The 4K remastered edition of Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell made its debut at select theaters in Japan, the United States and Canada on September 17th. The re-release marks the first time the film has been screened in the IMAX format. Bandai Namco is celebrating with the release of four new posters for the film, commissioned from a set of well-known artists to mark the occasion.
Created by Bustaskill, omao, Tsukimizu and Pop Team Epic’s AC-bu, the posters feature vastly different takes on the original theatrical release movie poster, depicting series protagonist Motoko Kusangi connected to a group of wires. The new posters will not be officially available for purchase, but Japanese distributor Bandai Namco Arts is giving away the posters via a contest available to Japanese residents. Fans will need to follow the @VSTORAGE on Twitter account and submit a picture of their ticket stub by Halloween to be entered into the contest.
Ghost in the Shell, directed by Mamoru Oshii, was originally released in Japanese theaters in 1995. Based on the original manga by Masamune Shirow, the cyberpunk anime cult classic takes place in a dystopian future society where cybernetic enhancements have become common place and the line between human and machine are becoming increasingly blurred. The story focuses on Major Motoko Kusanagi, an investigator in Japan’s cybercrimes division, who finds herself questioning what it means to be human in a world where memories can be digitally altered and a person’s “soul” can be moved between bodies with a simple download. Oshii’s movie was one of the first anime movies to be released in the United States with relatively few edits or changes to the source material. The film was acclaimed for its detailed animation, elaborate action choreography and existential themes. Ghost in the Shell is often credited alongside Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira as one of the anime works that helped establish an adult audience for the genre in the West.