“Ghost in the Shell” may seem like just a movie but there’s a whole lot more to it that fans can enjoy. Here’s the right watch order to see them.
One of the quintessential movies of anime’s golden age, Koukaku Kidotai or “Ghost in the Shell” debuted as one of the most mind-blowing, futuristic, cyberpunk anime to come out. It’s garnered a lot of attention and fandom as a great movie depicting how far technology has the potential to advance, bringing new questions and philosophies that couldn’t be answered without the era of technology.
Ghost in the Shell and its subsequent series is based in Niihama City, a technologically-advanced capital that has allowed the worlds of technology and biology to combine by innovating cybernetic prosthetics and even transplanting brains into a cybernetic body. Major Mokoto Kusanagi is one of those cybernetic human androids that is a part of the city’s Public Security Section 9, designated to anti-terrorism, stopping corruption of data and tech, as well as other dangerous threats. She, along with her partner Batou and Togusa, chase after the elusive “Puppet Master” who has been implanting fake memories and experiences into people’s minds to do his bidding.
The original movie earned a lot of praise and admiration for its indie cyberpunk view on a newly-reformed Tokyo of another world. It also shone in its complicated issues that question the ethics and principles that present a real problem in the future of our own world as technology and artificial intelligence advances.
Due to its popularity, more movies and even an animated TV series has been created based on this universe. I’m going to recommend the best way to watch this franchise because I believe that one specific way will give the best possible satisfaction.
Ghost in the Shell Recommended watch Order:
- Ghost in the Shell (1995) or Ghost in the Shell 2.0 : Remake (2008) – This is the original Koukaku Kidotai film that sets the tone and background for the characters, setting, tone of the franchise, as well as involves the original villain Puppet Master
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – An anime television series that is set in the time of a young Major Kusanagi. It consists of Stand-Alone Complex, Stand-Alone Complex 2nd GIG, and Arise
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence – A sequel to the original Koukaku Kidotai film centered on Batou, the deuteragonist, as he investigates a string of murders caused by gynoids (sex robots)
- Ghost in the Shell: Arise OVA Series – Reveals the story behind Section 9 and its origin leading to the events that occur in the first Koukaku Kidotai film
- Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie – Set after the events of Ghost in the Shell: Arise that continues the plot beyond the Pyrophoric Cult episode
- Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 – the latest anime and succeeds everything chronologically
This is the probably the most recommended way of watching the Koukaku Kidotai franchise. Although a recommended order was provided, it is not really strict and rigid to watch it in this specific order. Ghost in the Shell is a story that mainly serves to depict a dystopian cyberpunk world and is a compilation of various different investigative cases. There is really no major overarching plot that would require a strict watch order.t