Ghost in the Shell

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About

Ghost in The Shell is a Japanese multimedia franchise, first originating as a seinen manga series written by Masamune Shirow. The series has garnered much popularity, especially in the West, where it is credited as one of the first targets of Western anime fandom. In addition to sanctioned films, television shows, and manga, the series has spawned a number of parodies and fan works.

Premise

The setting of Ghost in the Shell is a post-World War IV Japan where mankind and machines have become indistinguishable, creating a race of cyborgs. The cyborg bodies that hold a person's mind are called their "shells", while the mind and the person's state of self are referred to as the "ghost." The plot focuses around Major Motoko Kusanagi and the Public Security Section 9 as they work to take down cyber-terrorists that could potentially lead to the downfall of Japan or even the world.

History

Ghost in The Shell first began as a seinen manga series written by mangaka (manga author and artist) Masamune Shirow and published in Kodansha's Young Magazine from April 1989 to November 1990. A sequel manga, titled Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface was also created, running from September 1991 to August 1997. This was later adapted into a successful 1995 anime movie, directed by Mamoru Oshii and animated by by Production IG, also known for their work on series such as Psycho-Pass and Guilty Crown. A sequel movie, titled Ghost in The Shell 2: Innocence premiered on September 17th, 2004.

As well as movies, a number of TV shows were also made based off the Ghost in The Shell franchise. The first of these shows, titled Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex first aired from October 1st, 2002 to October 1st, 2003, running for 26 episodes, followed by another 26-episode sequel series titled Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG which ran from January 1st, 2004 to January 8th, 2005. A second adaptation, titled Ghost in the Shell: Arise – Alternative Architecture was also created, first running for five 50-minute original video animations from July 22nd, 2013 to August 26th, 2015 before being compiled into a 10-episode TV anime from April 5th to June 14th, 2015.

Online Relevance

On Tumblr the franchise is tagged under several tags, including "GitS" and "Ghost in the Shell".^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The Facebook fan page for the first movie has over 218,000 likes.^[5] On YouTube, the official trailer for the original film, released by Starz Media on their channel on October 31st, 2006, has over 1.5 million views as of July 2015 (shown below).

The full versions of the opening themes for both Stand Alone Complex and Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig have been uploaded numerous times. The most viewed versions of each song each have over 12.6 million views and over 2.3 million views respectively (both shown below).

Fandom

The franchise has a large following online both in and outside of the larger anime community. On Tumblr there are various blogs dedicated to the franchise, such as Fuck Yeah Kusanagi,^[6] G I T S,^[7] Ghost on the Net^[8] as well as many others.^[9] On Reddit the Ghost in the Shell subreddit has over 3,000 readers.^[10] The franchise also has extesive followings on sites such as DeviantArt and Fanpop.^[11] ^[12]

On April 20th, 2006, YouTuber lawala uploaded a mashup of clips from Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix, the Animatrix as well as an original edit by fellow YouTuber Alpha Omega Productions, which has garnered almost half a million views since its release as of July 2015 (shown below).

On December 15th, 2013 YouTuber CreativeStation uploaded a speed art creation of Ghost in the Shell protagonist Makoto Kusanagi (shown below).

As of July 2015, there are around 19,500 posts tagged under "Ghost in the Shell" on DeviantArt and around 23,200 for "GitS".^[13]^[14]

Ghost In The Shell Opening Parodies

Ghost in the Shell Opening Parodies refer to a series of parody videos for the opening movie of a Japanese TV anime series Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. In addition to the video the term also encompasses the edits of an iconic pose taken by characters near the beginning of the opening known as the "GitS Pose".

The Laughing Man

The Laughing Man is the main antagonist of Stand Alone Complex, inspired by the short story of the same name by J. D. Salinger. The character, especially his signature logo, is used online as a symbol of defying authority, similar to the Guy Fawkes mask. The Laughing Man Logo has also been the source of numerous parodies.