As frustrating as the whitewashing controversy remains to be, ‘Ghost in the Shell’ may or may not still have a few cool things going for it. For starters, director Rupert Sanders’ vision of the story’s futuristic world looks phenomenal. Then, the craftsmanship of the CGI used to bring Scarlett Johansson’s The Major to life might be game changing. And now there’s another cool thing that they’re doing to give one hell of an homage to the original 1995 anime.
According to Kotaku, three of the original voice actors from the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi property have been tapped to return to the seminal futuristic thriller to provide the Japanese language dub of the upcoming live-action film. When they head to theaters to see the movie, fans in Japan will be able to hear Akio Otsuka, Koichi Yamadera, and Atsuko Tanaka instead of Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han, and Scarlett Johansson as they respectively reprise their roles as Batou, Togusa, and the protagonist formerly known as Major Motoko Kusanagi.
This should come as welcome news to the Japanese audience as moviegoers often complain that the dubs on Hollywood movies aren’t up to snuff. But with veteran performers such as these that have a history with this franchise, the fans should have nothing to worry about. Even the director of the animated ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Mamoru Oshii gives his endorsement:
“It’s been a while since they’ve played these characters. I definitely want them to deliver performances they see fit. They’re all pros, so there’s nothing to worry about, and I can only say that this is something to look forward to.”
While this is certainly great news for the fans in Japan, hopefully the dub will be included on the home release so that the rest of the world can enjoy it as well. But while we wait to see if that will come to fruition, let us know what you think about the original ‘Ghost in the Shell’ performers’ involvement in the comments.
’Ghost in the Shell’ starring Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Michael Pitt, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, Kaori Momoi, Danusia Samal, Yutaka Izumihara, Tuwanda Manyimo, and Chin Han hits theaters on March 31, 2017.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
