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New Ghost in the Shell Arise Promo Showcases Blu-ray Release

The official website for the Ghost in the Shell Arise anime began streaming a promotional video for the Blu-ray release of the anime's first installment, "border:1 Ghost Pain," on Saturday.

In addition, the website also opened the page for the series' second installment, "border:2 Ghost Whispers". The story of "border:2 Ghost Whispers" takes place after Motoko gains her freedom by separating herself from the military's 501st Secret Unit. Even without Aramaki's suggestion to make her own unit, Motoko begins actions to collect members for her very own unit. As this is going on, someone has hacked into the Logicoma. As she transports the machines in order to check them for abnormalities, she is suddenly attacked by an armed unit. Not long after, she meets up with Batou, the man with the "eye that never sleeps", Ishikawa, a former member of the army who is good at finding information through the internet, and Borma, an electronic warfare expert. The new installment is scheduled to open at various Japanese cinemas on November 30.

The new installment will bring back most the cast from the first installment, with Ishikawa, Saito, Paz, and Borma making their first appearance:

Maaya Sakamoto as Motoko Kusanagi
Ikkyū Juku as Daisuke Aramaki
Kenichirō Matsuda as Batou
Tomoyuki Dan as Ishikawa
Takurō Nakakuni as Saito
Youji Ueda as Paz
Kazuya Nakai as Borma
Miyuki Sawashiro as Logicoma

The first of four 50-minute parts from the anime series premiered in Japanese theaters on Saturday, and will be available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD at retail on July 26. The Blu-ray and DVD set will contain a new "Logicoma Beat" 3D CG anime short, as well as an all-color special booklet containing information on the Ghost in the Shell world and staff interviews. The Blu-ray for the first episode was sold in advance at Japanese theaters when the Ghost Pain installment debuted on Saturday. Kazuchika Kise (chief animation director for Otogi Zoshi, Blood-C: The Last Dark) is directing the series and designing the characters, and Tow Ubukata (Le Chevalier D'Eon, Mardock Scramble) is supervising and writing the scripts. Production I.G is producing the series, and Cornelius (Appleseed: Ex Machina) is composing the music.