Well, you can be Japanese and Caucasian... they are not mutually exclusive (one is a race, the other is a nationality). I've read the comic in the past, watched the original film, watched SAC and he has always been a white guy often with blonde hair. It's been well over a decade since I've seen anything in this series -- maybe, I missed something, but if you asked 100 people who've seen GITS, 99 would call Batou a white guy.
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On set pics of the Major in ScarJost In The Shell
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Well, you can be Japanese and Caucasian... they are not mutually exclusive (one is a race, the other is a nationality). I've read the comic in the past, watched the original film, watched SAC and he has always been a white guy often with blonde hair. It's been well over a decade since I've seen anything in this series -- maybe, I missed something, but if you asked 100 people who've seen GITS, 99 would call Batou a white guy.
Oh yeah... forgot that Tachikoma wasn't the blanket term for them all.
lightskintwin
Banned
I predict this will do at least as well as Lucy worldwide. Wouldn't be surprised if this into a movie franchise for Scarlett Johanssen.
It's exceedingly rare to have a non-ethnic Japanese citizen, however. It's a very homogenous country.
FunkyDealer
Banned
Batou without the cyborg eyes, just doesn't look right.
That's true, but the world of GITS is in the future. There are a number of GAFfers who live in Japan and have Japanese spouses with children that are of mixed race. It's not at all difficult to imagine that things will be a good bit different in ~2050 than in 1989 or even 2016.
Octavianus
Banned
Pretty easy to hate something that looks like it's basically the opposite of what I want from an IP that I care about.
And it doesn't help that the main character is being portrayed by an actress who is terrible in everything she's in.
timetokill
Banned
Exactly, she's doing great
lightskintwin
Banned
Whether the leads of this movie should be white is one thing, but this reasoning is silly and had nothing to do with the decision.
Lol, seriously. That IS the Major.
sunshine and gasoline
Banned
Could be worse I suppose. Also, liking the guy with thee cyan hair.
I'm not saying that's the reasoning. I just answered that poster's response that it's rare to be both white/caucasian and Japanese. Batou has always appeared as a white person and I never once got the impression he wasn't one in the 20+ years since I was introduced to him.
lightskintwin
Banned
Of course you didn't, because unless it's explicitly stated otherwise; The majority of people automatically default to white. It's a phenomena that happens with book readers of all race/ethnicities. Now I'm not arguing he isn't white, but given the manga/anime artstyle couldn't you argue based off appearances alone that most characters are white then???
If they have blonde or platinum hair, yes, it is reasonable to argue that is the case. It's quite common for the blonde-haired character to be an American in anime/manga. Offhand, Onizuka is one of the few I can think of who had blonde hair and was Japanese, and his was bleached since he was a bad dude. Batou also had brown hair in the comic which is also atypical amongst Japanese people -- they more or less exclusively have black hair. He has always been very clearly presented as a white person.
chrisPjelly
Member
I don't know how else they could pull the literal Batou eye buttons without it looking stupid. Maybe they'll give him augmented eyes or Morpheus shades
The thing is, the Ghost in the Shell's (film) style isn't very exaggerated so yeah, I'd say it's kind of ambiguous and confusing when they're drawn and coloured in a Caucasian likeness with an artstyle that is semi realistic.
TrAcEr_x90
Member
No cyber eyes??? I'm out.
andythinkpad
Member
No. Now that I know who is playing Batou, I have even less hope. He is too young.
Now let's go murder some nephews.
lightskintwin
Banned
Serious question, don't a lot of anime and manga have blonde haired characters? Are they all white? Is Naruto white?
You're looking at set pics. Shit like cyborg eyes can be CG'd in, even without tracking markers.
And even if they went with practical effects, the actor would be walking around blind behind those button-sized eyes.
Serious question, don't a lot of anime and manga have blonde haired characters? Are they all white? Is Naruto white?
I don't understand why people bring up Naruto.
Naruto's cast is mixed with every color because they live in a made up world. The leaf village is a very diverse community compared to the other villages too.
It's a lot different setting than a futuristic Japan.
lightskintwin
Banned
Ok, but he said:
However I didn't realize there were other qualifiers such as if they were in a made up world or a futuristic Japan that determined whether they were white. I think I got it. Thanks
It is the best.
Was talking about all of it. I prefer the Major's demeanor in the manga. It's the reason I like the manga more than the movies/show. The Major is too cold in the latter.
Darth Pinche
Member
I bet at some point in the movie, he'll put on some small night vision or something glasses and we'll all clap.
Dice//
Banned
I laughed x)
GavinUK86
Member
Well it's apparently telling The Laughing Man story.
Dice//
Banned
I love the series but I've never understood what this outfit was about:
White tankershirt is ok with me.
Yeah I was always put off by that.
What I meant was that the costume designer wasn't more imaginative with a cyberpunk setting than simply just a tank top. It's the future with cyborgs n shit and that's the best you can come up with?
Ether_Snake
å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®
I'm telling you guys, Mickey Rourke would have been great. Just put some good makeup to make him look a little bit younger, and give him a clean haircut.
Batou needs to look really strong, and have a bit of a father-like attitude, which emphasizes how strong Motoko is since she's pretty much above him, and also emphasizes her detachment by not being very responsive to Batou's protectiveness (if they took the first GitS movie approach to the characters anyway, which I felt was GitS at its best).
With the guy they got, it can't really convey that.
Of course they removed the lens because it was "getting in the actor's talent's way", but I think it's a big mistake since it makes the character more memorable visually, and also gives some distance between Batou and the audience; we are never quite sure what his feelings are, we never actually "make eye contact" with him, and that worked well again in the GitS movie since it made the relation between him and Motoko more nebulous, which it really was for both characters themselves anyway.
Batou needs to look really strong, and have a bit of a father-like attitude, which emphasizes how strong Motoko is since she's pretty much above him, and also emphasizes her detachment by not being very responsive to Batou's protectiveness (if they took the first GitS movie approach to the characters anyway, which I felt was GitS at its best).
With the guy they got, it can't really convey that.
Of course they removed the lens because it was "getting in the actor's talent's way", but I think it's a big mistake since it makes the character more memorable visually, and also gives some distance between Batou and the audience; we are never quite sure what his feelings are, we never actually "make eye contact" with him, and that worked well again in the GitS movie since it made the relation between him and Motoko more nebulous, which it really was for both characters themselves anyway.
Systolique
Member
Told you guys she would look great as Motoko.
Also Pilou is looking very very close to what Batou looked like in the 1995 movie, which is the atmosphere one of the writer said they were going with.
I don't think you could get really closer to Batou's face without completely modifying what someone looks like in post-production, maybe they'll do that coupled with the signature cyborg eyes
Edit : Also it's surprisingly good to see that they are shooting city scenes in Hong-Kong -- even though it always had looked like the logical place to shoot.
When they revealed the first Johansson shot as Motoko they said they were doing most of the shooting in New Zealand, and seemed to be referring to outdoor shots
Edit 2 : Found short videos of Scarlett and Pilou walking during scenes on set from the sources cited on the Kotaku article : 1, 2
Also Pilou is looking very very close to what Batou looked like in the 1995 movie, which is the atmosphere one of the writer said they were going with.
I don't think you could get really closer to Batou's face without completely modifying what someone looks like in post-production, maybe they'll do that coupled with the signature cyborg eyes
Edit : Also it's surprisingly good to see that they are shooting city scenes in Hong-Kong -- even though it always had looked like the logical place to shoot.
When they revealed the first Johansson shot as Motoko they said they were doing most of the shooting in New Zealand, and seemed to be referring to outdoor shots
Edit 2 : Found short videos of Scarlett and Pilou walking during scenes on set from the sources cited on the Kotaku article : 1, 2
Eppy Thatcher
God's had his chance.
Hah! Holy shit she actually looks pretty good. I really hope they do right by the action scenes in this ... needs to be fast and kinetic as hell. The very first action scene in the movie is still what informs a lot of my character work and movement/form. Also that cool af active camo hoodie is the bomb and i want one.
Batou looks... not as great. If they don't get his eyes right in post it's gonna be really reeeaaally weird.
Scarjo looks fuckin awesome though. more confident to go see this now for sure.
Batou looks... not as great. If they don't get his eyes right in post it's gonna be really reeeaaally weird.
Scarjo looks fuckin awesome though. more confident to go see this now for sure.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
Her jacket is great, at least it is not like every part of the production design is not trying to be faithful.
lightskintwin
Banned
Ironically, I think the Wachowskis would've been perfect directing this film.
Scartoko looks less bad now I suppose, but Batou looks like shit in the pictures. Those videos actually make it seem a bit better given their size difference, but ScarJo is pretty short so yeah. It's weird, in that with her he looks like the appropriate size, but Motoko should be taller and more built and Batou is even bigger than her.
Is that fanart? Cause I don't remember Motoko being that stacked.
GhostWriter24
Member
s_mirage
Member
It is, yes.
Oh God Why
Banned
Gaf, what do you think Major Kusanagi and Batou will be renamed to in the movie? Personally, I think Maya Kusiewicz and Barry is plausible.
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