New Arise-Helmed Ghost in The Shell Movie Announced for Summer 2015

The Ghost in the Shell news that's most been on everyone's lips lately is the announcement of Scarlet Johansson's leading role in the American adaptation directed by Rupert Sanders. Regardless on where you stand on the decision, take heart; we'll see more of Major Kusanagi and her counter-terrorist cohorts sooner than we might have thought. A new feature film tentatively titled 'Ghost in the Shell 2015' has been announced for release early this summer, produced by the team behind the Arise prequel tetralogy.



The first key visual for the film (shown above) features series protagonist Motoko Kusanagi in a pose typical for the franchise; The gorgeous technomancing cyborg warrior staring defiantly from behind a nest of wires and holographic overlays. To her left and right are near-identical prosthetic host bodies suspended in a ceaseless row of docking stations. What could it possibly mean? Will Motoko have to fight off duplicates of herself?

I thought that Arise was a serviceable re-imagining of the franchise's long-established relationships and depictions. I'm excited to see what Kazuchika Kise and Project I.G. bring to the table this time.

Ghost in the Shell Online May Be The 'GITS' Game That We've Always Wanted

Masamune Shirow's Ghost in Shell series has had a rich history of video-game adaptations with diminishing returns dating back all the way to 1997. This all may change (and oh god I hope it does) with the announcement of Studio I.G. and Nexon's Ghost in the Shell Online First Connection, a free-to-play online FPS currently scheduled for a closed beta sometime in 2015. The title is currently only scheduled for release in Nexon's home country of South Korea, but I'm crossing my fingers hard that it'll make its way stateside some day.

Aside from a number of "spiritual contemporaries" in way of Bungie's 2001 ONI and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, not to mention games like Blacklight: Retribution and the exquisite tactical mod-shooter NeoTokyo°,  no developer seems to be quite willing or able to give the venerable cyberpunk cornerstone the game that its premise so richly deserves. First Connection's first trailer looks like a step in the right direction. That recreation of Mamoru Oshii's iconic opening shot fills me with the hope that even if this doesn't turn out to be the game that fans of the franchise want it to be, it may in some way lead to it down the line.

Project 2501: An Incredible Homage To "Ghost In The Shell"

Illustration juggernaut Ash Thorp finally unveiled Project 2501, a tribute to Mamoru Oshii's groundbreaking 1995 adaptation of Shirow Masamune's classic cyberpunk manga. Project 2501 being a reference to the original antagonist of Ghost In The Shell, an aggressive artifical AI that escapes the confines of the bureau that created it, Section 6. While the project began as a visual tribute by Ash Thorp to some of the iconic imagery present in the timeless opening of the 1995 feature, his take ultimately attracted a worlwide collective of artists from various mediums eager to contribute to what a remake of the movie would look like.

While I must admit that I was expecting an actual CG rendered remake of the 'creation,' opening due to the way it was teased- It turns out that Ash and his team actually did an entire series of visual pre-production pieces instead. Proof of concept shots, CG renders, posters with an intent focus on the iconic opening sequence of the 1995 film. In this groundbreaking sequence, we witness Colonel Motoko being created to a haunting accompaniment of a vocal track featuring the ancient Japanese Yamato language (View below).



What Ash Thorp and his team did was really awesome, creating a series of tribute images as to what a 'respectful' western adaptation of the movie might look like. I absolutely loved looking through all the imagery created by the likes of Thorp, Furio Tedeschi, Maciej Kujiara and many other talented artists. Here's to hoping they find a way to actually recreate the entire sequence via crowdfunding, or expand this tribute project into something much larger sometime soon. You can check out a collection of stills and illustrations from the project after the break.

A respectful homage to Shirow Masamune’s manga and Mamoru Oshii’s seminal film Ghost in the Shell, this is a modernized direction that still tries to stays true to the original creator’s vision. What started as a photo tribute directed by Ash Thorp and Tim Tadder (photography), soon became a worldwide collaboration of more than 20 artists from around the world, with each and everyone coming together to help breath life into the project, resulting in the artistic interpretation you see below.

The Making of Ghost in the Shell Arise

If you've yet to check out the first OVA for Ghost in the Shell: Arise then I highly suggest you drop what you're doing and get to watching. The animation for the four-part OVA is by far the best the series has ever provided, and the fresh take on Motoko Kusanagi's early life is perfect. 

To celebrate the upcoming second part of the series, this short making of video was put together. While not as informative in terms of their inner-workings, it gives some great insight on the studio's animation process. The entire video is rather mesmerizing and helps build the hype for future entries, November 30th can't get here any quicker. 

Enjoy The First 9 Minutes of Ghost In The Shell Arise

We're a mere three days away from the release of the first film of four in the Ghost in the Shell: Arise series. While a bit of controversy has stirred in the anime community over the redesign of characters (mostly Kusanagi) I couldn't be more excited to get more GITS action in my life. To celebrate the upcoming release the official Ghost in the Shell: Arise channel has posted the first 9 minutes from the film, Ghost Pain. The series is sporting some seriously sexy animation, which at this point should be expected from Production I.G.

The first films title, Ghost Pain is eerily similar to the subtitle of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which I'd attribute to taking place early in Major Kusanagi's career. I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say I'll be expecting a more in-depth look into Kusanagi's transition into a cyborg, perhaps a little phantom pain should be expected.

Unfortunately, the above subtitled version has only been posted in measly 480p (despite the subtitles being phenomenal), so if you're wanting to get the full 1080p experience, Sony's Playstation channel has been kind enough to post a non-subtitled version on their channel found below. What do you think of Motoko's redesign? I'm still confused with what all the fuss is about, I personally think it's an awesome alternate direction.

Ghost In The Shell - ARISE Trailer

Production I.G. and Toho Animation bring us our first trailer for Arise, featuring the humble beginnings of Motoko Kusanagi and her team in this pseudo-reboot/prequel series prior to the formation of the secretive Public Security Section 9 team present in all of Masamume Shirow's Ghost In The Shell entries. The series will be released in four 50-minute installments, with Ghost Pain coming out on June 22 in Japan under the helm of new director Kize Kazuchika, formerly a key animator on the series.

Despite a lot of negative backlash to her redesign, I'm personally excited to see a younger, more naive version of Motoko, considering how stoic she's typically been portrayed as in all the other series. In the long run I think it'll give long time fans a more fleshed out understanding of the cyborg heroine while drawing in altogether new audiences.

'Set in the year 2027, a year following the end of the non-nuclear World War IV. A bomb has gone off in Newport City, killing a major arms dealer who may have ties with the mysterious 501 Organization. Public Security official Daisuke Aramaki hires full-body cyber prosthesis user and hacker extraordinaire Motoko Kusanagi to investigate.

On the case with her are 'Sleepless Eye' Batou who believes Kusanagi is a criminal, Niihama Prefecture Detective Togusa who is investigating a series of prostitute murders he believes are related to the incident, and Lieutenant Colonel Kurtz of the 501 Organization who also wishes to keep an eye on Kusanagi. A recurring part of the films will be the mysterous Fire Starter computer virus, as well as looking into the lives of Batou and Togusa before the formation of Public Security Section 9.'

Ghost in the Shell Gets The FPS Treatment

(Via)

Earlier yesterday the first public trailer for Ghost in the Shell ARISE hit the web and with four fifty-minute episodes, it's certain to be quite a doozy (wow, that word pained me to type). As fans wait patiently to find out whether or not the new chief director, Kazuchika Kise will provide another amazing entry into the Ghost in the Shell universe, a second announcement will give them even more to chew on. During the Production I.G. presentation, South Korean developer, Nexon, announced it's work on an upcoming online FPS set in Masamune Shirow's universe. Whether or not this is actually good news is yet to be decided, but judging from Nexon's past work it could go either way.

I'll definitely be first to admit that I'm skeptical with Nexon, Ghost in the Shell is a tricky IP and I'm not quite sure Nexon will find the talent to do the series justice. With the half-assed F2P FPS Combat Arms it's hard to imagine this turning out well, but I'll hold my judgements. The game has been described to emphasize heavily on hacking and will allow players to customize their body, talk about vague.

Other than the fantastic concept art released, all we know is the game is set for an early 2014 release for Japan which means we'll most likely see this title localized never. For a few more pieces from the games announcement hit the jump, the art is definitely fantastic.

Ghost In The Shell ARISE Trailer

Production I.G. is back and this time with something that fans have been waiting for quite some time. Rumblings have hinted towards a new Ghost in the Shell series for a while but it looks like the rumors are finally becaming a reality. Today, during Production I.G.'s press conference the first trailer for Ghost in the Shell ARISE was released, showcasing some incredible animation. The OVA series follows series lead, Motoko Kusanagi, and will be released in four separate fifty-minute episodes. As a huge Ghost in the Shell and Production I.G. fan I can't wait, it's been a long time coming.