Ghost in the Shell Director Mokochan on Retro Future and AI
The interview clarifies that the new Ghost in the Shell series will deliberately avoid modernizing its source material, instead leaning into a retro-future aesthetic that matches the original manga's 1989 setting.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
At Anime Expo, The Ghost in the Shell director Mokochan and character designer Shūhei Handa discussed the new Science SARU series. Mokochan said it is based on the original 1989 manga and aims for a retro future feel, not modernization. Handa called AI the most relevant theme, presented as neither positive nor negative.
Mokochan, making his feature directorial debut with Science SARU's The Ghost in the Shell, told Anime Expo attendees that the new series is "completely based on the original manga" and that the team deliberately avoided modernizing it. He noted that the manga, created in 1989, predates mobile phones and featured CRT monitors, so the production aimed to capture that era's feel rather than update it.
Character designer Shūhei Handa, whose credits include Kill la Kill and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, pointed to AI technology as the most relevant element of the story today. Both creators said the series presents AI as neither positive nor negative, but dependent on how it is used.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.