Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell Universe is one that stretches across many media, including (but not exclusively) Anime, Manga, written Novels, and Video games, as well as much merchandise.
Films[]
Ghost in the Shell[]
Mamuro Oshii's 1995 anime adaption of Shirow's concept received both criticism and acclaim on its release, as many saw it as a high quality anime film that did Ghost in the Shell proud, whereas others thought it deviated too much from Shirow's original framework.
Ghost in the Shell 2.0[]
The remake of the original film.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence[]
Oshii's 2004 follow up to his original Ghost in the Shell film, Innocence is a visually stunning work of animation that blends both traditional and CG elements together. It is thought provoking, with many philosophical ideas being expressed by the characters, but this has lead to some considering the film to be 'unnecessarily heavy' and slow.
Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society[]
In 2006, a follow up to the Stand Alone Complex TV series was released on film, with the impressive budget of 360 million yen (equivalent to US$3.2 million). Created by Kenji Kamiyama, director of the two Stand Alone Complex series', the story takes place two years after the events of 2nd GIG.
Live Action Adaption[]
In 2008, DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg acquired the rights to produce a live-action film adaptation of the original manga. The film is set to be released in 2011.
Television Series[]
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex[]
Kenji Kamiyama's 2002, 26 episode Television series, is set in a sub-universe of the Ghost in the Shell story. It follows all the major protagonists and places of Shirow's manga, but deviates from the manga's storyline in that the braoder narrative occurs as if the Major had never met the puppetmaster of the film version.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG[]
In 2004, Kenji Kamiyama followed up his TV franchise with a second series; 2nd GIG, which is set a year after the events of the original Stand Alone Complex story.
Original video animation[]
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – The Laughing Man[]
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG – Individual Eleven[]
Manga[]
Ghost in the Shell[]
Masamune Shirow's original manga from the early 1990's was the first major material in the Ghost in the Shell Universe and introduced the all major characters and philosophical ideas.
Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor[]
Human Error Processor is a collection of four chapters;"Fat Cat", "Drive Slave", "Mines of Mind" and "Lost Past", that Shirow left out of the original Ghost in the Shell manga.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface[]
The 1997 sequel to Shirow's original Ghost in the Shell manga, Man/Machine Interface explores the philosophical subjects of the boundaries of human consciousness, and the nature of human identity itself.
Video Games[]
Ghost in the Shell[]
THQ's 1997 GITS video game for the Playstation follows an unnamed Section 9 Rookie and their Fuchikoma tank in a number of first and third person situations in the Ghost in the Shell Universe.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex[]
In 2004, Bandai published a pair of video games based on the anime of the same name. A third person Action game was released for the PlayStation 2, and a first-person shooter game was released for the PlayStation Portable. The game takes place in-between the stories of Stand Alone Complex and 2nd GIG.
Novels[]
After the Long Goodbye[]
The novel by Masaki Yamada published in 2005, is a prequel to Oshii's Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.
The Lost Memory, Revenge of the Cold Machines and White Maze[]
The trilogy by Junichi Fujisaku is set in the Stand Alone Complex sub-universe