I mad randomly stumbled upon this new 2008 “re-imaging” of the original 1995 Ghost in the Shell feature film which was re-released to theaters this past Summer.

One of my favorite (if not all-time favorite) anime directors, Mamoru Oshii released his latest film, The Sky Crawlers in 2008. To help promote that film, they also released this updated version of Oshii’s former, worldwide breakout hit, Ghost in the Shell, with fully re-recorded dialogue, a 6.1 surround sound mix, updated coloring, “new scenes” (which I’ll get to in a sec), some audio support from Skywalker Sound, and a new voice actor for “The Puppet Master” (changed from Iemasa Kayumi to Yoshiko Sakakibara).

Regarding the new scenes…The introduction of the film with Major Kusanagi jumping off the building was entirely re-done in CG. The title sequence, also, which inspired The Matrix films’ “green rain” title sequences were also entirely re-done. There’s a bit of continuity jarring as the movie begins in 3D CG and then jumps back to the traditional 2D. It is in no way a slick transition, as seen in contemporary anime, such as that of Tekkon Kinkreet or even Ghost in the Shell: Innocence.

I haven’t watched the 2.0 update in its entirety yet, but apparently there are a few more changes: all helicopters in the film, for some reason (aside from looking dope?) are now represented in 3D, and all computer terminals are now an orange-redish hue, replacing their former green hue. This is perhaps to distinguish itself from, quite possibly, The Matrix films and to also bridge Ghost in the Shell 1.0 to its sequel film, 2004′s “Innocence” which used those colors predominantly.

Here are a few screenshot differences taken from the Bluray versions of the original Ghost in the Shell and it’s 2.0 update:

Ghost in the Shell 1.0 / 2.0 comparison

We were fortunate enough to have an attendant present that spoke English. This was not normally the case, so if you are considering going, just assume you will be “on your own”, as English-speaking translators are not normally on hand.

When you walk in (after removing your shoes, of course) there are huge LCD panels on the floor. As you navigate the floorscape with your DS in hand, the Wifi tracks your position over an interactive map of Kyoto. Your DS is represented by a virtual bird which you can see in the video. As you walk around, the bird will circle or migrate towards focal points of Kyoto. When we came across Nintendo HQ on the map, Mario popped out with the iconic “coin” sound. You’re also doing this at the same time with other people, which is really cool because it becomes this social experimentation in traversing this interactive field, your DS serving as a “GPS”/Navi/Pokedex:

There’s a lot of interactive content. Unfortunately for me, it was all in Japanese. But it was pretty bugged out. The building had some dope architecture.

It was also an interesting trek/walk to get to. Kyoto is definitely worth checking out, especially if you want to see Japan beyond the bright lights of Tokyo.

Peep the video. Here’s the website with the sick rock garden jawn:

http://www.shigureden.com/english/index.html

Here’s a link to the Japanese-language version of the page (the original) and here is a link to the Google Translate English version (does a pretty-pretty-good translation imo…)

Pretty dope. Thanks a lot, Rob. Also check out photos from Joshua taken at Coney Island, Brooklyn!

To see more photos, check out the full gallery hosted on my Myspace page. If you’re interested in submitting your own photos, please give me a holler! I’ll definitely post them up!

Alright ya’ll, peace!

-Yameen