Ghost in the Shell 2017

[Telemachus]

[whitewashing_rant]
Looks like they whitewashed what seems to be the entire cast with the exception of Aramaki (Beat Takeshi was an interesting cool casting choice). You could say that in an android world that doesn’t matter, but ethnicity and race are a big deal in TV series and the movies. Even if you ignore that, the idea that Japanese people would all decide to look white if they had the choice of appearance is straight up offensive.
[/whitewashing_rant]

I understand that whitewashing is a serious problem in the industry, but I struggle to see why it is applied to GITS. The Major, Batou and Togusa are clearly not Japanese characters if we go by the depictions in the anime. Nor is Boma. The others, it’s a toss-up whether they are mixed or fully Japanese, Aramaki being the most likely to be Japanese member of Section 9. The fact is, while Japanese animators have a choice, they almost always depict their characters as Westernised. That choice was made long before the filmmakers got their hands on the franchise.

[unaccompanieddminor]

The fact is, while Japanese animators have a choice, they almost always depict their characters as Westernised.

What makes them look Westernised? Eyes too big? Too unslanted? Following that the Simpsons are yellow - perhaps they’re Asian? I don’t mean to be facetious, but as an Asian that has lived throughout Asia I can definitely say that most people over there won’t interpret the characters as European by appearance, check out any Japanese made live action remake of an anime.

There’s no difference in the GITS depiction of ethically European Characters compared to the Japanese characters, that goes for the original comic, 1995 movie and the SAC franchise. You could say that Batou’s blonde hair flags him as white, but you hair colour isn’t your ethnicity and it’s a pretty common for anime (or any kind of cartoon) to use hair colour to differentiate characters. Aside from that, it is implied in the storyline that the characters are visually identifiable to each other as ethnically Japanese, which is especially obvious in the stories including refugees or national isolationism - not to mention everyone has traditionally Japanese names. I can’t see how this isn’t whitewashing.

Relative to GITS, ethnicity is so important because what much of the story pivots on is the idea that races, culture and nationality are being eroded by technology; that identity is being disentangled from what our bodies are or where we live. It’s important to represent ethnicity because the story is in part about the loss of it.

I have no issue with Hollywood making a white-ified GITS movie, but I they should have ran with it and made it their own. The biggest problem with what I’ve seen from the trailer is that it seems like a failure of the imagination, it just seems retro-cyberpunk pandering. It would have been interesting to see the ideas reinterpreted with more contemporary technology, not in Japan, and not with pseudo Japanese characters.

[Lunatique]

//youtu.be/GpsfXLa2g-s

Notice that in the entire event, Shirow’s name was not mentioned even once, yet they kept bringing up the manga. Way to go to completely disrespect the original creator of the I.P.

[NyellBarnet]

What about Ghost In The Shell?

         I really want to watch ghost in shell but i'm not quite sure about 

something. I keep seeing stuff about just Ghost In The Shell and then I
see Ghost In The Shell:Stand Alone Complex. Is there more than one
series or set of episodes.(Like dragon ball and dragon ball z)If there
is please list the names of them all and what order they go in cause I
really want to watch them!!!