Since debuting in Japan in 1989 and in the West as a monthly comics series in 1995, Shirow Masamune's manga
The Ghost in the Shell has become the type species of cyberpunk, with its brain jacks, neural chips, military drones, and optical camo setting the visual standard that would be followed by
The Matrix, while its blend of white-hot procedural action and eager intellectual curiosity about the shape of the near future bridged the noir-tinged, American cyberpunk of the 1980s and the globalized, metaphysical stimulation overload that would characterize much of the science fiction of the 21st century.
For decades, the English and Japanese editions of this masterpiece have never quite matched each other. That finally changes with the Legacy Edition, which restores the pages that had been edited in the original
The Ghost in the Shell manga. The set also includes the acclaimed Deluxe Edition localization of
The Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human Error Processor and
The Ghost in the Shell 2.0: Man-Machine Interface. All three are reproduced in a high-quality hardcover, right-to-left manga format, with all the pages included in the latest version currently in print in Japan.
Also included:
- A premium slipcase featuring two brand-new illustrations by original author Shirow Masamune, created specifically for this box
- One new piece and ten posters from the rare, limited-edition 1997 Cyberdelics box set, never before released in English, reproduced in new versions featuring a staggering range of special print effects, including etched metallic paper, vinyl stock, and holographic spot gloss.
- The new, 10-inch-wide posters come rolled (not folded) and packed in a rigid box inside the slipcase for added protection.
- A set of multicolored Fuchikoma robot stickers, also from Cyberdelics
- A double-sided poster with Shirow-sensei's explanation of his artistic process and the poster art, never before translated into English
The Ghost in the Shell (1991)Deep into the twenty-first century, the line between man and machine has been 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.
The Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (2003)The "lost" Ghost in the Shell stories, created by Shirow Masamune after completing work on the original Ghost in the Shell manga and prior to his tour-de-force, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface. Focusing on Section 9 agents in their daily battle against technocrime, Human-Error Processor. Features the stories "Fat Cat," "Drive Slave," "Mines of Mind," and "Lost Past."
The Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface (2001)March 6, 2035. Motoko Aramaki is a hyper-advanced cyborg, a counter-terrorist Net security expert, heading the investigative department of the giant multi-national Poseidon Industrial. Partly transcending the physical world and existing in a virtual world of networks, Motoko is a fusion of multiple entities and identities, deploying remotely controlled prosthetic humanoid surrogates around the globe to investigate a series of bizarre incidents. Meanwhile, Tamaki Tamai, a psychic detective from the Channeling Agency, has been commissioned to explore strange changes in the temporal universe brought about by two forces, one represented by the teachings of a professor named Rahampol, the other by the complex, evolving Motoko entity. What unfolds will all be in a day's work—a day that will change everything, forever.
