Image: Kodansha

Although the movie faltered elsewhere, the future designs of this year’s Ghost in the Shell movie were definitely one of its greatest draws, building on a legacy that’s seen Motoko Kusanagi’s adventures expand from the page to animation. A new book takes a look at the artwork behind two decades of Ghost in the Shell, and we’ve got a look inside.


Published by Kodansha, Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017 is the definitive look back at the genre-defining history of Ghost in the Shell’s myriad anime adaptations. It also reveals how the medium took Shirow Masamune’s beloved manga and turned it into an iconic piece of Japanese animation.

Tracking two decades of history that includes Mamoru Oshii’s seminal movie and its follow-up, Innocence, through Production I.G.’s blockbuster TV series Stand Alone Complex, and beyond—all the way up to this year’s live-action movie—the book is a celebration of one of the most famous anime and manga franchises in the world. It’s jam-packed with design art from across the films and TV series, alongside insight from and roundtable discussions with three crucial architects of Ghost in the Shell’s animated success: Oshii, Standalone Complex director Kenji Kamiyama, and Arise director Kazuchika Kise. Check out a few samples of the book’s chapters on the first two Ghost in the Shell movies below, making their debut here on io9:





Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017 is out tomorrow, November 7.