Anime fans in the United Kingdom and Ireland will soon be able to watch Ghost in the Shell in 4K UHD.
On Friday, Funimation UK announced that it would be selling a 4K UHD Blu-ray of director Mamoru Oshii's iconic 1995 anime Ghost in the Shell for fans in the UK and Ireland. The film will be available both as a part of Funimation's upcoming Collector's Edition Steelbook and as a standard edition 4K UHD Blu-ray. Both editions have been remastered in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and have HDR capabilities. The Blu-ray will release on July 12, 2021 and is already available for pre-order.
The Collector's Edition Steelbook will also offer fans exclusive artwork from British artist Matt Ferguson, who has previously created official posters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars and various Disney animated films. The Blu-ray's box art and packaging are designed by Ferguson, as are the six detailed art cards and fold-out poster contained in the Steelbook.
Both the standard and Collector's editions will provide fans with brand new features, including a full-length audio commentary track for the film by English language scriptwriter Mary Claypool, producer Eric Calderon, voice actor Richard Epcar (Bato) and animation critic and historian Charles Solomon. Both editions will also include two featurettes, titled "Accessing Section 9: 25 Years into the Future" and "Landscapes & Dreamscapes – The Art and Architecture of GHOST IN THE SHELL."
The influential 1995 Ghost in the Shell anime remains a classic of both the anime medium and cyberpunk fiction, having inspired countless science-fiction franchises from The Matrix films to the Metal Gear Solid game series. The success of the film, as well as the original 1989 manga, has spawned numerous sequels, novelizations, TV anime adaptations and spinoffs and video game adaptations. Recently, the film has received attention due to director Mamoru Oshii's controversial opinions about Evangelion director Hideaki Anno and the modern anime industry.
Source: Funimation
