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Anime World Order Show # 257 – “Activate Autistic Mode” Doesn’t Mean “Summarize the Horus Heresy” to Masamune Shirow

Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:28:12 — 69.4MB)

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As the Summer 2026 season ends, we review a title from…Summer 2026, as Gerald reviews The Ghost in the Shell, which for the first time directly adapts the original manga by Masamune Shirow.

Introduction (0:00 – 1:06:34)
Patreon has officially informed us that we need to switch over to monthly billing next month, which will also mark the point where new $1 tier members will no longer be accepted. You can stay on the $1 tier if you are already on it, but you won’t be able to rejoin it if you leave. In its place will be a new $3 tier, which will also grant access to our AWOmake episodes. As for anime, we talk about our favorites from the Summer 2026 anime season, which had multiple standouts so this takes about 35 minutes. Note that in the time since we made this recording, a second season of Draw This, Then Die! has been confirmed.

Then, you know we had to do it, because lately Stu Levy has been sending numerous emails  and doing various video webinars beseeching fans to invest in Tokyopop. We thought for sure nobody would do this, but upon checking he has about as many if not slightly more investors than we have Patreon backers. Clearly, the history of Tokyopop has either been forgotten or is otherwise not as widely known among 21st century anime fans, so we take the time to recap that history here before Daryl reads one of Stu’s emails out aloud in its entirety so you too can experience a master at work. It is currently undecided whether a generative AI was used to compose this email or whether what we’re observing is just a case of Terminal LinkedIn Poster Brain.

Don’t forget, Patrons: the Fall 2026 Trailer Watch Along is September 26th at 3 PM Eastern! Join us on the AWO Discord, since we have no means of recording or live streaming such an event.

Review: The Ghost in the Shell (1:06:34 – 2:28:12)
Gerald reviews The Ghost in the Shell, a 2026 Prime Video exclusive adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s signature work that ran for 10 episodes and concluded just a few weeks ago. We compare this version to the previous anime adaptations, but with a general focus on Shirow’s original manga. Because Gerald still has his Studio Proteus edition from 30 years ago and Daryl has both a digital edition of the 2017 release and a hardcover edition of the 2023 release (both of which are censored), we entirely forgot that just a few months ago, Kodansha released a $140 MSRP Legacy Edition set of the Ghost in the Shell manga that is specifically advertised as “uncensored” complete with an 18+ tag on it. If you do buy that, please use the affiliate link we just provided since it looks like we have yet another version to buy someday!

Streaming services don’t have any sort of standards and practices, so this stylization resembling the application of a digital signal corruption to “censor” headshot splatter (and middle fingers, Guardians of the Galaxy style) is presumably just a deliberate choice since otherwise we’d expect that Angel Cop level headshot gore detail.
Our hero, Major Motoko Kusanagi. Her boss, Aramaki, is in the background. He normally looks more simian.
Bow down before your bisexual anime queen. That style isn’t just for Spike Spiegel.
Amazon doesn’t typically sell their shows on Blu-Ray, but someone could make some money selling “uncensored” Blu-Rays. We’re just saying. Also, who’s cleaning all this oil off these expensive bedsheets?!
While not a comedy, The Ghost in the Shell retains Shirow’s penchant for characters having very cartoony reaction shots; a system shock for those who have only ever experienced Ghost in the Shell through anime.
It can get pretty extreme, but a childhood of having it deprived from me by Filmation makes me consider squash and stretch the most important principle of animation.
In contrast with the past 30 years of Ghost in the Shell anime, this series conveys Shirow’s original manga depiction of Kusanagi: cool, but also a gremlin menace.
Fuchikoma should never be left unsupervised. To think they’re representing the actual GOOD version of AI.
Hot Dance in Cherry Moon! At this point it’s been so long that I can’t even remember if a Japanese language English subtitled release of Dominion: Tank Police ever came out in the US or if we all just saw it fansubbed and had to settle for the Manga UK Tank Police with all the music changed. I adore you, till the end of time Annapuma and Unipuma.
At least one thing remains consistent across all adaptations of Ghost in the Shell: just as Steve Rogers possesses America’s Ass, Major Motoko Kusanagi always bears Japan’s Ass.

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