Ghost in the Shell Reveals Inoue as Puppet Master, Chiba as Nakamura

Science SARU's The Ghost in the Shell has put names to two of the manga's most loaded supporting roles. The official site confirmed on Thursday that Kikuko Inoue is voicing the Puppet Master, while veteran Shigeru Chiba plays Nakamura, the Public Security Section 6 chief who seized the case in episode 7, "BYE BYE CLAY."

That installment, which aired Tuesday night on Kansai TV and Fuji TV affiliates, is the series' first full confrontation with Project 2501 — the unidentified hacker that has been ghosting through Section 9's work since the July 7 premiere. Fresh character visuals landed with the credits, lining Inoue's digital lifeform up against Maaya Sakamoto's Motoko Kusanagi.

Inoue said she walked into the booth anxious about a part that dense, then spent the session grateful that director Moko-chan and the sound crew let her keep going until the performance sat right. The scenes opposite Sakamoto were the ones that stuck. Chiba, who first wandered into this universe decades ago as a sanitation worker in Mamoru Oshii's 1995 film, is back as Nakamura — and used his comment to needle, in character, at whether even his own thoughts might be an AI's idea of a joke.

Moko-chan is directing at Science SARU, with novelist Toh EnJoe on series composition and Shuhei Handa on character designs. New episodes continue Tuesday nights in Japan, with Prime Video carrying the show overseas.

Official: Official site · X