Ghost in the Shell Casts Inoue and Chiba as Puppet Master Pair

Science SARU's The Ghost in the Shell just put names to the two voices circling its biggest mystery. The official site confirmed Thursday that Kikuko Inoue is the Puppet Master, while Shigeru Chiba plays Nakamura, the Section 6 chief who arrives to claim a detained robot as foreign-ministry property.

The pairing locks in with Episode 7, "BYE BYE CLAY," which started August 18 on Kansai TV, Fuji TV's Ka-Anival!! block, and streaming the same week. That chapter finally lets the infamous ghost-hack speak from a captured gynoid whose cyberbrain still carries a barrier, as Nakamura insists the contents belong to his department. Fresh character visuals for both roles dropped with the credits.

Inoue said the assignment left her tense until the booth let her chase the cadence through take after take; facing Maaya Sakamoto's Motoko Kusanagi was the session she called precious. Chiba, looping back into this universe as the Treaty Deliberation Department's Nakamura, posted a dry riff on whether even his own ghost — or his commentary — might be an AI's line. They join a Section 9 already led by Sakamoto, with Kazuhiro Yamaji, Hiroki Yasumoto, and Yuichi Nakamura among the regulars.

Director Moko-chan's series, drawn from Masamune Shirow's Kodansha manga, premiered July 7 at 11:00 p.m. JST and is still running Tuesday nights, with Prime Video and other platforms carrying each episode the same week.

Official: Official site · X