Mokochan, the director of Science SARU’s brand-new adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in The Shell series, has been gaining attention not only for his work on the anime, but his eccentric approach to animation and directing in general. Just last week, he said his method for achieving a truly faithful adaptation of the original manga was to “seek spiritual communion” with Shirow and even pray to an imaginary image of the (still very much alive) author. But now, the origin of Mokochan’s unusual alias has gone viral among Japanese anime fans.
In a recent interview with Pen Online, Mokochan – whose career in the anime industry was kicked off by a passion for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and solidified through his contributions to the Dandadan anime, says his nickname is not at all intended as a joke. “There was a time when I thought to myself, ‘Just discard your ego and become a drawing machine!’ and from that moment, I started thinking of myself as Mokochan. I’m not fooling around with it, I believe it’s my own way of taking responsibility with sincerity,” he says.
Quite appropriately for his “drawing machine” ideal, Mokochan says he has “absolutely no intention” to flaunt his own sensibilities when working on anime. Rather than individual sensibility, he considers “physicality” to be much more important for anime production.
As he explains, “Animation production involves enormous and complex organizations, with people fulfilling a wide variety of roles. The process is highly specialized, and there are times when, rather than expressing originality, what’s required is the technical ability to draw according to instructions. But the moment something passes through your own hands and becomes your output, it inevitably begins to bear the imprint of its creator. Once I came to trust that kind of physical signature, I stopped feeling any particular need to express myself.” According to Mokochan, this stance of his has not changed even now that he’s made his directorial debut.
The Ghost in The Shell anime is airing now via Prime Video.
It’s such a shame that it’s not a new storyline. It’s just regurgitated combination of the old storylines. It’s nice to watch something different and in spots it is different but mostly it’s the same story we’ve seen before just broken up and different pieces. Also.Tachikoma dont have a mouth
Tachikoma does in fact have a mouth, it’s a mounted cannon barrel.
But I get the feeling you’re not even talking about Tachikoma.
Because if you’re talking about the red walker tanks in the new series, those aren’t Tachikoma.
They’re the earlier model walkers from the manga (and the video game) called Fuchikoma.
Which is why they call them Fuchikoma and not Tachikoma.
And the emotive mouth on the Fuchikoma has been canon since the manga.
This title has always meant to go back to the source, they’ve (Science Saru) have been saying such since BEFORE IT WAS RELEASED.
Sadly, if you misunderstood that and thought you were getting new story, you were mistaken.
SO YES;
1) The stories are going to be true to the Original source material. A.k.a the Manga; This involves stories that have already been adapted by others (whether for better or poorer is up to the individual [11])
2) The tanks will have cat mouths like Shirou/Shirow drew them in certain frames in the manga. This happened often, Although the tanks were called Fujikoma NOT Tachikoma. (Thanks for telling us you’re not familiar with, or at least need to go back and re read if it’s been a while, because the tanks DO have mouths, whether it’s the Line on their grenade launcher [notice in scenes they are in different alignment] or the cat mouths.)
3) The author is not currently writing anything new for the story. So this team isnt planning on ‘making up stuff’ to appease an audience wanting that, that’s already been done technically 3 times, if not two or 2.5 4 if you wanna Stretch it.
Hope this helps. Sorry youre not happy. My view is, all KOUKAKU KIDOUTAI / Ghost in the Shell is a good whisper in my Ghost. Just enjoy it for what it is. It’s all we’ve got. <3
meanwhile every theater kid in the west: my creation is my ego