The Ghost in the Shell is far and away one of the most iconic franchises to come from Japan’s expansive catalog of manga & anime, and it’s one that has had multiple creators and studios tackle telling stories within its world. Each series within the franchise is often relegated to its own space whenever celebrations occur, but that changes with “Ghost and the Shell” taking place at TOKYO NODE gallery through 5 April 2026. This exhibition touts itself as the first “all anime series” exhibition, and it definitely lives up to that claim.

Combining 30 years of anime adaptations into a single gallery definitely sounds like quite the daunting task considering how much material exists and how many iconic scenes the franchise has birthed. I had the opportunity to preview everything the day before it opened and see for myself how they did at capturing the spirit of the series, and if they could live up to fan expectations as someone who’s been onboard for nearly the 30 years of history the exhibition was crafted to celebrate.

Entering the Node

When you enter the exhibition you find yourself in a room with a high ceiling, cables dangling from above, and projection mapping that makes you feel like you stepped into a cyber mind. Lining the walls are data terminals that run custom software that allow users to look up any scene from across the entire Ghost in the Shell anime franchise using keywords and other criteria. Despite being a little tricky to use at first, the interface is incredibly slick and makes for an interesting way to explore the universe within the series.

The projection mapped elements are a key point to this room, making for a visually stunning presentation. While the projections wrap the entire room during the day, at night the space truly comes alive as they unblock the windows to expose a stunning view of Tokyo, blending a view of the real world with the digital world that the room itself is presenting.

Ghost dive

After traveling down a corridor lined with posters from each entry of the franchise, you find yourself at the beginning of an extremely long room filled with displays of behind the scenes materials from each entry in the Ghost in the Shell franchise. Displays run chronologically along the length of the exhibit with storyboards, genga (key animation drawings), animation cels, background paintings, and other production materials jam packed throughout.

In each area of the exhibit an additional focal point, several interactive, is also on display. A few are custom art pieces such as the “you’re mine #000/#001” art piece or statues of Tachikoma & Fuchikoma. Additional displays focus on technology, often times drawing inspiration from the franchise itself. ANREALAGE’s live camouflage SCREEN wearables are on display, drawing a line to Major Kusanagi’s thermoptic camouflage in the series.

More passive displays also fill the main space including the Laughing Man Mirror, a screen in the Stand Alone Complex area covers attendee faces with the Laughing Man icon as they walk by. Dead center in the room are 4 computer terminals where attendees can digitally view an even wider breadth of production materials from the franchise that wouldn’t fit in the exhibition.

Off to the side in Gallery B, directly connected to the main room, is a large room that is inhabited only by a collaborative statue created by famed Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. Titled “Sexy Robot_The Ghost in the Shell type 1,” the statue is posed similarly to one of the most famous illustrations of Kusanagi from the original film’s promotional material, with a plethora of cables protruding from the body and plugged into the base. The room is open so attendees can view this polished metal form from all sides.

Rounding everything out at the very end of the room is the Analog Dig, which requires an additional ticket aside from admission. In this space, attendees dig through a huge collection of envelopes, each containing a reproduction genga from throughout the series. After digging through these materials, participants are allowed to keep one of these reproduction materials to take home with them while supplies last.

Augmented Reality

One of the other stand out experiences from the exhibit is a tie up with AR glasses maker XREAL, which also requires an additional ticket to experience. Throughout the exhibition you will find spots marked by Tachikoma icons on the floor that you scan with the glasses to create an augmented reality tour throughout each area. The tour is hosted by Tachikoma and guides you along virtual paths to famous scenes or interesting production moments for each series.

The AR experience supports English as a language option as well. It’s a really cool way to have a more interactive experience within the exhibition itself outside of the few standalone displays scattered throughout. Since each section has a self-contained AR experience, you don’t need to wear the glasses the whole time either which gives you full control of how you enjoy everything on display.

Loose ends

Wrapping up the exhibition is the obligatory merch shop, but unlike most other gallery experiences the organizers went all out with collaborations to appeal to the die hard mega fans.

Upon entering the room you’ll see several glass display cases with some of the higher end exclusive items including a porcelain Tachikoma, limited to 50 pieces and priced at ¥770,000. Clothing collabs with reputable brands like WACKO MARIA, BRAIN DEAD, and HATRA compliment the exhibition original apparel and merch. A life size statue of Kusanagi is even on display and available for purchase if you so desire.

General merchandise is also available, including an adorable Tachikoma plush (which I admittedly bought) and a “Ghost and the Shell” book that compiles everything featured in the exhibition. Items on sale are exclusive to the event for the most part, with only a few exceptions scattered throughout. Prices range from affordable to extreme luxury, but that feels very by design.

Another interactive element to cap off the gallery is a display featuring a pair of traditional Japanese folding screens made by Techno Byobu in collaboration with the franchise. These large, hand-crafted screens feature iconic images of Motoko Kusanagi emblazoned across them with text and design elements hidden in the gold leaf adorning the background when you view them in the right light. An AR camera function that connects with your phone allows you to bring each of them to life, it's an interesting blend of traditional art and modern technology.

Final Thoughts

I go to a lot of exhibitions out here, and the ones I enjoy the most are those that mix things up and offer more to see than just production materials and artwork. Those are of course always the main focus, but I can’t help but appreciate the extra interactive elements that were incorporated into this exhibition. The AR glasses were honestly a lot cooler than I was expecting them to be, and even though the process to use them is a little cumbersome at times, they definitely enhanced the experience for me.

Areas of the main exhibit can feel a little cramped with the way things are laid out, but with so much on display there is no need to rush through it all. Even on busy days, it should be easy enough to pace yourself as you pour across the wealth of amazing behind the scenes materials on display. If I had one criticism about the way things are set up, it’s that the interactive elements have so few stations available that it’s surely going to cause a bottleneck when people want to check them out. It’s understandable given the space they have to work with, but it will hurt the experience for some people.

All in all, even though I was able to preview everything with a limited amount of people in attendance, I can safely say that fans of The Ghost in the Shell are going to love this exhibition. If you happen to be in Tokyo during its run through early April I highly recommend checking it out. For more details and ticketing, check out the event's official website.