Ghost in the Shell: Arise

Plot

The series takes place in the year 2027, where many people in developed countries have become cyborgs with prosthetic bodies. Primarily set in the fictional Japanese Newport City, the series follows a younger Motoko Kusanagi before the formation of Public Security Section 9. At the start of Arise she is a member of the federal 501 Organization, a group who employs advanced infiltration tactics and espionage in order to attack or neutralize enemy threats. The 501 Organization is also the legal owner of Kusanagi's prosthetic body, which is lent to her in exchange for her services to the group. This debt displeases her and causes a disparity between herself and her employer.

In Ghost Pain, a senior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Kurtz, assigns Kusanagi to a case involving a bomb that sets off in Newport. Along the way she is assisted by an official of Public Security, Daisuke Aramaki, along with ex-Ranger Batou, Detective Togusa of the Niihama Police, undercover investigator Paz and bomb specialist Borma. Throughout the film, Kusanagi is subjected to memory loss that inhibits her progress in the case. It is later revealed that she was implanted with false memories, a product of a failed "Ghost Hack" she had performed on the money-laundering conspirator Mamuro, which was infected with a memory virus. Once she realizes that the 501 Organization was involved with the scandal, she leaves the unit now in legal possession of her own prosthetic body. She is met by Aramaki, who proposes the formation of a new unit within Public Security.

In Ghost Whispers, a former soldier from the Qhardistani War named Kazuya Soga is being tried for "crimes against humanity" by the Japanese government. In order to prove his innocence, Soga sends his men to retrieve evidence of his innocence hidden somewhere in a web of information called "Pandora's Box". This team is led by the former Ranger Batou, who also employs intel officer Ishikawa and Borma as well as the rest of Soga's men. The Major is sent to investigate the matter and becomes subject to an all-out war between Public Security and Kazuya Soga. Along the way, she is allied with Paz from the previous movie as well an American Special Forces member named "VV". Series mainstay Saito is also featured in the film, but is shown to frequently change sides to the one with the greater pay. After the Major invades Soga's cyberspace, she discovers that he was affected by a memory-falsification virus that covered up the truth of what happened in the war, in which he indeed killed the refugees after they had attempted martyrdom on his team. When he learns the truth he decides to kill himself, but the virus he tries to upload to Pandora's Box is still being carried through by none other than VV who reveals herself to be an android. With the help of Batou, she is killed before she can complete the transfer and the battle ends. The Major promises Batou that he may be taken out of incarceration, but only if he decides to join her team.

Cast and characters

Arise features an original Japanese voice cast, with only one actor reprising their role from the Oshii film and Stand Alone Complex television anime series. Maaya Sakamoto replaces Atsuko Tanaka as the voice of Major Motoko Kusanagi, Sakamoto having previously voiced the Major as a child in both the film, and Stand Alone Complex series. Other changes to the cast include Kenichirou Matsuda as Batou, Tarusuke Shingaki as Togusa, Ikyuu Jyuku as Chief Daisuke Aramaki, Tomoyuki Dan as Ishikawa, Takuro Nakakuni as Saito, Yōji Ueda as Paz, and Kazuya Nakai as Borma. Miyuki Sawashiro provides the voice of the series' think tanks now called the Logicoma (ロジコマ, Rojikoma), short for Logistics Conveyer Machine (ロジスティックス・コンベイヤー・マシン, Rojisutikkusu Konbeiyā Mashin). The Logicoma also feature in anime shorts included on the Blu-ray releases titled Logicoma Beat (ロジコマ・ビート, Rojikoma Bīto).

New characters in the first episode include Kurtz (クルツ, Kurutsu), voiced by Mayumi Asano in Japanese and by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (the previous voice of the Major) in English, the head of the Army 501 Organization (陸軍５０１機関, Rikugun Go Maru Ichi Kikan), the firm who converted Motoko Kusanagi into a full cyborg and who Kusanagi would replace in the organization had she not joined Section 9; Raizo (ライゾー, Raizō), voiced by Takanori Hoshino, a combat cyborg for the 501 Organization that uses electricity as weapons; Ibachi (イバチ), voiced by Masahiro Mamiya, a combat cyborg for the 501 Organization skilled in bōjutsu and armed with hidden machine guns; Tsumugi (ツムギ), voiced by Kenji Nojima, a tactical cyborg for the 501 Organization that has a set of twins' cyberbrains in its head who always talk to each other; and Lieutenant colonel Mamuro (マムロ), voiced by Atsushi Miyauchi, the leader of the 501 Organization who raised Kusanagi but has disappeared, having had something to do with arms dealing.

Films

Each of the films are known as "borders", and have received national theatrical releases one month before the release of their Blu-ray and DVD versions. A recurring part of the films is the mysterious Fire Starter computer virus, as well as looking into the lives of Public Security Section 9's members before its formation.

The opening theme for the series is called "Ghost in the Shell: Arise", and is performed by both Salyu and Cornelius; the ending themes are different for each episode.

Manga

A manga original story titled Ghost in the Shell: Arise ~Sleepless Eye~ (攻殻機動隊ARISE～眠らない眼の男 Sleepless Eye～, Kōkaku Kidōtai ARISE ~Nemuranai Me no Otoko Sleepless Eye~, literally "The Man With Eyes That Do Not Sleep") began serialization in Kodansha's Young Magazine's April 2013 issue, released March 13, 2013, and ended serialization on August 26, 2013. The manga follows the story of how Batou and Kusanagi met during the civil war.

TV series

Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Alternative Architecture (officially abbreviated as Ghost in the Shell AAA) is a television broadcasting of the previously released film series alongside new content. It began airing in Japan on April 5, 2015, broadcasting from the Tokyo MX, KBS, SUN, TVA, HTB, OX, SBS, TVQ and BS11 networks. Funimation's subtitled localization of the series began on April 8, 2015, with the digital AAA releases being released under the same Ghost in the Shell: Arise listing for the original tetralogy, but labelled as television episodes to differentiate the two.

The opening theme is "Anata o tamotsu mono" by Maaya Sakamoto (who also plays the role of Major Kusanagi) and Cornelius.

Promotion

On September 19, 2013, Pacific Racing and Production I.G. collaborated on an Arise themed Porsche 911 GT3R model race car labelled the NAC Ghost in the Shell ARISE DR Porsche, which was used for the official Super GT auto race. It was discontinued in March 2014 and replaced with a Love Live! theme. From November 1 until December 31, 2013, a "Ghost in the Shell: Arise Airport AR Event" was held in many Japanese airports, with AR posters scattered around Haneda Airport, Ibaraki Airport and Fukuoka Airport for visitors to scan using an official app. A free admission special event titled "Ghost in the Shell LABO ~ Shinjuku Gitai" was held in Eastern Shinjuku on November 29 to November 30, 2013, where attendees received special promotional material designed after the prosthetic wiring in the series created by renowned makeup artist JIRO.

Releases

On June 14, 2013, Funimation announced that it had acquired the rights for the series for a North American release. Funimation released parts 1 and 2 on Blu-ray and DVD to North America on October 28, 2014. Netflix has parts 1 and 2 available for streaming in English and part 3 in Japanese audio with English subtitles in selected territories. On January 8, 2015, it was announced that Arise would be adapted into a "TV series" in the spring of 2015. This was later confirmed to be a recompilation of the first four films into a television format, with two original episodes, collectively titled Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Alternative Architecture (Ghost in the Shell AAA).

An original episode titled Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Pyrophoric Cult, was given a standalone home video release in Japan on August 26, 2015. Pyrophoric Cult has a runtime of 50 minutes, alongside 30 minutes of extra content on the disc. This was reduced and split in two for the AAA broadcasting. The plot involves the "Fire Starter" virus explored Arise previously, and introduces the new character Pyromania. The episode will have ties to the upcoming film Kōkaku Kidōtai Shin Gekijōban.

Reception

Overall reception of Ghost in the Shell: Arise has been largely positive. Online review aggregator website IMDb has combined overall audience scores for every episode out of 10, with Ghost Pain receiving a 7.3, Ghost Whispers receiving a 7.4, Ghost Tears receiving a 7.3 and Ghost Stands Alone receiving a 7.4. Initial reactions upon announcement of the series were mainly centered on the visual redesign of the cast, particularly Major Kusanagi.

Upon release of the first episode, Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku has called Arise "a worthy addition to Ghost in the Shell" and assured viewers that "the changes to the series are only skin-deep". However, he stated that the episode's themes are "things you have at least somewhat seen explored before in the other iterations of the franchise". Hugo Ozman of Twitch Film has stated similar opinions, calling Ghost Pain "interesting, but not spectacular".