Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊 GHOST IN THE SHELL Kōkaku Kidōtai Gōsuto In Za Sheru) is a 1995 science fiction anime film directed by Mamoru Oshii and based on the original manga by Masamune Shirow. It was released in Japan on November 18, 1995.

Ghost in the Shell was one of the first films by Mamoru Oshii to arrive in North America.

Synopsis

Set in the year 2029 in the Chinese district of Hong Kong (invaded by Japanese culture), the film's plot follows the hunt by the public-security agency Section 9 for a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. With the assistance of her team, Motoko Kusanagi tracks and finds their suspect, only to be drawn into a complex sequence of political intrigue and a cover-up as to the identity and goals of the Puppet Master. The overarching philosophical themes of the film include self-identity in a technologically advanced world.

Cast[]

Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor
Motoko Kusanagi	Atsuko Tanaka	Mimi Woods
Motoko Kusanagi	Maaya Sakamoto (young)	Mona Marshall
Batou	Akio Ōtsuka	Richard Epcar
Daisuke Aramaki	Tamio Ōki	William Frederick Knight
Project 2501 / Puppet Master	Iemasa Kayumi	Tom Wyner
Togusa	Kōichi Yamadera	David Richard Thompson
Ishikawa	Yutaka Nakano	Michael Sorich
Garbage Collector A	Kazuhiro Yamaji	Kevin Seymour
Garbage Collector B	Shigeru Chiba	Doug Stone
Chief Nakamura	Tesshō Genda	Simon Prescott
Section 9 Cyberneticist	Sanryo Odaka	Steve Bulen
Diplomat	Shinji Ogawa	Hank Crowell Jr.
Old Man	Ginzō Matsuo	Dan Lorge
Mizuho Daita	Mitsuru Miyamoto	Paul Stephen
Tsuan Gen Fang	Takashi Matsuyama	John Snyder
Operator	Atsuko Hayashida	Dorothy Elias-Fahn
Dr. Willis	Masakazu Namiki	Marvyn Byrkett
Coroner	Hiroshi Yanaka	Steve Bulen
Crass Truck Driver	Masamichi Sato	Joe Romersa
Foreign Minister	Masato Yamanochi	Mike Reynolds
Sniper Team Leader	Toshiki Kameyama	John Snyder

Additional Voices:

Stephen Apostolina - Technician
Steve Blum
Richard Cansino - Sniper Team
Christopher Carroll
Gina Connell
Leo Gray
Meg Hamilton
Milton James
Mona Marshall - Operator Voice 2
Joan Mason
Gilbert Navarro
Daran Norris - EEG Cyberneticist
Wanda Nowicki
Gloria Oldman
Scott Prensor
Debra Jean Rogers
Donald Salin
Lia Sargent - Security Voice
Peter Spellos - Bad Guy in Getaway Car
Sam Sheffer
Skip Stellrecht - Aircraft Pilot
Kirk Thornton - Helicopter Pilot
Amy Wong

Notes[]

The pseudonymous names used in the end credits are the same as used in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, but largely have no correspondence with the actors between the two productions. For example, "Hank Smith" is assigned to Mike Reynolds here, whereas the name was attributed in Street Fighter to Skip Stellrecht. This has caused much confusion over the years. Similarly, the names "Phil Williams" and "Steve Davis" were the names used by Bryan Cranston and Richard Cansino, respectively, in Street Fighter, here they're assigned to Marvyn Byrkett and Hank Crowell Jr.
On the 2014 Blu-Ray release, the English dub has many missing sound effects and, at times, inaudible dialogue. Combined with the poor translations and lack of special features, this release has been met with much criticism.

Video Releases[]

Distributor	Year	Region	Country
Manga Entertainment	1996	NTSC	United States
Polygram Video	1998	1 NTSC
Manga Entertainment	2005
Manga Entertainment	2007
Manga Entertainment*	2009	A DVB-T
Anchor Bay Entertainment	2014
	2016
	2017
Lionsgate	2020