You Can Rest Now, PSX Ghost In The Shell Anime Cutscenes

I love Science Saru and Ghost in the Shell (in all its iterations). So it comes as no surprise that I’m absolutely buzzing over Science Saru capturing both Ghost in the Shell’s art style and tone in what looks to be a phenomenal adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s ‘89 manga series. While many fans are lauding the show as the first faithful adaptation in the series’ history, I’d be remiss not to give flowers to the first piece of media that held down the fort for nearly 30 years for day-one fans who wanted the OG manga brought to life, long before Science Saru took a stab at it: PlayStation’s 1997 video game. 

Despite being a cultural touchstone in anime and cyberpunk, Ghost in the Shell hasn’t had much motion in video games. Sure, there was Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex- First Assault Online, a barebones 2016 multiplayer online shooter that only I and a handful of other folks played on Steam before it went offline, and a few crossover collabs here and there. But none of them had a chokehold on the fandom quite like developer Exact and THQ’s 1997 shooter did. And a huge part of the game’s reverence is its pulchritudinous animated cutscenes.

The Ghost in the Shell game sees players join “The Major” Motoko Kusanagi and her anti-cyberterrorism group, Section 9. While they control the spider-like tank Fuchikoma (not to be confused with a Tachikoma) in a series of strafe-shooting battles, the game’s arcade-like cutscenes—directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Robot Carnival) and Toshihiro Kawamoto (Cowboy Bebop) with animation by the series mainstay studio Production I.G—are where the real magic happened.

For all the phenomenal adaptations the franchise has had, even Stand Alone Complex tends to hew closer to the grimmer, more austere tone set by Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 film. Likewise, The Major’s designs have diverged far from her OG look. The PSX game, by contrast, offered a rare glimpse of what Ghost in the Shell might look like if it embraced the goofy energy and playful humanity of Shirow’s manga alongside its killer cyberpunk aesthetic. Here, players finally saw an effervescent, multitudinous Kusanagi—synchronizing with her Fuchikoma mid-battle, shooting the shit with her crew between missions, and doling out praise after a job well done while plenty of :3 faces abound. It was perfect. Perfect. Right down to the last detail. 

While the PSX’s Ghost in the Shell only graced us with a modest 12 and a half minutes of animation, to GiTS fans, those scenes have got the same level of motion as your favorite Final Fantasy or World of Warcraft CGI trailers. It also doesn’t hurt that the English voice cast featured the same voice actors from Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 movie, giving fans a 30-year What If scenario for where the series could’ve gone had it injected a bit more whimsy into its anime’s ghost. Also, its soundtrack fucks. 

And now, as if carrying the baton from the PSX game, Science Saru’s Ghost in the Shell is putting an emphasis on the “The” in its title by fully embracing Shirow’s original manga tone and its retro, analog-gritty visual style. Kisses to the sky to director Mokochan and character designer Shuhei Handa for their part in making a three-decade-long dream a reality. 

With Science Saru’s anime adaptation releasing on July 7 on Prime Video (boo!), fans can finally retire those beloved PSX stills and cutscenes that were loved to ruin like a VHS tape, look forward to seeing that spirit realized in full, and fall in love with The Major and crew all over again. 

Thanks for holding us down for so long, PSX Ghost in the Shell. 

You can rest now, queen.