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.

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.