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GitS Sequel and Appleseed Remake Are Coming

Posted by michael on Thu Feb 26, 2004 08:41 AM
from the pretty-colors dept.
LocusMote writes "Masamune Shirow, the creative genius behind the manga and anime Ghost in the Shell , has a few new irons fresh from the fire. One of his earlier manga, Appleseed, already exists as a rather disappointing television quality anime. Shirow thought so too, apparently. He went back to the original manga storyline, blew off the dust, and has produced a beautiful new all-CG Appleseed which hits the Japanese theaters in April. (Quicktime required) Oh yeah, there's a Ghost in the Shell sequel in the pipeline, too, called Innocence ... w00t!" Beautiful.
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  • Well... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tuxedo Jack (648130) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:42AM (#8396553)
    (http://www.tuxedojack.com/)
    The more Shirow we can get, the better. The art's gorgeous, and there's nothing like freaking out people with pictures from GitS.
    • Re:Well... by gaijin99 (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @06:51PM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • Lesbians = Ratings (Score:5, Funny)

    by bludstone (103539) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:44AM (#8396582)
    Because everyone loves cyborg lesbians!

    Hey, I know I do.
  • News? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by caitsith01 (606117) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:47AM (#8396599)
    (http://blog.intelligentdesign.com.au/ | Last Journal: Thursday March 11 2004, @05:32AM)
    Um... the Ghost in the Shell sequel has been known about for quite some time now.... am I missing something here? Not really news, is it?

    Nonetheless, it looks completely awesome, the trailer alone has some of the coolest 2D/3D hybrid animation I've seen.
    • Re:News? by selderrr (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:02AM
      • Re:News? by BJH (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:05AM
        • Re:News? by spiny (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:07AM
          • Re:News? by BJH (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:12AM
          • Re:News? by proj_2501 (Score:3) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:35AM
      • Re:News? by Squozen (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:32AM
        • Re:News? by caitsith01 (Score:3) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:37AM
          • Re:News? by selderrr (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:20AM
            • Re:News? by Moofie (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @11:54AM
            • Re:News? by radish (Score:3) Thursday February 26 2004, @01:02PM
      • Re:News? by escallywag (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:30AM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:News? by Mac Degger (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @11:54AM
    • Re:News? by peter_gzowski (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:38AM
      • Re:News? by Omega996 (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @11:58AM
        • Re:News? by Zugok (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:55PM
    • Re:News? by Josuah (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @08:42PM
  • too bad (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by sageo (681426) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:47AM (#8396601)
    GitS TV was awful...... Innocence sure is pretty though.
    • Re:too bad by flatface (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @08:53AM
      • Re:too bad by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:02AM
    • Re:too bad by DigitumDei (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:02AM
      • Re:too bad by M1FCJ (Score:3) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:17AM
      • Re:too bad by Mysticalfruit (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:57AM
        • Re:too bad by Halthar (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @12:02PM
    • whaa??? by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:06AM
    • Re:too bad by Rakshasa Taisab (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:22AM
    • Re:too bad by cfuse (Score:1) Friday February 27 2004, @10:00AM
  • Fantastic! (Score:3, Funny)

    by aanand (705284) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:48AM (#8396604)
    (http://www.extra-life.org.uk/)
    A Ghost in the Shell sequel! I hope this one pushes back the boundaries of animation as much as the first one did! Dude, that film was revolutionary! It had guns and everything! Even James Cameron liked it!
  • Release date? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by cmsnell (248417) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:49AM (#8396613)
    Does anyone know when (or if) the GitS:Stand Alone Complex series will get released in the States? I loved the fansubs, but I'd like to buy some DVDs.

    Any truth to the rumors that Innocence will focus more on Batou as the main character? And is Bandai planning on bringing that over here, or will I have to settle for fansubs on that one also?
  • wha? (Score:1)

    by Digitus1337 (671442) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:49AM (#8396615)
    But who is the laughing man?!?
  • I no longer believe (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kahei (466208) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:51AM (#8396623)
    (http://www.hwacha.net/)

    I was a real believer in Shirow during, about, the early days of Appleseed, but he never really delivered... just degenerated into pin-ups and obsessing over types of weapon...

    I guess there's always a new generation ready to look at cyborg lesbians, though :)

  • Matrix was clearly ripped off Ghost in the Shell [geocities.com].. so will we soon get a new matrix sequel ripped off innocence... i wonder?
    • Acutally... by HarveyBirdman (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:41AM
      • Re:Acutally... by John Harrison (Score:3) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:46AM
        • Eh by HarveyBirdman (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:50AM
          • Re:Eh by UWC (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:04AM
            • Re:Eh (Score:5, Funny)

              by Chris Burke (6130) on Thursday February 26 2004, @10:36AM (#8397559)
              (http://slashdot.org/)
              And with the Smith/Neo fight at the end of Revolutions, we now know that a live-action Dragonball Z is possible.

              And also thanks to the Smitch/Neo fight at the end of Revolutions, we now know that a live-action Dragonball Z would totally, totally suck.
              [ Parent ]
              • Re:Eh by YomikoReadman (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @11:27AM
              • Re:Eh by Kaboom13 (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @07:36PM
            • Shaolin soccer by Nicolay77 (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @04:28PM
            • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
          • See, I don't get that by HarveyBirdman (Score:2) Friday February 27 2004, @09:26AM
          • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
        • Re:Acutally... by Zerth (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:12AM
          • Re:Acutally... by John Harrison (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @11:50AM
        • Re:Acutally... by Omega996 (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @12:08PM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:Acutally... by Mac Degger (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @12:00PM
    • Re:another spin off soon then...? by 3dfxoldtimer (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @03:57PM
    • Re:another spin off soon then...? by UserGoogol (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @03:59PM
    • 4 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • You may already know that but... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Tei (520358) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:55AM (#8396647)
    (Last Journal: Thursday August 21 2003, @11:52AM)
    If you can, get all Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Episodes, where really GREATs, maybe the better anime you can wach. Also get the Tachikomas episodes, has a bonus.

    Some people think that these episodes where BETTER than the original Film itself.

    Thanks Japan Artists!
    • Re:You may already know that but... by cap'n foolsy (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:09AM
    • Re:You may already know that but... (Score:5, Informative)

      by bludstone (103539) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:14AM (#8396776)
      Wait on the legit dvds. They are coming fairly soon. Heres the press release (stolen from animeondvd.com )

      BANDAI AND MANGA JOIN TOGETHER TO RELEASE THE NEW GHOST IN THE SHELL "STAND ALONE COMPLEX" ANIME SERIES ON TV AND DVD IN 2004

      February 11, 2004 -Chicago, IL - Japanese animation distributors, Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment will jointly distribute the all-new "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" anime TV series worldwide (ex-Asia). Based on Masamune Shirow's popular manga/comic series, "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" was co-produced by both companies along with Japan's acclaimed Production I.G. (Kill Bill, Blood the Last Vampire, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade). "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" consists of 26 futuristic half hour episodes that will be released on DVD this summer along with a subsequent U.S. cable television broadcast.

      Manga Entertainment CEO Marvin Gleicher says: "We are very excited to join with our friends at Bandai Entertainment in releasing this excellent new anime series. There is no title that better represents the bright future of Japanese animation than Ghost in the Shell."

      "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" presents a new vision of the future in which female cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi and her fellow police officers of Section 9 must hunt down criminals in both the real world and online world. Set in the not too distant future where technology plays a key role in everyday human life, this top-notch sci-fi action series combines the latest in full CG animation featuring dramatic themes, illustrious characters, and meticulous design.

      This highly anticipated anime series was produced by an incredible creative team including Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop), Kenji Kamiyama (Blood the Last Vampire, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade) and the talented staff at Production I.G. (Dead Leaves, Patlabor 1&2). "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" has recently made its debut on Japanese television and will begin airing in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's late night Adult Swim block later this year. "The release of 'Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex' marks an exciting and important milestone for anime and its ever increasing popularity in mainstream pop culture here in the United States" said Ken Iyadomi, Executive Vice President of Bandai Entertainment.

      The original Ghost in the Shell feature film is one of the most widely recognized anime films ever released and continues to be a best seller today. The film was a key influence for the Wachowski Brothers in creating The Matrix trilogy and is featured prominently on the Animatrix DVD extras along with being the first Japanese animated film to reach #1 in the U.S. Billboard Video Chart - (August 1996.)

      "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is set for release on June 27, 2004 and will be supported by a joint summer marketing campaign between Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment. www.ghostintheshell.tv

      Bandai Entertainment Inc. is the premier distributor of Japanese animation on DVD home video in North America. The company has distributed notable titles like Superior Defender Gundam Force,hack//SIGN, Cowboy Bebop, and Witch Hunter Robin. Bandai Entertainment Inc. is a subsidiary of Bandai America Inc., who makes the toys for the hit television series, Power Rangers, Digimon, and Mobile Suit Gundam. All U.S. operations are headquartered in a large, ultra-modern facility in Cypress, Calif. Bandai Co., Ltd is the third largest toy company in the world comprising 53 subsidiaries in 18 countries. In addition to toys and children's entertainment, Bandai Co.'s global interests include video game software, multimedia, music and full-length feature films, vending machines, trading cards, candies, and licensed apparel. Bandai Entertainment is headquartered in Cypress, California and additional company and product information is available through our website at www.bandai-ent.com.

      Manga Entertainment Inc. specializes in the production and distributio
      [ Parent ]
  • This news is mostly misguided in that respect.
    Shirow is only behind the manga.
    GitS the movie would never have been the wonder it was without the genius that is Mamoru Oshii.
    I'll go as far as saying that Mamoru Oshii gave more power to the story than Shirow ever could.

    Even the anime design shouts "Mamoru Oshii team" all over it.
    Kenji Kawai is part of the "Mamoru Oshii team", so, well, even though he has his detractors, I always found him to be on par with the like of Joe Hisaishi or Youko Kanno (geniuses), and sound plays a great role in the feel of Oshii's anime (like for Sergio Leone films).
  • I mean well.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by back_pages (600753) <back_pages.cox@net> on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:57AM (#8396662)
    (Last Journal: Monday September 25 2006, @05:14PM)
    I'm not trying to troll, but I gave anime a shot a few years ago and found it all very vacuous. Ghost in the Shell struck me as being both pretentious and half-baked. I've watched a couple other titles and the experience was about the same.

    Someone once told me that there was a tremendous amount of Japanese cultural reference in anime. Any input on this? Is there a reputable online source where I might learn some of this material and reattempt to enjoy these movies?

    Alternatively, I begin to suspect that anime is to film what trance is to music. And again, I'm just trying to draw a framework, not just troll... Both strike me as eye/ear candy that expect the audience to be non-skeptical of the legitimacy of the plot/expression and enjoy the experience without critical analysis. But I've already admitted that I don't truly understand the culture that produces anime.

    At any rate, I like films by Kubrick and Wim Wenders among others, but I'm also a fan of tacky role playing games. I've played The Crescent Hawks Inception and the first Mechwarrior to completion, so I should have some affinity for giant robot fighters, right?

    I guess what I'm looking for is the History channel documentary on anime that will give me enough insight to appreciate what makes anime interesting, or at least the internet's version of such a thing. Any suggestions?

    • Re:I mean well.. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bugbread (599172) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:09AM (#8396742)
      Well, the first thing you need to realize is that not all anime is created equally (I suspect you know that, but just saying it in case), and that, just as with any other media, what's popular isn't necessarily what's good. I personally hated Ghost in the Shell, so I understand where you're coming from. Basically, you just need to find your niche. My anime niche is incredibly small, consisting basically of Miyazaki's stuff, as well as a smattering of random things (Rojin-Z, Memories...hmm...too few to even recall now, but I'm sure there are others).

      Some anime has a lot of Japanese cultural references, some doesn't (comedies, predictably, have much, much more, which is true in any medium). I suspect that it isn't so much the cultural divide that keeps you from enjoying anime, but discerning tastes.

      Just remember, if you hear a billion people praising a certain anime, it means no less and no more than a billion people praising a certain movie. The Fast and the Furious was very successful, but that doesn't mean it was good. The good stuff is out there, but you have to look, and that can be a pain in the butt.

      What I recommend is: don't bother looking. However, keep in mind that there is good stuff out there, but you haven't seen it. Then, one day, when a friend of yours whose tastes you trust recommends some anime, give it a shot and see if you've found the proverbial needle in the haystack.
      [ Parent ]
    • Re:I mean well.. by Tusaki (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:14AM
    • It's the same as any genre by HarveyBirdman (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @09:36AM
    • Re:I mean well.. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mydigitalself (472203) on Thursday February 26 2004, @10:02AM (#8397195)
      whath them in japanese with subtitles.

      often what happens when they translate and dub anime is that the translation is compromised so that the sound fits in with the mouth movement - i'm not talking exactly here, by example...

      perhaps in Japanese someone can say "waaachaaa" and in English it actually means "hey how you doing, gee i haven't seen you in ages". so the dubbers will reduce the english to match the amount of time taken to say "waaachaa" and will come up with something like "hello". extend that to cultural references and more in-depth conversations and you begin to understand that watching a dubbed version of an anime is perhaps not a great idea if you're after good dialogue.

      i saw GITS first in English, twice as that was the only VHS version available to me. i then got it on DVD and watched it with subtitles where they tend not to compromise (although some subtitles can be awfully done!). the film took on an entirely different meaning to me - a lot of the "side scenes" (for example the apparantly random scene of the old dude getting out of the helicopter) actually made sense to me!

      one great example of rectifying this was Princess Mononoke [imdb.com] where the entire edit was redone based on a translation from the brilliant Neil Gaiman. here Gaiman not only correctly translated the film, but he also adapted some of the metaphors and cultural references so that they had a western spin on them. the film was then re-edited so that the mouths matched his translation. watch it, its fantastic - don't get put off by the Disney'esque animation: after about 4 minutes of Bambi-like scenes evil monsters begin to appear and then someone has his head knocked off with an arrow...but its more than just that, it includes some fabulous human dichotomy and awesome fantasy scenses.

      so that may be one reason you haven't enjoyed your anime experience. the other is perhaps you've watched the wrong ones. most of the "famous" ones are more action orientated (Akira, GITS, Ninja Scroll). you may wish to watch something more dramatic like Grave of the Fireflies [imdb.com]. personally it was far to slow for my liking, you may enjoy it or find similar anime that isn't all just blood & guts.
      [ Parent ]
    • Re:I mean well.. by Lord_Dweomer (Score:3) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:20AM
    • Re:I mean well.. by illuminatedwax (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @11:23AM
    • Re:I mean well.. by djaxl (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @11:50AM
    • Watch Cowboy Bebop by SuperBanana (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @12:57PM
    • Three things. . . by Fantastic Lad (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @01:29PM
    • Re:I mean well.. by DeadScreenSky (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @01:52PM
    • Re:I mean well.. by BerkeleyBull (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @02:57PM
    • Re:I mean well.. by kenl999 (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @03:52PM
    • Re:I mean well.. by YOU LIKEWISE FAIL IT (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @05:08PM
    • Re:I mean well.. by YOU LIKEWISE FAIL IT (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @05:18PM
    • Re:I mean well.. by king-manic (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @05:40PM
    • Re:I mean well.. by Zugok (Score:1) Friday February 27 2004, @01:06AM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • 2nd song in Appleseed trailer ... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:58AM (#8396669)
    is from the Basement Jaxx album Kish Kash called Good Luck (feat Lisa Kekaula)

    In case anyone wanted to know :D
  • by SphericalCrusher (739397) on Thursday February 26 2004, @08:58AM (#8396671)
    (http://www.gamerpride.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday June 22 2006, @10:56AM)
    Finally some anime news!

    Ghost in the Shell sequel! w00t! Finally an answer to the cry from all of us anime fanatics.
  • by ffub (322605) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:01AM (#8396682)

    The trailer is also available as a Windows Media stream [a-seed.jp] from the official Appleseed site [a-seed.jp], which also features an introduction to the film and soundtrack info.

    http://www.a-seed.jp [a-seed.jp]

    • English? by johnjay (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @07:48PM
  • "Innocence" will be out March 6th... (Score:5, Informative)

    by tacarat (696339) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:02AM (#8396693)
    (Last Journal: Wednesday July 28 2004, @09:51AM)
    It'll be starting on the country wide "Road Show" at a Toho Cinema theater near you. "One Piece", the pirate mange/anime, also has a movie starting at the same time. I'm hoping it'll be a double feature (in my dreams, incompatible demographics). 1700yen (US$16-17) for a regular showing is expensive. I really miss getting ripped off at American theaters. The japanese ones I've seen are generally nicer, but the snack bar prices are about double for half.

    I wonder if that's how they subsidize rebuilding Tokyo everytime Godzilla attacks?
    ----------
  • optical camouflage (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:08AM (#8396738)
    oh yes...

    did you also hear about the research at toyko university dept of electro-communication?

    http://csdl.computer.org/comp/proceedings/ismar/ 20 03/2006/00/20060348.pdf

    the productionig crew are quite ahead in addressing the idea of when the distinction between humans and computers have infinitely blurred... than many media forms
  • Don't forget it's based on the manga. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by oujirou (726570) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:20AM (#8396824)
    One may find it very interesting to read the original manga, of which Dark Horse had made quite a nice translation several years ago (with the infamous Three Lesbian Pages out, but who does really care?).

    First of all, Shirow began drawing Kokaku Kidoutai (the original name of GITS) back in 1989, the last years of Soviet Union. The plot is heavily based on the Soviet intrigue, not without the funniest blops, like calling an aircraft carrier Pirozhki, which means Patties. Note that the Soviets line was not featured anywhere else but the original manga, although in Standalone Complex and the following series both opening songs are in a strange Russian-English language mix and are sung by a Russian actress Olga Yakovleva.

    Yeah, and the manga also features Annapuma and Unipuma "The Famous Catgirls" from the very Shirow's Dominion. :)

  • by Dixie_Flatline (5077) <jan@@@bioware...com> on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:36AM (#8396968)
    (http://slashdot.org/)
    Appleseed, in my opinion, was always a better story than Ghost in the Shell. GitS was pretty superficial, jumped around a lot, and now suffers from a massive incomprehensibility complex, not unlike one of his other manga, Orion.

    Frankly, I also enjoyed his art more before he started doing this blend of CG and penciling.

    I hope this anime lives up to the manga. That's tough, but I already recognized parts of the story in the trailer, and it certainly looks pretty. I also hope that they get some decent voice acting for Deunan and Briareos. I have an idea of what their voices should be like in my head, and if Deunan ends up with a bimbo-y voice, and Briareos has a whiny bishonen voice, I'll be pretty sad.
  • Big Eyes (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HarveyBirdman (627248) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:46AM (#8397061)
    (Last Journal: Monday December 20 2004, @01:32PM)
    Someone was asking about the big eyes. It's just a stylistic thing. Some anime creators use it, some don't. One thing I've noticed is that the eye size is inversely proportional to the character's age. Young grils will have big eyes, but older women will have more normal eyes, but this isn't a hard rule.

    One a mildly related note, realdoll.com now has an anime doll (named Annie Mae... sheesh...) with pink hair and big blue eyes. I dunno... it just looks creepy to me. I've seen other attempts to do realistic images of big-eyed anime women, and it just gets disturbing. Although the same could be said about a Picasso. :) Some things should stay in the world of art.

  • Old Gits (Score:2)

    by Hieronymus Howard (215725) * on Thursday February 26 2004, @10:05AM (#8397232)
    Did anyone else in the UK think of the Harry Enfield's hilarious "Old Gits" [geocities.com] on seeing "GitS Sequel"?

    ALF GIT: When's the funeral?

    FRED GIT: Today.

    ALF GIT: Good! Are they gonna burn him or bury him?

    FRED GIT: Up the chimney.

    ALF GIT: Yeah, that's how I'd like to go, have my ashes scattered in the old back garden - when her next door's got her washing out.

    FRED GIT: Take her weeks to get you out of her knickers.
  • by Mogomra (654796) on Thursday February 26 2004, @10:32AM (#8397524)
    (http://www.geocities.com/mogomra/ | Last Journal: Friday June 06 2003, @04:03PM)
    After fifteen years of wishing for one, I'm finally getting a Guges figure. Toycom showed off some prototypes at the recent Toy Fair in NYC. Check out the gallery here [alteredstatesmag.com].
  • US official site (Score:5, Informative)

    by News for nerds (448130) on Thursday February 26 2004, @10:50AM (#8397684)
    (http://zzz.zggg.com/)
    Innocence official US site [gofishpictures.com] at Go Fish Pictures [gofishpictures.com] (subsidiary of DreamWorks)

    Far less impressive site though, compared to Japanese official site [innocence-movie.jp]. I doubt their promotion - at least they should spend enough amount of money for web design, as it should cost not so much as "real" PR. Isn't internet for such virtual advertisement?

    Now Japanese official site has gorgeous final trailers in wmv, small [innocence-movie.jp]/medium [innocence-movie.jp]/large [innocence-movie.jp].

    The theme song, "Follow Me" is by Kimiko Itoh [kimikoitoh.com], and the new version of her 1989 jazz hit (English profile here [satellitesrecords.com]).
  • by sbma44 (694130) on Thursday February 26 2004, @11:48AM (#8398303)
    I'll preface this by saying the GitS movie is beautiful, and I haven't read the manga...

    ...but the movie just didn't do much for me. It suffered from the usual problems of adapting a (presumably) sprawling manga into a film. There's no hope of adapting a plotline into the limited space, so they fall back on a shot at noirish, nihilistic plotlessness, hoping that they can get by on being evocative. Akira is another example of this problem. As is Blood: the Last Vampire. All have fascinating universes and mind-blowing art, but suffer from a serious lack of plot.

    I'll take comparatively artless films (although still great) Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust over hyper-stylized and inscrutable films like GitS anyday.

  • GITS (Score:1)

    by pragma_x (644215) on Thursday February 26 2004, @12:17PM (#8398618)
    (Last Journal: Wednesday December 08 2004, @01:13PM)
    I was one of the lucky few to catch Ghost in the Shell in the theatre (Washington, DC) during its very short-lived film debut in the US. This had to be the best way to see this film, on a hugmongous screen, right when the movie first hits american soil. IMO, Anyone looking to get the DVD should settle for nothing less than wide formatting with Japanese Dialouge, as the TV formatting does it no justice.

    So, does anyone out there know if Innocence might see a theatre-film debut?
  • by sixpaw (648825) on Thursday February 26 2004, @12:20PM (#8398653)
    ...GitS: Innocence and the recent manga (published in the US by Dark Horse), GitS: Fan Serv-- errr, GitS: Man-Machine Interface?
  • TV? (Score:2)

    by sootman (158191) on Thursday February 26 2004, @01:37PM (#8399818)
    (Last Journal: Thursday July 12, @12:30PM)
    I heard ages ago that there was supposed to be a GITS TV show. A bit of googling seems to indicate that season 1 was made & shown in japan. Is that true? Has another season been made? Is season 1 available on DVD?
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • by NTmatter (589153) on Thursday February 26 2004, @01:45PM (#8399912)
    (http://www.axante.net/)
  • by Fantastic Lad (198284) on Thursday February 26 2004, @02:33PM (#8400543)
    I don'e like 3D animation.

    Anime should be driven by people who can draw. Cool pictures are something I can't make; it's a skill. Cool pictures to me and most people are a sort of magic which enthralls and excites. They have spark! By contrast, I or anybody else can sit down at a PC and with half an effort make our own "Red v.s. Blue" stuff. Poof! The instant you can make the magic yourself, the magic is no longer magic.

    Welcome to the world of souless video game cut scenes. If you can afford the graphics card, then you too can make movies. Hooray.

    Let me dig up a quote here, from "Thieves and Kings" guy, Mark Oakley's [iboxpublishing.com] website here where he uses a 'Matrix-ism' which stuck in my mind to get his point across. (He was griping about exactly this stuff, though regarding Disney's move in the same 3D direction. His editorial is still up. Oakley's work is scorchingly good, but he's bloody slow! I can't tell if he's got actual talent or if he just gets there by taking his time.) Anyways:

    "Rather like the, Matrix as described by Lawrence Fishbourn's character, the world of 3D animation must obey rules, and as such, it creates its own limitations. --Whereas 2D animation is limited only by the imagination.

    Think about that crazy 'baby and rabbit in the kitchen' cartoon at the beginning of, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Unless you start animating via Photoshop or Flash, (both 2D tools), you will simply never get a computer to achieve those same kinds of effects. Remember? --Black and white kitchen floor tiles soaring over the screen at ten thousand miles per hour, flying babies and rabbits, kitchen implements, irons and creamed carrots hurtling through a universe which a 3D animation program couldn't even begin to rationally comprehend. --But which the human mind can embrace as easily and as naturally as understanding laughter. Human minds are so much more!"

    Shirow's work always seemed kind of souless to me, so maybe this move is appropriate.


    -FL

  • Soooo.. Old.... (Score:2)

    by shish (588640) on Thursday February 26 2004, @03:26PM (#8401194)
    (http://www.shishnet.org/)
    ll ~/torrents
    ...
    -rw-r--r-- 1 18MB Jan 4 19:42 GitS_Innocence_Trailer.avi
    ...
    -rw-r--r-- 1 15MB Feb 15 19:30 Appleseed_2004_Trailer.avi
    ...

    They are *so* going to kill me for this (the /.ing), but here's some links (.avi / XViD/DivX encoded, IIRC). I have 3 GitS trailers on various CDs, but I can't find the .torrents...

    Appleseed [mircx.com]
    Innocence [downloadanime.org]

  • by kuriharu (756937) on Thursday February 26 2004, @07:02PM (#8403217)
    The preview calls it "another beauty and the beast", among other things it says.
  • Re:Better Idea (Score:2, Informative)

    by kahei (466208) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:24AM (#8396861)
    (http://www.hwacha.net/)

    Mod me all you like, those who have seen it know that it really was _that_ bad :)

    [ Parent ]
    • Re:Better Idea by PeDRoRist (Score:2) Thursday February 26 2004, @10:22AM
      • Re:Better Idea by AgentSmith1000 (Score:1) Thursday February 26 2004, @01:02PM
  • Re:When is the US distribution date? (Score:2, Informative)

    by BJH (11355) on Thursday February 26 2004, @09:27AM (#8396891)
    I had a look through the official site [a-seed.jp], including an interview with the director, and they never touched upon an overseas release, so I'd guess that you'll have to wait a while longer...
    [ Parent ]
  • Re:real? (Score:2, Insightful)

    Is keeping it real the 'most' important thing? In being willing to dwell in the fantastic, one can be said to be exploring the reality of human nature.

    I'm going to invoke the big one: "Neon Genesis Evangelion," and submit that sure Hideki Anno and Co. are presenting larger than life humanoid artificial life things, and man is trying to play god, but isn't that always the case? Isn't the frailty of life and the human heart the story they are trying to tell - rather than 'oh big robots! cool!'.

    The first "Ghost in the Shell" was a little hard to follow seeon once, but I certainly got a lot more from it watching it again and reflecting than what you are describing above.
    [ Parent ]
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26 2004, @11:00AM (#8397775)
    A Ghost in the Shell 2 trailer that is actually subtitled can be found here (~55MB, 6min, XviD video format):

    http://a.scarywater.net/hawks/[haWks-DisTrO]Ghos t_ in_the_Shell_-_Innocence_Trailer_(ExtendedHQ)[Koto noha].avi.torrent

    um, there should be no space in the word 'Kotonoha' in that link. I don't know why the post submission window is inserting one automatically. might be easier to just go to http://a.scarywater.net/hawks/ and just click the link there.
    [ Parent ]
  • by sixpaw (648825) on Thursday February 26 2004, @12:17PM (#8398616)
    Probably the reason most people aren't aware of the Stand Alone Complex availability is that it isn't a legitimate DVD, but a bootleg produced out of China or Taiwan.
    • Hint #1: you can't generally get a full 26-episode season of an anime legitimately for under $100ish (if not more: see the original prices on the Cowboy Bebop and Trigun box sets).
    • Hint #2: No 'official' release is going to be region-free.
    • Hint #3: no legitimate release is going to squeeze 26 episodes onto 4 DVDs (the box set I saw) and (almost) no official release is going to have english that bad, not in this day and age.
    On the bright side, Cartoon Network has just recently acquired the broadcast rights for GitS:SAC, so legitimate versions will no doubt be coming soon.

    Oh, and for the record, virtually no legitimate anime soundtrack is going to be $10 or even $15 either. There's more information on anime bootlegs here [anime.org.uk] for those who want it.
    [ Parent ]
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