Ghost in the Shell (2026): Japanese Fans React to the "Manga-Faithful" Battle Scenes — "Just Admit You Like the Oshii Movie"

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Japanese fan reactions (excerpted from 1341)

• I love this comment so much I wish it'd get pinned.

  このコメ、固定して欲しいぐらい好きです

  — @ネコと和解せよ-v3r97 likes

• This is the part where we're supposed to be moved that Shirow Masamune's actual artwork is moving...

  士郎正宗の絵が動いてて感動してるトコなんだから…

  — @sei-un1,032 likes

• Moving fluidly in oddly specific moments is also just a classic quirk of anime from the era the original manga was serialized. Once you commit to old-school art and character design, the motion has to match that era's high-end anime style too, or the whole thing falls out of balance.

  妙なシーンでヌルヌル動くってのも、原作攻殻が連載してた時代のアニメのあるあるネタだしな。作画やキャラデザを昔風にした以上、動きもその時代のハイクオリティアニメっぽくしないとバランスが崩壊する。

  — @るるいえの民36 likes

• Honestly, I'm impressed they leaned this hard into the original manga in this day and age. People who only know the Oshii movie probably don't realize the manga actually has tons of comedic expressions and scenes.

  逆にいまどき原作漫画版によくまぁここまで寄せたなって感心したよ。漫画版は押井版しか知らない人はわからんだろうけどかなりコミカルな表情やシーン多いよね。

  — @tappynumachi593266 likes

• Personally I love feeling the source material's affection mixed in with god-tier animation, so I'm just going to completely ignore the criticism.

  個人的には原作愛感じつつ神作画も合間って大好きなので批判はガン無視する

  — @ジャム助-n7i1,064 likes

• Best policy: just ignore anyone trashing something you love.

  自分が好きな作品を悪く言う声は無視するに限る

  — @ムッツリーニ-b2w71 likes

• Because this right here is basically the real, original thing.

  これが原作というか本物だからなあ

  — @りんく-k6n242 likes

• The old anime adaptations were simply a different thing to begin with.

  昔のアニメ版がそもそも別物なのよ

  — @尾元彦548 likes

• People criticizing this are basically publicly announcing 'I have not read the original manga.'

  批判してる人は「私は原作読んでません」と公言してるようなもの

  — @nijntje19651,601 likes

• Wait, is the original manga comedic even during fight scenes?

  原作は戦闘でもコミカルなんですか？

  — @sakuya-r2w10 likes

• In the manga, the Tachikomas literally go on strike at one point lol. The Major shot down every single one of their demands with one line though, lol lol lol.

  原作だと、フチコマがストライキをやったりするｗ 少佐の一言で、要求は全て退けられたけどｗｗｗ

  — @satootto45 likes

• Why can't people just understand that this art style IS faithful to the source material?

  これが原作準拠の絵だと何故理解しないのか。

  — @鴉-z3j234 likes

• Honestly, I really love the original manga's art style for Ghost in the Shell.

  正直原作の攻殻機動隊の絵柄めちゃくちゃ好き

  — @もっこりナハ太郎334 likes

• No, seriously, both the animation and the depiction here are perfect.

  いや作画も描写も満点だよ

  — @戸田-s2q368 likes

• This is faithful enough to the source that manga fans who were furious about the Oshii movie 30 years ago would be crying tears of joy.

  30年前に押井版にブチギレていた原作ファンが泣いて喜ぶほど原作に忠実

  — @山田A-j8x56 likes

• No matter how you look at it, the quality here is clearly high.

  いやどう見てもクオリティ高いわ

  — @せんとくん-c4y199 likes

• Wait — does that mean there are people out there who genuinely think the previous ANIME adaptations WERE the 'original source'?

  まさか「原作」がこれまでのアニメと思ってる勢がいるということなのか

  — @晶-f5g181 likes

• That's like someone thinking both the Corolla Levin and the Sprinter Trueno are just called '85.'

  AE86のレビンとトレノのレビンを85と思ってるやつみたいやな

  — @くるくる-g7l10 likes

• Apparently that's actually common among overseas fans who only know the old anime.

  実際昔のアニメしか知らん外人には多いようだ

  — @tasuseto4 likes

• Seriously, just go read the manga. Honestly this is great precisely because it's basically the manga verbatim — though the dialogue has clearly been softened a bit for the times...

  悪いことは言わん原作を読め むしろめちゃくちゃ原作まんまで良かった ただ、ワードはやっぱり緩和されてるね時代だよね、、、

  — @中-j5r158 likes

• Genuinely wonderful, plain and simple.

  普通に素晴らしい。

  — @kagakusha-3kr301 likes

• I love that old-school 'fluid motion' animation feel.

  古のヌルヌル作画感あって好きよ

  — @後藤ぜろにん39 likes

• You don't see fight choreography that distinctive and cool very often. I got ridiculously hyped.

  あんな個性的でかっこいい戦闘描写あんまないだろ 死ぬほど興奮したわ

  — @松田たろう-p4s7 likes

• I bet Shirow Masamune fans in their 50s will go 'ah, yeah, THIS is it.' I'm one of them, but I think both the Oshii movie and the original manga have their own kind of good.

  多分50代のシロマサファンなら「ああ、こっちだわ」てなる。自分もそうだけど押井版の良さ、原作の良さそれぞれだと思う😊

  — @田舎者-j9f11 likes

• The split-second facial changes and hair movement are ridiculous.

  一瞬の表情変化や髪の動きとか凄すぎ

  — @雨飾4 likes

• This reminded me that in the manga, the Major was actually a playful, cute person.

  マンガの少佐はおちゃめでカワイイ人だったの思い出させてくれたよ。

  — @nabeyasu455 likes

• As Motoko herself once said: 'If you have complaints about the world (the animation), change yourself. If you can't do that, close your ears and eyes, shut your mouth, and live alone.'

  「世の中(作画)に不満があるなら自分を変えろ。それが嫌なら耳と目を閉じ、口を噤んで孤独に暮らせ。」と素子も申しております

  — @butthar953313 likes

What are Japanese fans debating in this Ghost in the Shell reaction video?

Whether the new adaptation's comical, "fluid" battle animation is a legitimate faithful take on Shirow Masamune's original manga, or a misstep compared to the more serious tone of Mamoru Oshii's 1995 movie.

Why do commenters say critics "haven't read the manga"?

Several fans argue that the original Ghost in the Shell manga was always more comedic and stylistically playful than the Oshii movie, and that viewers expecting the movie's serious tone are unknowingly judging the show against the wrong source material.

Is there a joke that book-ends the whole thread?

Yes — the top comment jokingly tells critics to "just admit you like the Oshii movie," and a later comment closes the loop by quoting Major Kusanagi's own in-universe line about people who can't accept change back at the doubters.

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