Scott Pilgrim Takes Off studio's next anime is a fresh take on cyberpunk classic Ghost in the Shell, and I couldn't be more excited
It's a good time to be a Science Saru fan.
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Ghost in the Shell is coming back, this time with a new series from the studio behind Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.
Most people will know Ghost in the Shell from its original classic '90s cyberpunk film directed by the legendary Mamoru Oshii - it's an iconic piece of animation, and did go on to spawn various sequel films and series too. But as good as the original film is, it isn't actually all that similar to the original manga by Masamune Shirow. The manga is a lot sillier for one, with protagonist Motoko Kusanagi being a lot more comedic than she is in the film, and for two it's also a lot… raunchier, we'll just say. And now, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and Devilman Crybaby studio Science Saru has announced its working on a new anime series based on the manga due to release some time in 2026.
Pretty much nothing outside of its existence and release year have been confirmed, but a small teaser trailer was released, which you can watch above. I bring up the manga because all of the art is directly pulled from it, making me think that Science Saru's adaptation will be a lot closer to the original book. I certainly hope so, Science Saru as a studio have released some really wonderfully unique and fun works over the years, so it'd be a perfect fit for the goofier elements of the original manga. Obviously 2026 is still two years away though, so it'll be a while before we even get a proper trailer for the series.
In the meantime, Science Saru does at least have some fun projects in its line-up. On the TV front, the animation studio is working on Dandadan, an anime that asks whether ghosts or aliens are real, and answers that it's possibly both? Fans of Chainsaw Man might want to check this one out, as the manga's creator Yukinobo Tatsu is a former assistant of Tatsuki Fujimoto. There's also the upcoming band film The Colors Within, a beautiful looking film directed by A Silent Voice director Naoko Yamada, so all in all it's a good time to be a Science Saru fan.