The upcoming Ghost in the Shell: Arise anime project was detailed during an event by Bandai Visual last night in Japan. Arise will serve as a prequel story set during Motoko Kusanagi’s younger days and will be split up into four 50-minute animated movies.
The first of these movies, titled Ghost Pain will be released in Japanese theatres on June 22nd, Anime News Network report. Blu-Ray and DVD versions will follow on July 26th.
Public Security Section 9 members will be included in the show. While the show is said to depict Motoko when she was younger, Section 9 members Batou, Togusa, Saito, Pazu, Ishikawa, Borma and Aramaki will be present as well. Maaya Sakamoto will play the role of Motoko and you can view the rest of the cast at the ANN the link above.
Addtionally, a manga adaptation titled Ghost in the Shell Arise: Sleepless Eye will debut in the April issue of Kodansha’s Monthly Young Magazine, which will be published on March 13th. The series will be written by Jun’ichi Fujisaku, who was involved with the screenplay for both seasons of GITS: Stand Alone Complex.
