January 16, 2013

Production I.G announces the production of Ghost in the Shell: Arise, the new chapter of the world million-selling franchise of Ghost in the Shell, originally created in 1989 by comic artist Shirow Masamune.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise, to be launched in 2013, will be directed by Kazuchika Kise (chief animator in both Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence movies) while the screenplay will be penned by award-winning novelist Tow Ubukata (Mardock Scramble, Le Chevalier d'Eon) and the music composed by Cornelius (Appleseed: Ex Machina). Shirow Masamune will also directly contribute to the project.
An official presentation with special guests will take place at the nicofarre event hall in Tokyo on February 12, 2013 and will be webcast live worldwide with simultaneous translation from 9:00 pm (Japan time) on Niconico, Bandai Channel and YouTube.

Official website (Japanese only):
http://kokaku-a.com/

About Ghost in the Shell
The graphic novel Ghost in the Shell, originally created by Shirow Masamune in 1989, was transposed into an animated feature film in 1995, instantly earning worldwide success and topping N. 1 of Billboard Magazine video sales chart in 1996, marking an unprecedented achievement for a Japanese animated production. The movie Ghost in the Shell, directed by Mamoru Oshii, further proved to have great influence on Hollywood creators, starting from the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix.

In 2004, Mamoru Oshii directed Innocence, the ideal sequel to the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie, that thanks to its introspective plot and visionary style received the honor to be the first Japanese animated feature film to be nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Festival de Cannes.

Starting from 2002, the Ghost in the Shell franchise was expanded into a TV series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, directed by Kenji Kamiyama. The show was certainly action-packed with high quality animation, but also featured political and social issues, and soon gained a huge following. Immediately after the first 26-episode series, a second season, entitled Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig, was aired in Japan and then in several countries in the world, for a total of 52 half-hour episodes that turned into a million seller in the home video market. In 2006, a new chapter was added to the Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. project, with a theatrical-quality direct-to-video feature film entitled Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society, again directed by Kenji Kamiyama.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise (2013) will constitute the highly anticipated fourth chapter in the franchise.

About the director: Kazuchika Kise
Born in Osaka in 1965. After graduating from high school, Kise enrolled an animation school, but quit after just four days to join Osaka-based studio Anime R. He then moved to Production I.G in the studio's early days. A natural talent, he became one of Mamoru Oshii's favourite artists, serving as animation supervisor in the two Patlabor movies (1989 and 1993), the groundbreaking Ghost in the Shell (1995) and its Palme d'Or-nominated follow up Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004). Other notably works include, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (1997), Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) xxxHOLiC - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2005), Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai (2009) and Blood-C: The Last Dark (2012). He made his directorial debut in 2011 with the short film, Drawer Hobs, that was selected at Sitges and SICAF film festivals. Currently head animator at Production I.G's Studio 2, Kise is commonly regarded as one of Japan's finest animation artists.

© Shirow Masamune · Production I.G/KODANSHA · GHOST IN THE SHELL ARISE COMMITTEE