Introduction
Production I.G and Shirow Masamune, the team that brought you Ghost in the Shell present Appleseed XIII, a 3DCG animation project.

Based on the original graphic novel Appleseed created by Shirow Masamune (Ghost in the Shell, Vexille), the story follows the exploits of the ES.W.A.T. special forces member Deunan Knute and her combat cyborg colleague Briareos at the city of Olympus after World War V. Though keeping Shirow's story setting and characters, Appleseed XIII features a completely original story plot, supervised by Shirow himself and scripted by Junichi Fujisaku, one of the main scriptwriters in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The project is directed by Takayuki Hamana (The Witch and the Beast).

Appleseed XIII was released in Japan as a made-for-video 13-episode series and two theatrical feature films, Appleseed XIII: Tartaros (released on June 13th, 2011) and Appleseed XIII: Ouranos (released on October 24th, 2011).

Story
Following World War V, a global-scale conflict fought with non-nuclear weapons that almost halved the earth's population, the city-nation of Olympus stands as a beacon of hope in a world of chaos. The utopian metropolis is governed by Gaia, a vast artificial intelligence, and administered by genetically engineered humanoids known as bioroids.

Although Olympus seems like a peaceful city on the surface, racial (human vs. bioroids vs. cyborgs), religious, and political conflicts lurk underneath -threatening to overturn the delicately balanced peace of this so-called utopia.

Deunan, a young female special agent, and Briareos, a veteran cyborg soldier, are both partners and lovers, as well as members of ES.W.A.T., the elite special forces serving Olympus. They are deployed wherever trouble strikes. Conspiracy, terrorism, deadly military weapons technology, greedy corporations, and power-hungry politicians -these are just some of the threats that Deunan and Briareos must contend with as they fight to protect Olympus and conduct their personal quest to find Eden in the wasteland.

As Olympus is carrying forward the Ark Project, aimed to preserve the future of human kind under bioroids' supervision, the Human Liberation Front is strongly opposing the plan and the very existence of the bioroids. The Front is supported by a radical fringe known as the Argonauts, a terrorist group hiding inside a legendary self-propelled city-fortress. But very little is known about the Argonauts, and their leader, Alcides is a man who reportedly died when the maritime industrial nation of Poseidon bombed the Argonauts' fortress, 20 years ago...

Main Staff
Original Story: Shirow Masamune (Ghost in the Shell, Vexille)
Screenplay: Junichi Fujisaku (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex)
Director: Takayuki Hamana (The Witch and the Beast, Library War)
Character Designer: Takayuki Goto (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex)
Mechanical Designer: Atsushi Takeuchi (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed: Ex-Machina)
Background Art: Bihou (Oblivion Island)

official website (Japanese only):
http://www.appleseed13.jp/

© 2011 Shirow Masamune / Seishinsha - APPLESEED XIII Project