The silver lining, of course, is that it’s an excellent excuse to dig into the heady world of Ghost in the Shell.

In other words, if ScarJo’s take flops, she won’t be the first Major that fans have accused of ruining the series. And the cyborg heroine Major Motoko Kusanagi has been reincarnated in multiple ages, temperaments, and bodies (or lack thereof). Still, most American moviegoers have only seen Oshii’s film, if that, and Ghost in the Shell, like many anime franchises, exists over multiple films, TV series, and manga that were still going strong as recently as 2015. But in the case of a classic franchise like Ghost in the Shell, which most American viewers know from the 1995 Mamoru Oshii film, there’s more of a known quantity to live up to - this is one of the most influential franchises in anime history.

It’s been notoriously tricky for Hollywood to successfully adapt anime and manga titles, even if they later get a critical reappraisal (see: Speed Racer, Edge of Tomorrow). The Scarlett Johansson version of Ghost in the Shell is being released this Friday, whether we want it or not.

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