{"id":56618,"date":"2026-02-10T18:07:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T09:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=56618"},"modified":"2026-02-10T18:07:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T09:07:32","slug":"its-a-misunderstanding-i-am-not-interested-in-cyberpunk-ghost-in-the-shell-director-mamoru-oshii-discusses-his-complicated-relationship-with-the-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/nongaming-news\/its-a-misunderstanding-i-am-not-interested-in-cyberpunk-ghost-in-the-shell-director-mamoru-oshii-discusses-his-complicated-relationship-with-the-genre\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s a misunderstanding, I am not interested in cyberpunk.\u201d Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii discusses his complicated relationship with the genre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Ghost in the Shell<\/strong> (1995) directed by Mamoru Oshii, is widely considered to be one of the definitive \u201ccyberpunk\u201d works from Japan. But despite featuring dystopian worlds and sci-fi themes in many of his works, the director hasn\u2019t been chasing a cyberpunk image when directing his films. In a recent interview for the official Ghost in the Shell YouTube channel, Oshii talked about his relationship with the cyberpunk genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u3010\u653b\u6bbb\u6a5f\u52d5\u968a\u3011\u62bc\u4e95\u5b88\u76e3\u7763\u306b30\u306e\u8cea\u554f\u805e\u3044\u3066\u307f\u305f\uff01\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/awjZVa0pm2I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked about what he thinks of Ghost in the Shell being recognized as a cyberpunk work, Oshii replied, \u201cThat\u2019s a misunderstanding. I\u2019m not that interested in cyberpunk, and I haven\u2019t actually read many cyberpunk works, to be honest. I don\u2019t care about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to science fiction, Oshii says he prefers space-themed stories to cyberpunk. He also enjoys stories about cyborgs, though he makes sure to differentiate them from cyberpunk. \u201cIt may seem like cyborgs mesh well with cyberpunk, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s actually the case. In that sense, I didn\u2019t direct Ghost in the Shell thinking it was cyberpunk. It was just that others, on the contrary, said it was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oshii said he is also a big fan of hard-boiled fiction, but \u201ccyberpunk doesn\u2019t really excite my imagination [\u2026] I don\u2019t have the desire to live in a world that looks like a landfill.\u201d However, recalling a story he heard from an acquaintance, he suggested that there are many young people who romanticize living in such a world. \u201c<em>I want to ride on a dirty subway<\/em>, <em>I want to live in a world that\u2019s full of slums<\/em> \u2013 I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a good portion of young guys who think like that. And I believe that overlaps with the idea of cyberpunk as a world full of crooks.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260210-566180001.jpg\" alt=\"Oshii's Fallou 4 gameplay.\" class=\"wp-image-56620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260210-566180001.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260210-566180001-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Oshii then took the opportunity to double down on his opinion by using one of his favorite games, Fallout 4, as an example. As a side note, the director has over 10,000 hours in the game, and <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/yes-ghost-in-the-shells-director-is-obsessed-with-fallout-4-and-we-have-a-record-of-his-chaotic-escapades-in-the-game-penned-by-the-man-himself\/\">his playstyle is rather eccentric<\/a>. Having spent so much time in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by nuclear war, Oshii suggested that its \u201ccrooks\u201d come as a necessity of a harsh world. On the other hand, that doesn\u2019t seem to be the case for a cyberpunk world, which is why he feels indifferent to the genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat reminds me, Fallout 4 is full of crooks. 98% of its inhabitants are scoundrels and villainous crooks, and if they just don\u2019t like the way you talk, they\u2019re going to blow your brains out It\u2019s a world which fully allows you to feel that kind of \u2018pleasure.\u2019 But objectively, that\u2019s unavoidable in a world that is a post-nuclear-war ruin. However, in a technologically-advanced world of cyberpunk, I really can\u2019t come up with a conclusion other that \u2013 they\u2019re doing it just because they enjoy it. That\u2019s why I actually don\u2019t care about it.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/ive-never-made-a-single-magical-girl-anime-sailor-moon-r-and-revolutionary-girl-utena-director-says-many-people-mistake-the-genre-of-his-work\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/ive-never-made-a-single-magical-girl-anime-sailor-moon-r-and-revolutionary-girl-utena-director-says-many-people-mistake-the-genre-of-his-work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cI\u2019ve never made a single magical girl anime.\u201d Sailor Moon R and Revolutionary Girl Utena director says many people mistake the genre of his work<br><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent interview, Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii talks about his complicated relationship with cyberpunk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":56619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[73,17,66],"class_list":["post-56618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nongaming-news","tag-anime","tag-japan-related-news","tag-non-gaming-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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