I am a big fan of Masamune Shirow's comics - Orion, Appleseed, and especially Ghost In The Shell. I am also a big fan of Mamoru Oshii, director of movies such as Angel's Egg, Patlabor 1 and 2. He is also the director of the Ghost In The Shell animated movie - one of the few works I can think of which survived the transition from one medium to another. Shirow's casual cruelty was replaced by Oshii's melancholy. Both works move me, although in different ways. It's one of my favorite movies.

Mr. Shirow has been working on a sequel to his comic, just now coming out in an English translation (it's already out in German, but I prefer reading it in English). Production I.G., the company that made the original movie, is working on a sequel (have a look at the 13.3 MB trailer if you haven't already). It is again directed by Mamoru Oshii and written by Masamune Shirow.

And Production I.G. has also made a TV series called Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Which, as I just read on Slashdot Games, is being turned into a game (you knew I'd get there in the end). A futuristic anti-terrorist shooter, from the looks of it. Yippee.

Shirow fans may want to know that there is a new all-CG animated movie being made (check out the 5.52 MB teaser). It looks a bit more exciting than the earlier effort to turn this great comic into a movie (and check out that Studio Proteus link earlier for news on Appleseed 5...)

(Yes, I know, I probably mixed up all the Japanese first and last names.)