At this point, Ghost In The Shell has become one of the most prolific franchises in anime in manga. While fans still consider the 1995 Mamoru Oshii film its crowning achievement, you have to remember even that was based off a manga and it adapted it liberally, to say the least. You have a whole generation of fans who’ll tell you Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex is the best thing to come out of it and contrarians who’ll go to bat for Ghost In The Shell 2. All sorts of creators have taken Masamune Shirow’s original manga and put their own spins on it to great success, which is why I’m optimistic about the upcoming manga Ghost In The Shell: The Human Algorithm.
No, this new manga isn’t by the series’ original creator, nor is it by the acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii. Written by Junichi Fujisaku, who worked on both Stand Alone Complex and Ghost In The Shell: Arise, and illustrated by Hiroki Yoshimoto, this new series takes place in the manga canon. Specifically, between Ghost In The Shell 1.5 and Ghost In The Shell 2. However, even those who haven’t read Shirow’s original comic should be able to give it a shot. It takes place after the Major quits section nine, so like the film Ghost In The Shell 2 it’ll center more on characters like Batou and Togusa than our lead girl.
Honestly, putting one tragic and unnecessary outing aside, Ghost In The Shell hasn’t let me down yet. I love both of Oshii’s films, adore Stand Alone Complex, and really enjoyed Arise. I mean, with Takkyu Ishino of Denki Groove on the soundtrack, how couldn’t you? I’m looking forward to Stand Alone Complex’s director Kenji Kamiyama returning to the franchise in Netflix’s original Ghost In The Shell: SAC_2045 set to hit next year and I imagine Ghost In The Shell: The Human Algorithm will help satiate me until then.
Ghost In The Shell: The Human Algorithm will debut in the September 20 issue of Kodansha’s Young Magazine.