The Ghost in the Shell 1. This item is unavailable.The Ghost in the Shell 1

Now a major motion picture!

Deep into the twenty-first century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg superagent Major Motoko Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including “ghost hackers” who are capable of exploiting the human/machine interface and reprogramming humans to become puppets to carry out the hackers’ criminal ends. When Major Kusanagi tracks the cybertrail of one such master hacker, the Puppeteer, her quest leads her into a world beyond information and technology where the very nature of consciousness and the human soul are turned upside down.

From Shirow Masamune, the award-winning creator of Appleseed and Dominion, comes The Ghost in the Shell, the breakthrough manga that inspired the internationally acclaimed animated film. An epic dystopian tale of politics, technology, and metaphysics, The Ghost in the Shell has been hailed worldwide as an unparalleled visionary work of graphic fiction. And now it’s ready to dazzle the imagination in its second millennium.

This edition includes a new Introduction from Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson, and a fascinating Postscript from author Shirow Masamune, with his thoughts on the phenomenon that is The Ghost in the Shell!

In 1983, Masamune published his first manga, "Black Magic" from Atlas, a science fiction dojin manga society (dojin is the Japanese term to describe an amateur fan publication). In 1985, his first major work, "Appleseed", was published by Seishinsha, without being serialized in or submitted to a manga magazine, which is quite rare in the Japanese manga publishing industry. Shortly thereafter, Shirow set up his own company, and besides working on his own manga and illustration work, took on projects from the anime and game industry. Shirow's work has been recognized and highly respected outside Japan. He has been active in numerous anime and game projects but it is rare for him to take the helm of such projects, or even to have his name used prominently.Shirow Masamune was born in Japan in Chuo Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, on November 23rd, 1961. He still lives in the same district.