Prime Video Revives a Sci-Fi Classic for the 21st Century

The Rise of Sci-Fi on Television

Science fiction is currently experiencing a renaissance on television, with some of the most iconic sci-fi stories being reimagined for the small screen. From Apple TV’s adaptation of Neuromancer to Amazon’s Blade Runner series, and Paramount+’s upcoming seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the genre is thriving. Additionally, we’ve seen the arrival of Foundation, Alien, two Handmaid’s Tale series, and an overwhelming number of Star Wars shows that have captured the imagination of fans worldwide.

Just this past week, one of the most influential sci-fi stories ever told was adapted into a near-flawless anime series. Prime Video has been making waves in the cyberpunk space, not only by creating a Blade Runner show but also by releasing an animated adaptation of the seminal Ghost in the Shell manga, produced by the Japanese studio Science Saru.

On July 7, The Ghost in the Shell debuted its first episode on Prime, and it has already been praised as a masterpiece. This is not the first time that Ghost in the Shell has been turned into anime. In 1995, a feature-length adaptation of Ghost in the Shell was hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made — the first truly grownup, truly mature animated film for adults — and it inspired the Wachowskis to create The Matrix. While the original film was a great movie, it wasn’t a great adaptation. The new series on Prime is both a great TV show and a faithful adaptation of the manga.

Prime Video’s The Ghost in the Shell Stays True to the Manga

While the Ghost in the Shell movie was technically based on the manga of the same name, it wasn’t a very faithful adaptation. The film only focused on part of the first manga and deviated from the source material, leaving a lot of story material unexplored and not doing justice to the parts it did adapt. Much like The Shining, it still turned out to be a great movie despite having little in common with its namesake source material, but it left an opportunity for other storytellers to come in and do a more honest, faithful adaptation of the manga.

This year, Science Saru has finally seized that opportunity. Amazon’s Ghost in the Shell series is much, much more accurate to the original manga than the classic movie adaptation. As an episodic series, its structure is inherently much closer to that of the serialized manga, and the show is bringing the manga to life, chapter by chapter. The first episode adapted the “Prologue” and the first part of “Super Spartan,” and the second episode will finish “Super Spartan” and move into “Junk Jungle,” and the series will continue like that, adapting the manga line by line.

Why the Ghost in the Shell Movie Will Always Be a Classic

While it bears very little resemblance to its source material, the ’95 Ghost in the Shell movie will always be a classic. If it wasn’t for that Ghost in the Shell film, we wouldn’t have The Matrix, and for that alone, Ghost in the Shell deserves its place in cinema history. But it’s a masterpiece in its own right, with gorgeous neon-soaked visuals and a mesmerizing cinematic atmosphere.

Just the way the sound design utilizes background noise gives Ghost in the Shell so much more life and luster than 99% of the animated movies out there. It’s a dazzling sci-fi action thriller, but it’s also a movie that’ll take the time to indulge in a two-minute conversation between a couple of garbage men, to enrich the narrative and enhance the dramatic payoffs later on. Faithful or not, that Ghost in the Shell movie is a masterclass in visual storytelling.