Best Selling Books by Masamune Shirow

In the mighty Yamata Empire, magic and technology are one and the same. Now, the Empire is preparing its ultimate feat of psycho-science: the destruction of all the negative karma in the galaxy! But will this mystical purification be the salvation of humanity--or the trigger of its ultimate destruction? Only one being can save the Empire from its folly: Susano, the God of Destruction. Wild, arrogant, and homicidal, Susano has come to teach the world the true nature of power! Shirow Masamune, creator of Appleseed, Dominion, Intron Depot,and Ghost in the Shell, has earned a huge worldwide following with his unique, eclectic, and visually stunning blend of science-fiction and fantasy. Orion is Shirow at his wildest, and is now for the first time in America published in right-to-left reading format, as originally published in Japan. Plus a variety of great bonus features: art gallery, Orion glossary, and notes on the text composed by Shirow himself!

Japanese artist Masamune Shirow is well known to discriminating comics readers. American editions of his spectacular graphic epics have been highly praised and voraciously collected. Now, his gorgeous and highly detailed color art has been collected for the first time into a single, handsome trade paperback. Beautifully printed in Japan and featuring text in both Japanese and English, this package features nearly two hundred full-color Shirow works, 47 published for the first time anywhere in the world! This book is a nearly complete archive of Shirow''s color work from 1981 to 1991, including material from Appleseed, Dominion, Black Magic, Orion, and much more. This is an absolute must for fans of Shirow, science-fiction and fantasy art, and manga.

NEW HARDCOVER DELUXE EDITION! Now a major motion picture! • Definitive new edition supervised by creator Shirow Masamune • In the original, right-to-left format with Japanese sound effects for the first time! • Released simultaneously with deluxe editions of The Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2 The "lost" Ghost in the Shell stories, created by Shirow Masamune after completing work on the original Ghost in the Shell manga and prior to his tour-de-force, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface. Focusing on Section 9 agents in their daily battle against technocrime, Human-Error Processor. Features the stories "Fat Cat," "Drive Slave," "Mines of Mind," and "Lost Past."

Deep into the 21st century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants, and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging technoscape, the cover-ops agents of Section 9 are charged to track and crack the most dangerous terrorists, cybercriminals, and ghost hackers the digital future has to offer. Whether dealing with remote-controlled corpses, lethally malfunctioning micromachines, or cop-killer cyborgs, Section 9 is determined to serve and protect…and reboot some cybercrook butt! Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor presents for the first time in America the "lost" Ghost in the Shell stories, created by Shirow Masamune after completing work on the original Ghost in the Shell manga and prior to his tour-de-force, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface, but never collected until now. Focusing on Section 9 agents in their daily battle against technocrime, Human-Error Processor has all the mind-twisting cybermadness you’ve come to expect from Ghost in the Shell but set in a more police-procedural context with action and suspense galore. Features the stories "Fat Cat," "Drive Slave," "Mines of Mind," and "Lost Past."

NEW HARDCOVER DELUXE EDITION! Now a major motion picture! • Definitive new edition supervised by creator Shirow Masamune • In the original, right-to-left format with Japanese sound effects for the first time! • Released simultaneously with deluxe editions of The Ghost in the Shell 1.5 and 2 Deep into the twenty-first century, the line between man and machine has been blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg superagent Major Motoko Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including "ghost hackers" who are capable of exploiting the human/machine interface and reprogramming humans to become puppets to carry out the hackers'' criminal ends.

La section 9 est sur les dents ! Il faut dire que les enquêtes s''enchaînent pour la section d''élite et que Kusanagi et Batou n''ont guère le temps de chômer... Découvrez enfin dans sa version perfect ce volume phare de la saga, qui vous éclairera sur la vie quotidienne de la section 9, ses difficultés et ses tensions. Un tome qui conclut à merveille le triptyque de The Ghost in the Shell Perfect Edition.

Functional simplicity, structural complexity: the best life for all. That''s the maxim of Olympus, the utopian city that sprung from the ashes of World War III. But Deunan and Bri, a young woman and her cyborg companion just entering the rose-tinted society, find that so long as there are different kinds of people there will be differences among them. Such is the story of Appleseed, the masterwork of manga storyteller Masamune Shirow. Beautiful art and a complex and fully realized future world rank this title among the best comics available.

Masamune Shirow, creator of Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed, is famed worldwide for his groundbreaking contributions to manga and animation, and his work in the game industry is equally impressive. Intron Depot 5: Battalion presents Shirow''s stunning design and conceptual art for Asura Fantasy, RF Online, Fire Emblem, and others, showcasing 128 pages of characters, costumes, weapons, gear, and environments, all in glorious color. In his commentary, Shirow discusses his increasingly sophisticated CG technique as well as the unique demands of working in Japan''s fast-paced game industry. A must for any manga, anime, or gaming enthusiast and essential for any fantasy/science-fiction artist.

March 6, 2035. Motoko Aramaki is a hyper-advanced cyborg, a counter-terrorist Net security expert, heading the investigative department of the giant multi-national Poseidon Industrial. Partly transcending the physical world and existing in a virtual world of networks, Motoko is a fusion of multiple entities and identities, deploying remotely controlled prosthetic humanoid surrogates around the globe to investigate a series of bizarre incidents.

You can''t have a perfect society without perfect people, and the only perfect people are the ones you can manufacture. The governing body of Olympus, an urban utopia created from the ashes of World War III, is about to bring paradise crashing down around their ears as they seek to regulate the minds and bodies of the human race . . . or fully replace them with cyborg substitutes. Deunan and Briareos, still new to the city, find themselves in the unlikely position of having to hold together this house of cards. Their strategy? Destroy the old foundation and pray everything stands while new underpinnings are forged! From the imagination of Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune comes the manga masterpiece Appleseed, an epic cyberpunk vision deftly balancing hardcore techno-science, wry political commentary, and explosive action. A visionary work that inspired the wildly popular animated film, Appleseed is now presented for the first time in America in right-to-left reading format, as originally published in Japan.

"''Dominion'' is an ecological-dystopian-police procdedural adventure/comedy"--Back cover

Paradise ain''t easy! In the future utopian metropolis of Olympus, a blazing beacon of humanity amidst a post-global-war wasteland, ESWAT agents Deunan and Briareos have fought tooth and nail to keep the peace and prevent Olympus from sliding back into chaos. When Olympus intelligence learns of a giant Landmate powersuit being built in secrecy, and on the threshhold of a top-secret international conference of the highest importance to be held in Olympus, ESWAT is mobilized to crack the mystery and disrupt a terrorist operation that could turn the fragile peace into World War IV! From the imagination of Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune comes a visionary work from the series that inspired the wildly popular animated film, Appleseed. * A New York Times bestseller!

World War III is over, but for nomad soldier Deunan Knute and her cyborg lover, Briareos, the greatest challenge lies ahead. Not in the abandoned cities and DMZs of a post-war battlefield, but on the streets of a new "utopia." Shirow Masamune''s visionary Appleseed is widely regarded not only as one of the lynchpin works of graphic fiction, but one of the most influential science-fiction stories in recent memory, culminating in the astonishing 2005 animated adaptation. Appleseed: Hypernotes, never before collected in America, features an over eighty page Appleseed tale, plus reams of detailed information and art of the characters, machines, and weapons of Appleseed.

In the mighty Yamata Empire, magic and technology are one and the same. Now, the Empire is preparing its ultimate feat of psycho-science: the destruction of all the negative karma in the galaxy! But will this mystical purification be the salvation of humanity -- or the trigger of its ultimate destruction? Only one being can save the Empire from its folly: Susano, the God of Destruction. Wild, arrogant, and homicidal, Susano has come to teach the world the true nature of power! Shirow Masamune, creator of Appleseed, Dominion, Intron Depot and Ghost in the Shell, has earned a huge worldwide following with his unique, eclectic, and visually stunning blend of science-fiction and fantasy, and Orion is Shirow at his wildest, and now for the first time in America published in right-to-left reading format, as originally published in Japan. Plus a variety of great bonus features: art gallery, Orion glossary and notes on the text composed by Shirow himself!

World War III is over, but for nomad soldier Deunan Knute and her cyborg lover, Briareos, the greatest challenge lies ahead. Not in the abandoned cities and DMZs of a post-war battlefield, but on the streets of a new "utopia." Shirow Masamune''s visionary Appleseed is widely regarded not only as one of the lynchpin works of graphic fiction, but one of the most influential science-fiction stories in recent memory, culminating in the astonishing 2005 animated adaptation. Appleseed: Hypernotes, never before collected in America, features an over eighty page Appleseed tale, plus reams of detailed information and art of the characters, machines, and weapons of Appleseed.

Today, the planet Venus is a literal hell of furnace-like temperatures and dense, poisonous atmosphere. But millions of years in its past, Venus teemed with life and with a civilization far advanced to our own. The Nemisis supercomputer controls government functions, with bioroid "executors" created to carry out the system''s utopian edicts. But trouble brews even in paradise, as different executors vie for control of Nemesis, forcing the governing system to secretly create Duna Typhon, a super-bioroid "sleeper," raised among the human populace, ready to use her awesome powers should Nemesis be co-opted to turn paradise into paradise lost. From the imagination of Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune comes his first published series, Black Magic, a sweeping science-fiction epic that introduces many of the themes and ideas that influence all of Shirow''s work. * Now available in right-to-left reading format!

Le cyberpunk à son paroxysme ! Dans un univers futuriste où la majorité des individus sont connectés au réseau, le major Kusanagi et son équipe traquent les criminels les plus tenaces. Force d''enquête tout autant que d''intervention, ils doivent chaque jour affronter des menaces civiles et politiques dans un régime tentaculaire gangrené par la corruption. Intelligence artificielle, cyborgs et réalité connectée ne sont que les premières difficultés. La trilogie de Shirow Masamune, popularisée par le film d’animation de Mamoru Oshii et le long-métrage mettant en scène Scarlett Johansson, s''offre à vous dans sa forme la plus complète, avec une nouvelle traduction et une nouvelle maquette, supervisées par l''auteur lui-même.

Deep into the twenty-first century, the line between man and machine has been blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg superagent Major Motoko Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including ''ghost hackers'' who are capable of exploiting the human/machine interface and reprogramming humans to become puppets to carry out the hackers'' criminal ends.

Estas cuatro historias, publicadas por Kodansha entre 1992 y 1995, iban a ser, originalmente, Manmachine Interface, una continuación de Ghost in the Shell justo después de que la sección 9 derrotara al maestro de marionetas. Son diversas historias que profundizan un poco más en el día a día de la sección. Según palabras del propio Shirow, está muy contento con que estas páginas vean la luz, porque después de que Manmachine Interface se centrara en Motoko, le daba pena no poder desarrollar a los otros miembros del grupo. Incluye Fat Cat, Drive Slave, Mines of Mind y Lost Past.