Ghost in the Shell Adds Chikahiro Kobayashi
Chikahiro Kobayashi has been announced as the voice of Lee in the new Ghost in the Shell anime. The announcement came on Thursday, 26 August 2026, and the character appears in episode eight.
Chikahiro Kobayashi has been announced as the voice of Lee in the new Ghost in the Shell anime. The announcement came on Thursday, 26 August 2026, and the character appears in episode eight.
Cast
The series features a roster of well-known voice actors. Maaya Sakamoto voices Motoko Kusanagi, Kazuhiro Yamaji is Daisuke Aramaki, Hiroki Yasumoto plays Batou, and Yūichi Nakamura portrays Togusa. Additional cast members include Kōsuke Gotō as Ishikawa, Tōru Nara as Saito, Marie Ōi as Operator, Tomoko Kaneda as Fuchikoma, Chafūrin as Minister of Home Affairs, Naomi Kusumi as Volgarena Representative, Hiroshi Yanaka as Vice Minister Ito, Tomoko Miyadera as Union Leader, Atsushi Miyauchi as Borma, Kenichi Ogata as Col.
Tonoda, Masashi Ebara as Hanka Precision Instruments President, Aya Hisakawa as Annapuma, Niina Kumagaya as Unipuma, and Chikahiro Kobayashi as Lee. The full cast list can be found in the squad page.
Staff
Mokochan, known for storyboard work on DAN DA DAN, The Heike Story, and Tatami Time Machine Blues, directs the series, marking his debut at Science SARU. Toh Enjoe, a novelist for The Empire of Corpses and writer for Space Dandy and Godzilla Singular Point, writes and oversees the scripts. Shūhei Handa, who worked on Little Witch Academia and Spriggan, designs characters and serves as chief animation director.
Music is led by Taisei Iwasaki, with additional composition by Ryō Konishi and Yuki Kanesaka.
Broadcast and Streaming
The anime premiered on television on 7 July on the “Ka-Anival!!” block, airing Tuesday nights at 11:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. EDT). It began streaming on Amazon Prime Video Japan the same day at 11:30 p.m. JST (10:30 a.m. EDT), immediately after the broadcast. The series is also exclusively available worldwide on Prime Video, excluding mainland China, Russia, and Vietnam.
| Service | Premiere Date | Time (Local) | Time (EDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV broadcast | 7 July | 11:00 p.m. | 10:00 a.m. |
| Amazon Prime Video Japan | 7 July | 11:30 p.m. | 10:30 a.m. |
| Prime Video global | 7 July | 11:30 p.m. | 10:30 a.m. |
The first two episodes were also screened at Anime Expo on 4 July, where a panel featuring director Mokochan, character designer Shūhei Handa, and other producers discussed the project.
Music
The opening theme, “Go Ghost,” is performed by King Gnu, while the ending theme, “Blue,” is a collaboration between MILLENNIUM PARADE, Saya Gray, and Daniel Caesar. The theme details can be found in the stats section.
I.G form the production committee for the series.
Legacy Bandai Namco
Filmworks announced the new series in May 2024. Voice actress Atsuko Tanaka, the long-time voice of Motoko Kusanagi, passed away in August 2024 at the age of 61.
Source: Anime News Network
Source: Anime News Network