Anisongs
The song is written, composed and arranged by Taisei Iwasaki, who serves as music director and composer for the series, with vocals by Mirai Moriyama, an actor and dancer from Kobe. The track also closed the main footage of the advance overseas screening version, including the world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France.
The newly published video is titled "TV Animation THE GHOST IN THE SHELL Special Promotional Video directed by MOKOCHAN," directed by MOKOCHAN, who also directs the series itself.
The lyrics were created with an approach worthy of the world of Ghost in the Shell. Iwasaki held repeated dialogues with a number of AIs to build an original language that does not exist on Earth, then rebuilt every line of his own lyrics into that new language — treating not only sounds produced by the mouth but also physical gestures as part of the language. Wanting the finished song to be sung by someone deeply versed in physicality, one of the themes of this production, he offered the vocals to Mirai Moriyama.
The digital single is also included on the original soundtrack "THE GHOST IN THE SHELL O.S.T.," releasing on September 9, 2026, on CD and vinyl.
＜Comment from Mirai Moriyama＞
"A message arrived out of the blue from Taisei Iwasaki, a musician I know both professionally and personally.
'The anime I'm working on is set in a place modeled on Kobe's Port Island, and I want to start the music from your voice, Mirai.'
I had no idea what he meant.
'It's a new series of this thing called Ghost in the Shell.'
I'm truly sorry to say I had almost no prior connection to this legendary work loved all over the world.
Even so, I agreed on the spot.
Once the name came up of the artificial island in Kobe, Hyogo — the hometown of both original creator Masamune Shirow and myself — my curiosity was piqued.
Apparently there is a theory that the single opening panel of the manga Ghost in the Shell, 'Niihama Prefecture, marine city Newport City,' was modeled on Port Island.
And looking at that picture, you really do think, 'this really is Po-ai!' (Po-ai being the local nickname for Port Island.) Before I knew it the song was titled 'po-ai' and had ended up in the position of a theme song, which humbles me, but as a local I am overwhelmed.
Someday it would be fun to hear 'po-ai' blasting at full volume on Po-ai itself."
＜Comment from Taisei Iwasaki, music director and composer＞
"Philip K. Dick once wrote that the basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words — that if you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.
So what would happen if you manipulated the words themselves?
That question crossed my mind in the middle of composing.
From there I held repeated dialogues with a number of AIs and built an original language system that does not exist anywhere on this Earth, rebuilding all of the lyrics into that new language.
At times I was astonished by the responses of AIs that recognized not only sounds produced by the mouth but even physical acts such as 'striking the left chest' as language, and I kept probing the threshold where humans and technology merge.
Wanting the finished song to be sung by someone deeply versed in physicality, one of the themes of this production, I offered it to my long-time acquaintance Mirai Moriyama.
His voice, singing in words that exist nowhere in the world, resonates with a strangely nostalgic quality.
Please enjoy his singing voice as it envelops Newport City."
Song information
Title: po-ai feat. Mirai Moriyama
Artist: Taisei Iwasaki
Vocals: Mirai Moriyama
Lyrics, composition and arrangement: Taisei Iwasaki
Digital release: August 20, 2026
Streaming link: https://flyingdog.lnk.to/po_ai
Included on: original soundtrack "THE GHOST IN THE SHELL O.S.T." (released September 9, 2026)
Official website for the TV anime "THE GHOST IN THE SHELL": https://www.theghostintheshell-anime.jp/
Ghost in the Shell global site: https://theghostintheshell.jp/
©2026 Shirow Masamune/KODANSHA/THE GHOST IN THE SHELL COMMITTEE
