''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and ...
media franchise based on the
seinen manga
is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Ma ...
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
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
volumes by
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...
, told the story of the fictional counter-cyberterrorist organization
Public Security Section 9, led by protagonist Major
Motoko Kusanagi, and is set in mid-21st century Japan.
Animation studio
Production I.G has produced several anime adaptations of the series. These include the
1995 film of the same name and its sequel, ''
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence''; the 2002 television series, ''
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'', and its 2020 follow-up, ''
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045''; and the ''
Ghost in the Shell: Arise''
original video animation (OVA) series. In addition, an American-produced
live-action film
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
was released on March 31, 2017.
Overview
Title
The original editor Koichi Yuri says: At first, ''Ghost in the Shell'' came from Shirow, but when Yuri asked "something more flashy", Shirow came up with "攻殻機動隊 ''Koukaku Kidou Tai (Shell Squad)''" for Yuri. But Shirow was attached to including "Ghost in the Shell" as well even if in smaller type.
Setting
Primarily set in the mid-twenty-first century in the fictional Japanese city of , otherwise known as , the manga and the many anime adaptations follow the members of
Public Security Section 9, a task-force consisting of various professionals skilled at solving and preventing crime, mostly with some sort of police background. 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
In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...
, with a fully prosthetic body enabling a person to become a
cyborg
A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. . The main character 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 her to 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
Literature
Original manga
The original ''Ghost in the Shell'' manga ran in Japan from April 1989 to November 1990 in
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...
's manga anthology ''
Young Magazine
is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at the adult male ( ''seinen'') demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the seco ...
'', and was released in a ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volume on October 5, 1991.
''Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface'' followed in 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'', and published by Kodansha on July 23, 2003.
Several art books have also been published for the manga.
Films
Animated films
Two animated films based on the original manga have been released, both directed by
Mamoru Oshii
is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including '' Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), '' Angel's Egg'' (1985) ...
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, in Japanese, would be released in 2015 promising to show the "further evolution
f 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, and a plot following the Arise continuity of the franchise.
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 premiered on June 20, 2015, in Japanese theaters.
[
]
Live-action film
In 2008, DreamWorks and producer Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
acquired the rights to a live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...
film adaptation of the original ''Ghost in the Shell'' manga. On January 24, 2014, Rupert Sanders was announced as director, with a screenplay by William Wheeler. In April 2016, the full cast was announced, which included Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
, Chin Han, Lasarus Ratuere
Lasarus Ratuere (born 30 June 1985) is an Australian actor. He is known for his portrayal of Ishikawa, a member of Section 9, in the DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures feature film adaptation ''Ghost in the Shell''.
Biography
Ratuere was born ...
and Kaori Momoi
is a Japanese actress.
Life and career
Momoi was born in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of 12, she traveled to London to study dance at the Royal Ballet Academy. After 3 years, she returned to Tokyo. She graduated from Japan's Bungakuza School of ...
, and Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
in the lead role; the casting of Johansson drew accusations of whitewashing. Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as ...
on the film began on location in Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
, on February 1, 2016. Filming wrapped in June 2016. ''Ghost in the Shell'' premiered in Tokyo on March 16, 2017, and was released in the United States on March 31, 2017, in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme ...
. It received mixed reviews, with praise for its visuals and Johansson's performance but criticism for its script and grossing a substantive box office.
Television
''Stand Alone Complex'' TV series, film and ONA
In 2002, ''Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'' premiered on Animax
, stylized as ANIMAX, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. The channel also dubbed other cartoons in Japanese language. A subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, it is headq ...
, 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. The primary storylines of both seasons 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
is a Japanese composer, arranger and Record producer, music producer best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime series, television series, live-action films, video games, and Television advertisement, advertisements. She was born in Se ...
.
Kodansha and Production I.G announced on April 7, 2017 that Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki would be co-directing a new ''Kōkaku Kidōtai'' anime production. On December 7, 2018, it was reported by Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
that they had acquired the worldwide streaming rights to the original net animation
An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...
(ONA) anime series, titled '' Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045'', and that it would premiere on April 23, 2020. The series will be in 3DCG and Sola Digital Arts will be collaborating with Production I.G on the project. It was later revealed that Ilya Kuvshinov
Ilya Kuvshinov (born 20 February 1990) is a Russian illustrator who created the character designs for '' Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045'' and ''The Wonderland'' (2019).
Early life
He is popular on Instagram, where he had 2 million followers as o ...
will handle character designs. It was stated that the new series will have two seasons of 12 episodes each. For the first season, the opening theme song music was “Fly with me” as performed by Daiki Tsuneta, while the ending was “Sustain++” as performed by Mili.
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''.
''Arise'' OVA, TV series and film
In 2013, a new iteration of the series titled '' Ghost in the Shell: Arise'' premiered, taking an original look at the ''Ghost in the Shell'' world, set before the original manga. It was released as a series of four original video animation
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...
(OVA) episodes (with limited theatrical releases) from 2013 to 2014, then recompiled as a 10-episode television series under the title of ''Kōkaku Kidōtai: Arise - Alternative Architecture''. An additional fifth OVA titled ''Pyrophoric Cult'', originally premiering in the ''Alternative Architecture'' broadcast as two original episodes, was released on August 26, 2015. Kazuchika Kise served as the chief director of the series, with Tow Ubukata as head writer. Cornelius was brought onto the project to compose the score for the series, with the Major's new voice actress Maaya Sakamoto Maaya may refer to:
* Maaya (given name)
Maaya (written: 真綾 or 真礼) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese singer-songwriter, actress and voice actress
*, Japanese actress and voice actress
*, ...
also providing vocals for certain tracks.
''Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie'', also known as ''Ghost in the Shell: Arise − The Movie'' or ''New Ghost in the Shell'', is a 2015 film directed by Kazuya Nomura that serves as a finale to the ''Ghost in the Shell: Arise'' story arc. The film is a continuation to the plot of the ''Pyrophoric Cult'' episode of ''Arise'', and ties up loose ends from that arc.
A manga adaptation was serialized in Kodansha's ''Young Magazine'', which started on March 13 and ended on August 26, 2013.
Video games
'' Ghost in the Shell'' was developed by Exact and released for the PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
on July 17, 1997, in Japan by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...
. It is a third-person shooter
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'e ...
featuring an original storyline where the character plays a rookie member of Section 9. The video game's soundtrack ''Megatech Body'' features various techno artists, such as Takkyu Ishino, Scan X or Mijk Van Dijk.
Several video games were also developed to tie into the ''Stand Alone Complex'' television series, in addition to a first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...
by Nexon and Neople titled '' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - First Assault Online'', released in 2016.
Legacy
''Ghost in the Shell'' influenced some prominent filmmakers. The Wachowskis
Lana Wachowski (born June 21, 1965, formerly known as Larry Wachowski) and Lilly Wachowski (born December 29, 1967, formerly known as Andy Wachowski) are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans ...
, creators of ''The Matrix
''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
'' and its sequels, showed it to producer Joel Silver
Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer.
Life and career
Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School i ...
, saying, "We wanna do that for real."Joel Silver
Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer.
Life and career
Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School i ...
, interviewed in "Making ''The Matrix''" featurette on ''The Matrix'' DVD. ''The Matrix'' series took several concepts from the film, including the Matrix digital rain, which was inspired by the opening credits of ''Ghost in the Shell'', and the way characters access the Matrix through holes in the back of their necks. Other parallels have been drawn to James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...
's ''Avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appear ...
'', Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
's '' A.I. Artificial Intelligence'', and Jonathan Mostow
Jonathan Mostow (born November 28, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed films such as '' Breakdown'', '' U-571'', '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', and ''Surrogates''.
Early life
Mostow was born ...
's ''Surrogates
''Surrogates'' is a 2009 American science fiction action film based on the 2005–2006 comic book series '' The Surrogates''. Directed by Jonathan Mostow, it stars Bruce Willis as Tom Greer, an FBI agent who ventures out into the real world to ...
''. James Cameron cited ''Ghost in the Shell'' as a source of inspiration, citing it as an influence on ''Avatar''.
Bungie
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones afte ...
's 2001 third-person action game '' Oni'' draws substantial inspiration from ''Ghost in the Shell'' setting and characters. ''Ghost in the Shell'' also influenced video games such as the ''Metal Gear Solid
is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces opera ...
'' series, ''Deus Ex
''Deus Ex'' is a series of role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technologies in a ...
'', and ''Cyberpunk 2077
''Cyberpunk 2077'' is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. Set in Night City, an open world set in the ''Cyberpunk'' universe, players assume the role of a customisable mercenary kn ...
''.
Notes
References
External links
*
Madman Entertainment's Australian distribution release site
*
{{Authority control
Artificial intelligence in fiction
Bandai Namco franchises
Brain–computer interfacing in fiction
Cybernetted society in fiction
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk anime and manga
Cyborgs in fiction
Existentialist anime and manga
Fiction about consciousness transfer
Fiction about memory erasure and alteration
Fiction about robots
IG Port franchises
Kodansha franchises
Philosophical anime and manga
Post-apocalyptic fiction
Postcyberpunk
Prosthetics in fiction
Transhumanism in fiction