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Ghost in the Shell Arise 2nd Episode's Teaser Streamed

The official website for the Ghost in the Shell Arise anime project began streaming a teaser video for the second installment on Friday. The second episode, titled "border:2 Ghost Whispers," will open in theaters in Japan on November 30. The Blu-ray Disc and DVD for the episode will then ship on December 25.

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 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 in June, and shipped on Blu-ray Disc and DVD at retail on July 26. The Blu-ray for the first episode was sold in advance at Japanese theaters when the Ghost Pain installment debuted in June. 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.

Funimation licensed the anime and released the first episode in a special imported edition earlier this month. The company plans to screen the first two episodes in a limited theatrical run later this year. The company is also offering the special-edition release prior to its typical English-language home video release.