Who Inherits the Sound of “Ghost in the Shell”? The New TV Anime’s Soundtrack, Scored by a Trio Led by Taisei Iwasaki, Arrives September 9

After a Quarter Century, the Sound of “Ghost in the Shell” Gets New Authors

Ever since Masamune Shirow published the original manga in 1989, the “Ghost in the Shell” franchise—reshaped by Mamoru Oshii’s animated films and even a Hollywood live-action version—has kept jolting the world. Now the original soundtrack for its newest chapter, the TV anime Ghost in the Shell (THE GHOST IN THE SHELL), has been announced: a 2-CD set on September 9, 2026, and a 2LP vinyl edition on September 30, both from Flying Dog. The jacket is a newly drawn illustration by tarou2, supervised by Science SARU, and the first-press CD comes in a special package.

This is a series very much in progress—it only began airing on the Kansai TV / Fuji TV network in July 2026, animated by Science SARU (of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and DEVILMAN crybaby). With the non-credit opening and ending videos already out and buzz building around the visuals, the sonic package is finally stepping into view.

Kenji Kawai and Yoko Kanno — the Crushing Legacy of “Two Ghost in the Shell Sounds”

Few franchises tie their music so inseparably to their ideas as “Ghost in the Shell.” For Oshii’s features Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Innocence (2004), Kenji Kawai wove a ritual-like theme fusing Bulgarian voices with ancient Japanese chant that remains the very shorthand for “the sound of Ghost in the Shell.” Meanwhile, on the TV series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002–), Yoko Kanno built an entirely different “Ghost sound,” a hybrid of electronics and live instruments centered on Origa’s vocals. Kawai’s mythology, Kanno’s momentum: facing these two towering reference points, any new score inherits the question of whether to continue or to shatter them from day one.

So how does a new generation of writers answer? Look at the credits and the answer is strikingly modern: not “one genius carries it,” but “three people from different worlds bind it together.”

Taisei Iwasaki, Ryo Konishi, YUKI KANESAKA — Why This Mismatched Trio Works

Serving as music director is Taisei Iwasaki, a front-line film composer who won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Music for Belle and is scoring the currently-screening TOKYO Taxi. He is joined by Ryo Konishi, who served as music director for the opening ceremony of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, and is known for sound-producing Chara + YUKI, Mrs. GREEN APPLE, and TOMOO—an artist who moves freely between pop and contemporary music. The third is YUKI KANESAKA, based in the United States and internationally acclaimed for scoring the TV anime Dr. STONE.

Film-score gravity, pop/contemporary border-crossing, and an overseas sound-design sensibility. For an anime built on a globally read source and premised on international streaming, this blend makes real sense. Some twenty years after Yoko Kanno single-handedly defined a “world-standard Ghost sound,” that role is now being taken up by a team that crosses both borders and genres—before a single note plays, the lineup itself speaks volumes about where this series stands. Across the full tracklist, where will the three colors merge, and where will they clash? On September 9, we get to find out.