MANGA > Ghost in the Shell 2: English Release

[KOS-MOS]

I'll just cut-n-paste the article:

A manga legend gets its second installment beginning in October when Dark Horse debuts the first English edition of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface, a 12-issue series re-presenting the original Japanese series first presented in Young Magazine.
The serialized Japanese version began in 1991, and according to reprint editor Chris Warner, Dark Horse has been basically working on it since then. "Since the serialization ended, we've been waiting for several years while Shirow finished the story to his satisfaction: he added well over a hundred pages - mostly in full digital color with many ultra-realistic 3-D elements - to the original serialization."

The collected Ghost in the Shell 2 was first published in 2001 in Japan in both hardcover format (import copies of which sold out quickly at last year's San Diego Comic-Con International) which featured several scenes that didn't appear in the later Japanese softcover due to their explicit content. The content will not appear in Dark Horse's American serialized version at Shirow's request.

Originally, Dark Horse had hoped to publish Ghost in the Shell 2 as a miniseries, and then as two hardcover versions - one, collecting the individual issues as printed, and an "international" edition, with the explicit pages included, and ultimately, a softcover. According to Studio Proteus, which is translating and adapting the manga series for Dark Horse, Shirow is now uncertain about the publication of an English "adult" version.

According to Shirow (via Dark Horse), the story is a follow-up of the themes of the original Ghost in the Shell. "It is basically additional commentary on elements such as the 'network' and 'artificial intelligence' that appeared in Ghost in the Shell I" Shirow said.

Warner went on to summarize the set up for the story: "The entire story takes place on March 6, 2035. Four years previously, as depicted in Ghost in the Shell I, Motoko Kusanagi, of Public Security's Section 9, fused with an intelligent lifeform or A.I. known as the 'Puppeteer.'

"A complex and mysterious entity titled Motoko Aramaki, who has fused with multiple other entities, is central to the story,"Warner continued. "She is a hyper-advanced cyborg, partly transcending the physical world and existing in a virtual world of networks, a fusion of multiple identities. She works as a counter-terrorist net security expert, heading the investigative department of the giant multi-national, Poseidon Industrial. She deploys what are called 'decots,' - decoy robots, which are remotely controlled prosthetic humanoid bodies, or surrogates, collectively "Motoko," to a variety of places in the world, and must solve a series of strange incidents, such as an attack by pirates, and the slaughter of pigs bred for human organs. In the process the world she inhabits becomes ever more complex and mysterious.

"In the background, Tamaki Tamai, a psychic investigator from the Channeling Agency, has been commissioned to investigate strange changes in the temporal universe, brought about by two forces, one represented by the teachings of a professor named Rahampol, and the other by the complex, evolving entity known as 'Motoko.' From this world, the story morphs into the cyber universe and the realm of the cosmos, and 'Motoko' must deal with confrontations between other intelligent entities such as Antares and Spica, who may or may not have derived from Motoko.

"Man-Machine Interface is Shirow's most ambitious and complex story yet, with deep forays into philosophy and the meaning of artificial life, intelligence, and existence."

Shirow personally supervised the Westernization of the Dark Horse edition of his work, which has a high level of anticipation in the American manga market. "He's been working on this for a decade, incorporating state-of-the art digital techniques never-before seen in comics, and his previous work continues to grow in popularity and influence," Warner said.

And while Dark Horse isn't waiting for the series to be finished in Japan, Warner said that producing the entire trade at one time isn't a feasible alternative for the publisher. "The production/translation time required for this book is incredibly extensive, far more so than any other manga we've ever published," Warner said. "Releasing the book monthly allows us to start getting the material out to Shirow's fans much sooner."

Ghost in the Shell 2 will run 12 issues. Issue #1 will be 40 pages and retail for $4.99, while the remaining issues will be 32 pages, and retail for $3.50. The series will be in full color.

[dudemqnguy]

My guess is GITS is a precursor to Appleseed. We only see perfectly human-like full body cyborgs in the very last chapters of Appleseed, though, and they aren't included in the translated compilations by Darkhorse comics, but are in the 'Appleseed Hypernotes' book.

[Otaru Mamiya]

My guess is GITS is a precursor to Appleseed. We only see perfectly human-like full body cyborgs in the very last chapters of Appleseed, though, and they aren't included in the translated compilations by Darkhorse comics, but are in the 'Appleseed Hypernotes' book.

I'm pretty sure that the two series aren't related (aside from the author/artist). The Ghost in the Shell graphic novel dates the events from March 2029 through September 2030 while Appleseed appears to take place on a post-apocalyptic earth. I'm fairly sure that Appleseed's publishing date predates GITS too.

[dudemqnguy]

The Ghost in the Shell graphic novel dates the events from March 2029 through September 2030 while Appleseed appears to take place on a post-apocalyptic earth. I'm fairly sure that Appleseed's publishing date predates GITS too.

Correct on both counts, but let's not let logic and linear continuity stand in the way of a wild-ass guess. It's so limiting. I think they also have the SEBURO brand of firearms as a common element too. ICBW though. My opinion is that Shirow can't resist mixing his stories together on at least one level or another. He's always including little cameo appearances by characters from his other stories - Usually in crowd scenes.

The 'Appleseed' manga pre-dates GITS hugely: I remember discovering it when I was still in Highschool - '85-'86.

yes, pity me for i am aged and decrepit...