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 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 with the release of the first two episodes.

The third episode of the four-part series is set to be released on June 28, 2014.

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 Kōkaku Kidōtai. 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, otherwise known as New Port City, 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 Ghost in the Shell originally ran from April 1989 to November 1990 in Kodansha's

manga anthology Young Magazine, and was released in tankobon format on October 2, 1991. Ghost

in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface ran in Young Magazine from September 1991 to August

1997. Four chapters that were not released in tankobon format from previous releases

were later collected into a single volume titled Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error

Processor serving as an interquel. The manga was published on July 23, 2003 by Kodansha.

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 Man-Machine Interface. 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. Live-action adaptation

In 2008, DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg acquired the rights to produce a live-action film adaptation

of the original manga. Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Steven Paul were later confirmed as producers,

with Jamie Moss to write the screenplay. In October, 2009, it was announced that Laeta

Kalogridis had replaced Moss as writer. On January 24, 2014, it was reported that Rupert

Sanders will direct the film, with a screenplay by William Wheeler.

Stand Alone Complex

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. An MMORPG has also been in development

for several years. Arise

Ghost in the Shell: Arise is another animated iteration that takes place in yet another

alternate setting, set before the original manga. It is being released as a series of

OVAs, 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 Madman Entertainment's Australian distribution

release site