Ghost in the Shell (æ"»æ®»æ©Ÿå‹•éšŠ, KÅkaku KidÅtai, literally "Mobile Armored Riot Police") is a Japanese media franchise originally published as a seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of The Ghost in the Shell, and later published as its own tankÅbon volumes by Kodansha, told the story of the fictional counter-cyberterrorist organization Public Security Section 9, led by protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi, in the mid 21st century of Japan.
Animation studio Production I.G has produced several different anime adaptations of Ghost in the Shell, starting with the 1995 film of the same name, telling the story of Section 9's investigation of the Puppet Master. The television series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex followed in 2002, telling an alternate story from the manga and first film, featuring Section 9's investigations of government corruption in the Laughing Man and Individual Eleven incidents. The year 2013 saw the start of the Ghost in the Shell: Arise film series, consisting of four films through mid-2014. An upcoming animated feature film by most of the Arise staff, tentatively titled Ghost in the Shell, is set for release in 2015.
Title
Shirow has stated that he had always wanted the title of his manga to be "GHOST IN THE SHELL", even in Japan, but his original publishers preferred KÅkaku KidÅtai (æ"»æ®»æ©Ÿå‹•éšŠ?). He had chosen "Ghost in the Shell" in homage to Arthur Koestler's The Ghost in the Machine, from which he also drew inspiration.
Setting
Primarily set in the mid-twenty-first century in the fictional Japanese city of Niihama, Niihama Prefecture (新浜県新浜市, Niihama-ken Niihama-shi), otherwise known as New Port City (ニューãƒãƒ¼ãƒˆã‚·ãƒ†ã‚£, NyÅ« PÅto Shiti), the manga and the many anime adaptations follow the members of Public Security Section 9, a special-operations task-force made up of former military officers and police detectives. Political intrigue and counter-terrorism operations are standard fare for Section 9, but the various actions of corrupt officials, companies, and cyber-criminals in each scenario are unique and require the diverse skills of Section 9's staff to prevent a series of incidents from escalating.
In this post-cyberpunk iteration of a possible future, computer technology has advanced to the point that many members of the public possess cyberbrains, technology that allows them to interface their biological brain with various networks. The level of cyberization varies from simple minimal interfaces to almost complete replacement of the brain with cybernetic parts, in cases of severe trauma. This can also be combined with various levels of prostheses, with a fully prosthetic body enabling a person to become a cyborg. The heroine of Ghost in the Shell, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is such a cyborg, having had a terrible accident befall her as a child that ultimately required that she use a full-body prosthesis to house her cyberbrain. This high level of cyberization, however, opens the brain up to attacks from highly skilled hackers, with the most dangerous being those who will hack a person to bend to their whims.
Media
Original manga
The original Ghost in the Shell manga ran in Japan from April 1989 to November 1990 in Kodansha's manga anthology Young Magazine, and was released in a tankobon volume on October 5, 1991. Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface followed 1997 for 9 issues in Young Magazine, and was collected in the Ghost in the Shell: Solid Box on December 1, 2000. Four stories from Man-Machine Interface that were not released in tankobon format from previous releases were later collected in Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor, serving as an interquel in the series, and was published by Kodansha on July 23, 2003. Several art books have also been published for the manga.
Animated films
Two animated films based on the original manga have been released, both directed by Mamoru Oshii and animated by Production I.G. Ghost in the Shell was released in 1995 and follows the "Puppet Master" storyline from the manga. It was re-released in 2008 as Ghost in the Shell 2.0 with new audio and updated 3D computer graphics in certain scenes. Innocence, otherwise known as Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, was released in 2004, with its story based on a chapter from the first manga.
On September 5, 2014, it was revealed by Production I.G. that a new Ghost in the Shell animated film, currently titled KÅkaku KidÅtai Shin GekijÅban (æ"»æ®»æ©Ÿå‹•éšŠ æ–°åŠ‡å ´ç‰ˆ) in Japanese, will be released in 2015 promising to show the "further evolution [of the series]". On January 8, 2015, a short teaser trailer was revealed for the project unveiling a redesigned Major more closely resembling her appearance from the older films. The trailer listed Kazuya Nomura as the director, Kazuchika Kise as the general director and character designer, Toru Okubo as the animation director, Tow Ubukata as the screenplay writer and Cornelius as the composer. The film is going to premiere in the early summer of 2015 in Japanese theaters.
Video games
Ghost in the Shell was developed by Exact and released for the PlayStation on July 17, 1997, in Japan by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is a third-person shooter featuring an original storyline where the character plays a rookie member of Section 9. The video game's soundtrack Megatech Body features various electronica artists.
Several video games were also developed to tie into the Stand Alone Complex television series, in addition to a planned MMORPG by Nexon and Neople titled Ghost in the Shell Online (also known as Ghost in the Shell: First Connection), set to be released in 2015.
Stand Alone Complex TV series
In 2002, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex premiered on Animax, presenting a new telling of Ghost in the Shell independent from the original manga, focusing on Section 9's investigation of the Laughing Man hacker. It was followed in 2004 by a second season titled Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG, which focused on the Individual Eleven terrorist group. Both seasons' primary storylines were compressed into OVAs broadcast as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex The Laughing Man in 2005 and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Individual Eleven in 2006. Also in 2006, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society, featuring Section 9's confrontation with a hacker known as the Puppeteer, was broadcast, serving as a finale to the anime series. The extensive score for the series and its films was composed by Yoko Kanno.
In addition to the anime, a series of published books, two separate manga adaptations, and several video games for consoles and mobile phones have been released for Stand Alone Complex.
Live-action film adaptation
In 2008, DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg acquired the rights to produce a live-action film adaptation of the original manga. Avi Arad and Steven Paul were later confirmed as producers, with Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to write the screenplay. In October, 2009, it was announced that Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander, Shutter Island) had replaced Moss as writer. On January 24, 2014, it was reported that Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) will direct the film, with a screenplay by William Wheeler (The Hoax, The Reluctant Fundamentalist). On September 3, 2014, Margot Robbie was in early talks for the lead role, but by October 16, 2014, the lead role was instead offered to Scarlett Johansson. On January 5, 2015, Variety confirmed that Johansson would star in the film. The film is scheduled to be released by Touchstone Pictures on April 14, 2017.
Arise OVA series
Ghost in the Shell: Arise is another animated iteration that takes place in yet another alternate setting, set before the original manga. It was released as a series of OVAs (with limited theatrical releases), with Kazuchika Kise as chief director and Tow Ubukata as head writer. Cornelius was brought onto the project to compose the score for the OVAs. A manga adaptation began serialization in Kodansha's Young Magazine '​s April 2013 issue, released March 13, 2013.
Notes
References
External links
- Production I.G. official site
- Madman Entertainment's Australian distribution release site
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