I.G. Productions has released a trailer for its upcoming Ghost in the Shell mini-series.
Recently, I.G. Productions held a preview event for their new Ghost in the Shell series, and answered some press questions. Not many specific plot details were revealed, and we don’t have an official English synopsis yet, but we do know now that the series will be very short, just 4 hour-long episodes, and will be a prequel to the first film, showing the story of a younger, less experienced Motoko and her partner Batou.
I had been curious to hear how they were planning on continuing the story, since the last film had a pretty strong Denouement. I guess the answer was that they were not.
The films don’t really tell much of what happened to Motoko, the cyborg secret agent, in terms of where she is at the beginning of the first film. It’s interesting that they chose to make her look younger, almost a teenager, considering that she never really seemed to age throughout the rest of the franchise. Perhaps that will be explained.
There is a Japanese synopsis, but it translates poorly in Google. All I can really tell about it myself is that it will deal with Motoko’s immaturity, and her need to overcome it, as well as tell the story of how she fell in with the agency and the people in it; standard prequel stuff.
The producers showed off this trailer at the event:
And this character introduction video:
In addition, it was revealed that an accompanying Manga would be released, Ghost in the Shell: Arise – Sleepless Eye.
An official website for the show was launched, within which you can find all you might want to know about casting and production. You could also take a crack at the Japanese synopsis while you’re there.
The film will open to wide theatrical release in Japan in Mid-June, and see a DVD and Blu-ray release about a month later. A dubbed version for the US market is sure to follow soon after, but no release date has yet been announced.
