Something extraordinary is happening. The Ghost in the Shell exhibition, running through April 2026, is already proving to be far more than a retrospective. I attended the media preview held ahead of the public opening, and it quickly became clear that this is an experience dense with ideas, discoveries, and moments that demand time. This is not the kind of exhibition that can be captured briefly.
With a devoted global following and a legacy that has shaped generations of creators across disciplines, Ghost in the Shell continues to exist as a cultural force rather than a finished work. This exhibition marks the first comprehensive attempt to trace the full arc of its animated history, bringing together every era of the franchise in one space.
It has been thirty seven years since Masamune Shirow first introduced the original manga to the world, and just over thirty years since Mamoru Oshii released the landmark film GHOST IN THE SHELL in 1995. Within the story itself, Public Security Section 9 is formed in 2029, placing the present moment only three years away from the world the series once imagined as the future.
That sense of convergence gives this exhibition its urgency. To revisit Ghost in the Shell in 2026 is to reconsider it not only as a canonical work of science fiction, but as a mirror held up to contemporary society. In tracing its visions of technology, identity, and consciousness, we are ultimately invited to question where we stand today, and where our own sense of self truly resides.
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