Ask John: Why is the GitS Movie so Different From the Manga?

Question:
Why is Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell portrayed as such an introspective loner in the movie version while her manga persona is nothing at all like that and, if anything, outgoing?

Answer:
I honestly don’t quite know why the anime adaptations of Masamune Shirow manga are typically so different from his original manga versions. This actually dates back to the earliest Shirow animation, and can’t be accounted for simply by the creative staff. Shirow himself directed the first anime adaptation of manga he drew, Black Magic M-66. The Black Magic M-66 OAV has almost no similarity to the Black Magic manga whatsoever. The OAV represents only a very brief chapter of the manga story. Moving on to Appleseed, Deunan really isn’t nearly as tough and street-smart in the animation as she is in the manga. At least the massive change between the manga and animation versions of Motoko Kusanagi can be partially explained by the influence of Mamoru Oshii. Mamoru Oshii’s cannon includes Urusei Yatsura movies 2 & 3, Twilight Q 2, Angel’s Egg, the Patlabor movies and Kerberos Panzer Cops. The introspective, philosophical and political themes of Ghost in the Shell are clearly ones that Oshii prefers to deal with, making him a suitable director in that regard, but the choice of such a relatively subdued director to helm a movie based on the chaotic, action oriented Ghost in the Shell manga does seem a bit difficult to explain. I can only guess that because underlying themes of Ghost in the Shell were compelling enough to warrant a feature film, and the complexity and length of the full manga were prohibitive to an anime adaptation, it was decided to focus on only the philosophical aspects of Ghost in the Shell. To do that convincingly, it would have been necessary to make Motoko a character that could support a film about the meaning of life and the nature of individual existence.