If you want to watch ‘Ghost in the Shell’ in order, there’s one major entry you can shamelessly skip

Before Cyberpunk 2077 and The Matrix, there was Ghost in the Shell, an anime that did for the futuristic neon cyberpunk aesthetic what Nintendo did for video games.

If there’s a blemish on its face, it’s that brutal live-action movie, but apart from that, it’s an absolute classic. The anime started as a manga series in Japan, penned and drawn by Japanese artist Masanori Ota, known professionally as Masamune Shirow. It debuted in 1989 and is set in a futuristic Japanese city that centers around Public Security Section 9, a special police force fighting cybercrime, terrorism, and people abusing their positions of power. In this world, people have digital prosthetics, cyberbrains, or both. The “ghost” is human consciousness and the “shell” is the body that surrounds and houses it, cybernetic or otherwise. The protagonist is Motoko Kusanagi, or “The Major” ⏤ a cyborg with a human brain who is chasing a consciousness named the Puppet Master, a hacker who takes people with cybernetic brains and controls them.

The Ghost in the Shell manga sold so well that a movie was made in 1995. Despite a lackluster run in theaters, it became a huge cult hit when it went to home video, and in 2017, the aforementioned flop starring Scarlett Johnansson was released to lackluster reviews. One of the best things about the franchise is that it can be enjoyed either as an action-packed gore-fest or a psychological dive into what it means to exist, but with all the different movies and shows, Ghost can be a little overwhelming to new viewers. Here’s how to best enjoy it without getting too confused.

1. Ghost in the Shell (1995)

What can be said about one of the best animes of all time? It has intrigue, is sexy, and features a fierce female protagonist at a time when that wasn’t common. Finally, it’s just great, like Frosted Flakes. The movie faithfully follows the manga’s plot, although some plot points were excluded for length issues. Still intact are the heady psychological and philosophical questions presented to us by the author. You definitely want to start your viewing here, because this sets the table for the aesthetic and mood of what’s to come.

2. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

Something interesting happened with Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence: it was not a direct sequel to the first movie. There’s a little bit of overlap with a case from the first movie, but that’s it. To be honest, Ghost in the Shell canon isn’t as important as the movie’s quality, and this one doesn’t disappoint. It takes place in 2032, three years after the original, and follows a cybernetic Section 9 operative named Batou and a carbon-based one named Togusa. It’s a new story that goes in a completely new direction, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

3. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002-2006)

This is perhaps the adaptation that comes closest to recreating the magic of the 1995 film. It’s also a series with 52 episodes that ran for three years, so there’s a lot of lore and content to chew on. It again works around Public Security Section 9 as it deals with tech terrorists, and the best part is that Motoko is back! There’s a ton of room to breathe and let the characters develop, and if you commit to the series, you’re really going to enjoy it.

4. Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society (2006)

The important thing to remember about Ghost is that some of the connections between properties are loose at best. For example, you can follow most of the previously mentioned properties without watching the 1995 film. That said, Solid State Society is a straight sequel to Stand Alone Complex, and it once again features Togusa, but this time he’s leading Section 9. If you enjoyed Stand Alone Complex, you’ll enjoy this one a lot.

5. Ghost in the Shell: Arise (2015)

Tighten your seatbelt, because things are about to get a little confusing. Arise is a series of five, let’s call them, reimaginings, and a kind of series reboot. Suffice it to say, when people talk about Ghost in the Shell, this isn’t the main property they’re picturing. The locations are different, the timeline is different, the characters look different, and some key plot points are completely different. Regardless, it’s an interesting addition to the Ghost canon.

6. Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie (2015)

This one is colloquially known as the New Ghost in the Shell, and it’s another direct sequel. It continues the story of the previous reboots and knots up some of those canonical loose ends from the final episode of Arise. It’s… fine. Aggressively fine. Take that as you will.

Whenever: Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Well, here we are. There are a lot of things to say about the American live-action Ghost in the Shell movie. There’s the whitewashing, a plot that doesn’t mirror the original, and the fact that it’s just not a great movie. Scarlett Johansson plays Major, but that’s where the similarities to the source material end. There’s no puppet master, only a strange hacker named Kuze and something called Hanka Robotics. It doesn’t fit the rest of the franchise in a timeline sense, so consider it a standalone you can play in the background while you fry the Sunday morning bacon.