September 28, 2007

Kenji Kamiyama's first feature length directorial effort, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society won the Packaged Work Award at the 12th Animation Kobe, the event created to promote animation and other visual arts in Japan by awarding excellence in animation achievements. The 12th Annual Animation Kobe event will hold an awards ceremony on November 4 in the city of Kobe.

NewType Group Chief Editor and member of the jury Kenji Yano motivated the award as follows:
"The Ghost in the Shell franchise includes the original manga, feature films and TV series, all realized by different creators in quite different expressive styles. Among them, Solid State Society undoubtedly represents a tidemark, and a turning point at the same time.
The original comic and the two theatrical movies that preceded Stand Alone Complex presented strong authorial commitment. But Solid State Society, as a feature-length new chapter from the story told in the two TV series, maintains the distance from its predecessors, and in raising a challenging theme such as 'What happens to Section 9 after Major Motoko Kusanagi left?', it confirms that the creative staff behind this title is actively molding the original material both ab intra and ab extra.
Thinking about it, the Stand Alone Complex series succeeded in redefining the concept of 'youth', certainly one of Japanese animation's central themes, by shedding light on it from a completely different side.
Being an extension from the TV series, Solid State Society has definitely succeeded in pioneering new potentials in animation, while remaining, of course, a highly enjoyable, action-packed, thought-provoking entertaining film."

In the past editions, the following I.G works and creators were awarded at Kobe Animation: Ghost in the Shell (Theatrical Film Award 1996) Hiroyuki Okiura (Individual Award 2000 for his directorial debut in Jin-Roh), Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Individual Award 2001 for Blood: The Last Vampire), Kenji Kamiyama (Individual Award 2004 for Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG) and Innocence (Theatrical Film Award 2004).

Animation Kobe official website:
http://www.anime-kobe.jp/

© 2006 Shirow Masamune - Production I.G/KODANSHA