In recent years, isekai has become one of the most dominant subgenres of anime, manga, and light novels, with each new season bringing a new wave of stories featuring ordinary people reborn in wonderful fantasy worlds. However, Ghost in the Shell: Rise Up Director Kazuchika Kise is intrigued by why the genre has become so appealing to modern audiences.

The original Ghost in the Shell The film premiered in 1995, transporting viewers to a cyberpunk-style metropolis where humans and cyborgs live relatively peacefully side by side—until a cybernetic hacker known only as the “Puppetmaster” begins wreaking havoc on the city’s inhabitants. While the series’ setting and premise are firmly rooted in the realm of science fiction, it also utilizes fantasy elements in a very different way than modern isekai. Recently, Ghost in the Shellofficial website featured an interview with Kazuchika Kise. Here, the director explains why he thinks traditional fantasy offers audiences a more satisfying viewing experience than isekai.

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Isekai Anime Lacks Consistent Worldbuilding According to Ghost in the Shell: Arise Director

Typically, an isekai anime begins in a “real world” setting and follows a protagonist whose everyday life is lonely or miserable. Then, they abruptly die in a freak accident and wake up in an alternate, high-fantasy world—often as a completely different person or creature. Recent years have seen the rise of a number of high-profile and extremely successful isekai franchises, including That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation and the controversial Rising of the Shield Hero, among many others. For Kise, one of the most important qualities that this type of show lacks is consistent worldbuilding, as the rules of the world can vary for different characters.

“Cyberbrains and cyborg bodies in Ghost in the Shell “There are fantasy elements, but other than that, the conditions for them are the same as for normal humans,” Kise explains. “There’s no magic, and there are no monsters. There’s no concept of leveling up. Recent anime works will show things like a level gauge that appears when characters touch the air, even though there’s no reason for them to have a personal interface like that. I might be getting old, but it really makes me think, ‘What’s going on here?’ It just doesn’t work for me.” Kise is also confused by the bizarre premises that often crop up in isekai. “There was even a series about being reborn as a vending machine recently,” Kise says. “That one really surprised me. I feel like there are fewer grounded anime works than there used to be.”

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Isekai characters who escape from boring modern worlds have become boring

Another common isekai trope is to present the everyday world as a boring, monotonous (or occasionally dark and painful) place that the main character is desperate to escape. Occasionally, the character will revisit this issue after facing new challenges in the fantasy world. According to Kise, this idea has become overused—especially in the world of isekai. “I think there are already too many stories asking, ‘Do we all really hate the modern world that much?’ I find it strange that all that gets made is isekai stories.”

Anime director Kazuchika Kise would like to see an entirely AI-created ghost in the shell

Although public tastes have changed significantly since Ghost in the Shellpremiere, the beloved sci-fi franchise is still going strong. Season 1 of the latest installment, Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, premiered in April 2020 and ran for 12 episodes. In 2022, the series was renewed for a second season. Near the end of the interview, Kise explained how he sees potential for even more innovation in the franchise. “Personally, I would like to see a system entirely made by AI Ghost in the Shell one day, without human involvement, if Shirow (Masamune) would let it happen. What would it be like if you used AI for the script, character design, editing and everything? I would be very curious about that and I feel like Ghost in the Shell is well suited for this type of serial experiment.”

Ghost in the Shell

A cyborg police officer and her partner hunt down a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.

Director

Mamoru Oshii

Release date

November 19, 1995

Studio

Production GI

Cast

Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi

Writers

Masamune Shirow, Kazunori Itô

Execution time

1 hour and 23 minutes

Franchise

Ghost in the Shell

Production company

Kôdansha, Bandai Visual Company, Manga Entertainment.

Source: Ghost in the Shell official website