shell is to so many. Stand alone complex the anime series a decade later would seem to draw from the nature of the characters in the movie. But these are not the original versions.

In Mamoru Oshii movie, he took the core puppet master story from the original work but removed much. This made it have a more serious tone which while the original work still had all the philosophical moments also had more moments of brevity and some humour, and a lot less naked Kusanagi.Though it did have a big improvement on one scene as properly reflected on the deep horror of what that was and how devastating it truly would be.

When I read the manga I was surprised to find that while there were still all the moments of pondering one’s self amongst this world where the lines of what is human have become so blurred. But The artstyle was far more, cartoonish. The characters in off-time weren’t dour, Makoto got a bit bubbly at moments.

This new adaptation produced by Science Saru is essentially a one to one adaptation not just in story but in style as well. Characters appear as they do in the manga, goofier faces and all thus giving a more faithful to the original iteration. And they do a great job of that. It results in this odd mix of early 90s style designs but with modern levels of animation which gives this version its own unique distinct look. There’s nothing quite like it, especially when you take into account how detailed this cybernetic world originally drawn by Masamune Shirow is.

For many who have never read the manga this show will be quite a surprise but well worth the watch. If you have never seen any Ghost in the Shell media it’s a great first entry for you as it is as close an adaptation of manga as it’s possible to get. Those who have seen the other ones will enjoy it and be rather shocked at how the Major is portrayed in the original work as well as getting a few chuckles out of it.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐