"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is a TV series totaling 52 episodes (1st GIG and 2nd GIG, two cours each) broadcast on SkyPerfecTV Perfect Choice and Nippon TV starting in 2002. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, animated by Production I.G and scored by Yoko Kanno, the series was a major hit in Japan and equally popular overseas — including a No. 1 cable-rating record on US CATV.
Yoko Kanno's music for the series is defined by a "fusion of the inorganic and the lyrical" that perfectly suits its near-future cyberpunk world, weaving digital electronica together with Eastern-European folk textures, jazz and rock. Multilingual vocals in Russian, English, Italian and more evoke a stateless, complex future society, and the music has been released across five CDs.
With the new TV series "Ghost in the Shell: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL" set to begin airing in July 2026, the vinyl reissues offer a chance to revisit the franchise's roots. Given the international acclaim the series has long enjoyed, the new format is certain to draw worldwide attention.
The vinyl edition of the original soundtrack to the 2004 theatrical film "Innocence" (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence), directed by Mamoru Oshii and scored by Kenji Kawai, will also be released on August 26.
Set in Japan in 2032 — three years after the events of the original "Ghost in the Shell" — "Innocence" follows Public Security Section 9's cyborg detective Batou as he investigates a wave of murders in which doll-like companion robots (gynoids) inexplicably go berserk. The film became the first Japanese animated feature selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and its score features the solemn "Kugutsu Uta" chant performed by seventy folk singers (Nishida Shachu), pieces inspired by the resonance of giant music boxes, and Kimiko Itoh's theme song "Follow Me" — twelve tracks in total.
[Vinyl Release Information]
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T.+ / music by Yoko Kanno / ¥6,600 / 2LP (July 22)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2 / music by Yoko Kanno / ¥6,600 / 2LP (July 22)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. be Human / music by Yoko Kanno / ¥4,950 / 1LP (July 22)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3 / music by Yoko Kanno / ¥6,600 / 2LP (Aug 26)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society O.S.T. / music by Yoko Kanno / ¥6,600 / 2LP (Aug 26)
- Innocence Original Soundtrack / music by Kenji Kawai / ¥4,950 / 1LP (Aug 26)
[Weekly Official Audio Release on YouTube]
To celebrate the vinyl releases, Flying Dog will roll out fourteen selected tracks from "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" as Official Audio on its YouTube channel, one per week starting today. First track: "inner universe" — https://youtu.be/fQonz5TXtPo
[T-Shirt Giveaway Campaign]
A T-shirt giveaway campaign will also launch in commemoration of the SAC vinyl reissues. Fifty winners will be selected for each of five T-shirt designs featuring the SAC vinyl jacket artwork — entrants apply via a QR code on the entry ticket inside each release ("Innocence" is excluded from the campaign).
©Shirow Masamune-Production I.G／Kodansha・GITS Project
©2004 Shirow Masamune／Kodansha・IG, ITNDDTD
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