Ghost in the Shell is a 1995 Japanese animated science fiction film directed by Mamoru Oshii, based on Masamune Shirow's manga, following a cyborg policewoman in a near-future society who pursues a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master while questioning the boundaries between human identity and machine. The film combined traditional animation with early digital compositing to build a densely detailed, philosophically inclined vision of cybernetic society uncommon in action-oriented animation of its time. Ghost in the Shell found a substantial international audience beyond Japan and has been widely cited, including by its own creators, as a direct visual and thematic influence on later science fiction films such as The Matrix.
Facts
Classification
Original Language AwardYokohama Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay 1 Release Year CountryJapan (Japanese-British co-production) 1 FAQs
Who wrote and produced Ghost in the Shell?
Directed by Mamoru Oshii from a screenplay by Kazunori Itô.
Rotten Tomatoes lists Mamoru Oshii as director and Kazunori Itô as screenwriter. The producers it names are Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Ken Iyadomi, Ken Matsumoto and Yoshimasa Mizuo, and the production companies are Production I.G, Bandai Visual Company and Kôdansha.
Connections
Created By
Source Ghost in the Shell (Wikipedia)
In Medium
Source Ghost in the Shell (Wikipedia)
Source Ghost in the Shell (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Original Language
Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Ghost in the Shell (1995 film) (Wikipedia)
lead section, first sentence
Ghost in the Shell is a 1995 Japanese animated tech noir action thriller film directed by Mamoru Oshii
lead section, third sentence
It is a Japanese-British international co-production between Kodansha, Bandai Visual and Manga Entertainment, with animation provided by Production I.G.
Ghost in the Shell, Description, original language
Ghost in the Shell is a 1995 Japanese animated science fiction film directed by Mamoru Oshii, based on Masamune Shirow's manga, following a cyborg policewoman in a near-future society who pursues a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master while questioning the boundaries between human identity and machine.
Wikipedia Awards section (yokohama-film-festival-award-for-best-screenplay), checked 2026-09-27
The film won Best Screenplay at the Yokohama Film Festival
View the SourceGhost in the Shell (Wikipedia)
Created By: Masamune Shirow, Article lead sentence
Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese cyberpunk military science fiction media franchise that began with the eponymous manga series, written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow.
In Medium: Animation, Lead
Animation studio Production I.G has produced several anime adaptations of the series.
In Medium: Film, Lead
These include the 1995 film of the same name and its 2004 sequel, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence; the 2002 television series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and its 2020 follow-up, Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045; and the Ghost in the Shell: Arise original video animation series.
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