The acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii, known for his influential film Ghost in the Shell, has surprised fans by stating that he is not interested in the cyberpunk genre. In a recent interview, Oshii expressed his disinterest in the topic, clarifying that his connection to Ghost in the Shell does not come from an affinity for cyberpunk, but from other influences. “I do not have the desire to live in a world that looks like a landfill”, he commented, emphasizing his preference for the hard-boiled genre over the dystopian universe of cyberpunk.
The ghost in the shell
Despite its disdain for the genre, Ghost in the Shell has become a fundamental classic of cyberpunk, delving into the dilemmas of identity through its protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg in search of a hacker. This legacy has been complicated by the reception of the 2017 live-action adaptation, starring Scarlett Johansson, which was criticized for accusations of whitewashing.
However, Oshii has also revealed his life as a gamer, admitting to having played more than 10,000 hours of Fallout 4, which raises questions about how he balances his film career with his passion for video games. In this line of adaptations, a new version of Masamune Shirow’s manga Ghost in the Shell has been announced, with a first trailer already available. It will be interesting to see how this new adaptation compares to the 1995 film, considered a masterpiece in the realm of anime.