• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Ghost in the Shell has Changed the Name of its Main Character

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

LordOfLore

Banned
Give me the anime if old.

Link.

Scarlett Johansson didn’t play Motoko Kusanagi in the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie, at least not according to the latest teaser.

Ghost in the Shell stars Major Motoko Kusanagi, a human consciousness stuck inside a mechanical body (in other words, she’s a “ghost” in a “shell” body. Voila, the title now makes a lot more sense). However, it appears that the live-action remake won’t star the same Major fans have come to know.

Here’s why. With a hat tip to Entertainment Weekly, check out the latest footage from the movie:

Yup, you can hear the scientist calling our protagonist “Mira” instead of “Motoko.” The casting of Scarlett Johansson has never really gone over that well anyway. Here’s The Verge’s reporting on the film’s director from November of last year. And Slashfilm from June 2016. Granted, the name chance is a relatively minor detail, all told, but it’s a very clear sidestep to try and avoid accusations of whitewashing that they haven’t been able to sidestep since it came out that Scarlett Johansson would be playing the role in the first place.

As Entertainment Weekly reports, original creator Mamoru Oshii seemed to believe she had the character of Motoko, not Mira. Additionally, here’s their quote from producer Steven Paul, originally via BuzzFeed:

“I don’t think it was just a Japanese story. Ghost in the Shell was a very international story…”

Will the movie change her surname as well? It seems like an obvious choice, especially if the defense here is that it’s an “international story.” Presumably they’ll keep it to a surname starting with K, as they kept the M sound for her first name.

No wonder they’ve also kept calling her just the Major as well, including in the above video’s description; it’s effectively hidden the change until the reveal of this footage.
Click to expand...
 
A

Arkeband

Banned
I don't see how they could have pulled off ScarJo having a Japanese first and last name. The whitewashing was already done, they can't just pretend she's Japanese.

They should have just referred to her as Major like she's a female Master Chief.
 
Carl2291

Carl2291

Member
I thought he said Major, not Mira.

Guess I need to watch it again.

Edit - oh, different video completely. Yup that's Mira.
 
F

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
For the longest time I thought they were going to use the original name. No idea why they weren't upfront about this.
 
S

#sorrynotsorry

Member
Arkeband said:
I don't see how they could have pulled off ScarJo having a Japanese first and last name. The whitewashing was already done, they can't just pretend she's Japanese.

They should have just referred to her as Major like she's a female Master Chief.
Click to expand...

Yup. Name had to change. Would have been weird otherwise.
 
s_mirage

s_mirage

Member
Mira Killian. This was leaked a while ago in the description of the art book, but it does rankle that they haven't came right out and stated it. It does look as if they are nervy about fan reaction.
 
K

kirblar

Member
If they had simply Americanized everything like in other international adaptations (both to America and exported out of it), this would have been much less of an issue. But in maintaining the "Hong Kong/Tokyo 20XX" aesthetic but only changing the lead character to white, you get this bizarre dissonance where they're trying to have it both ways.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
Reminds me a bit of this:
3ca.png
Click to expand...
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Slayven said:
Who is this movie for?
Click to expand...

American audiences.

kirblar said:
If they had simply Americanized everything like in other international adaptations (both to America and exported out of it), this would have been much less of an issue. But in maintaining the "Hong Kong/Tokyo 20XX" aesthetic but only changing the lead character to white, you get this bizarre dissonance where they're trying to have it both ways.
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying but its a bi-product of two competing forces - trying to keep it true to the source material, and the fact that the only reason a high-budget Ghost in the Shell live-action movie exists is because Scarlett Johannson was attached to the project.
 
S

SeanC

Member
Yeah, I don't know how last minute but going into principal photography her name in the script I read was Motoko Kusanagi. Noticeably here she says "Mira" off camera, you don't see her lips move. Easy ADR/editing change. Then again, I don't remember every line of dialogue from the script so whatever, it was years ago.

Gonna be interesting, curious if they made the change during shooting or not.
 
K

kirblar

Member
Bronx-Man said:
Between anime movies, DC, and all the other cinematic universe non-starters (Amazing Spiderman, Dracula Untold, etc), I've accepted that Feige is a major exception to the rule.
Click to expand...
Feige, A24, and Annapurna Pictures are showing how much producers matter w/ filmmaking.
 
S

SuperStiltzkin

Member
MetroidPrimeRib said:
I dunno how Motoko Kusanagi is too hard to say.
Click to expand...

I think they're changing it cause Mira is less Japanese sounding. I'm for it. I don't want a white woman playing someone named "Motoko Kusanagi" Better to name her a more ethnically ambiguous name rather than unmistakably Japanese and then be white.
 
K

kirblar

Member
SuperStiltzkin said:
I think they're changing it cause Mira is less Japanese sounding. I'm for it. I don't want a white woman playing someone named "Motoko Kusanagi" Better to name her a more ethnically ambiguous name rather than unmistakably Japanese and then be white.
Click to expand...
Mira's also a female name outside of Japan, so it works w/ their attempt to do the hybrid "San Fransokyo" thing.
 
Z

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
Arkeband said:
I don't see how they could have pulled off ScarJo having a Japanese first and last name. The whitewashing was already done, they can't just pretend she's Japanese.
Click to expand...

Ishikawa's black in this movie and they're keeping his name.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Variety: When Superman and Batman Copyrights Expire in a Decade, Will It Be Kryptonite for DC?
20
2K
Skyfox replied
The ESRB has started slapping blockchain games with Adults Only ratings, so Epic has changed its store policy to allow them
News Business
2
782
Zathalus replied
Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney Over ‘Black Widow’ Streaming Release
2 3 4 5
211
16K
Amiga replied
Unintentionally Funny/ Weird Game Design Choices
Opinion Cringe Analysis
4
753
Angry_Megalodon replied
Fans of Japanese adventure games/mystery game fans, we shall feast in 2024!
10
3K
Nok Su Kow replied
Top Bottom