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Kenjiro Tsuda Joins Ghost in the Shell Arise's Cast for 2 New Episodes

posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
New episodes airing in June tie series to new Ghost in the Shell movie

The official website of the Ghost in the Shell: Arise project revealed on Monday that Kenjiro Tsuda (Tiger & Bunny, The Prince of Tennis) will voice the character Pyromania in Ghost in the Shell: Arise Alternative Architecture. The character will appear on the two-part episode titled "Pyrophoric Cult" airing on June 7 and June 14.

The story of "Pyrophoric Cult" begins in January 2029. A terrorist bomb attack crashes a plane in the outskirts of Newport City. US intelligence services ask Aramaki's Section 9 to conduct a joint investigation with them. The suspect is a man nicknamed Pyromania (Tsuda), a broker of "Firestarter," a virus that plants false memories in people's cyberbrains. He is dispatched by the cartel to kill Colonel Hozumi, along with the US intelligence operatives tracking him, by blowing up a plane. Using Colonel Hozumi as bait, Kusanagi sets a trap to capture Pyromania.

The official website describes Pyromania as a cyberbrain virus broker, and a believer in the Firestarter virus, which he is infected with. He believes in the potential of Firestarter, and aids in its dissemination. He has had contact with Colonel Hozumi of Army Intelligence. According to US intelligence services, he originates from South America, with the real name of Galvez, but they can find no further details. He is often heard uttering lines from The Fiery Angel.

"Pyrophoric Cult" is new to the Ghost in the Shell: Arise Alternative Architecture TV series recompilation, and the two episodes will tie the series to the Kōkaku Kidōtai Shin Gekijō-ban (Ghost in the Shell: New Movie) project opening in Japan on June 20.

The first part of "Pyrophoric Cult" will premiere on the Tokyo MX channel on June 7, and the second part will premiere on June 14. The episodes are slated for home video on August 26. Tokyo MX will also air a special 25-minute program previewing the Kōkaku Kidōtai Shin Gekijō-ban project on May 31. The channel will also air a 22-minute program on June 21 looking back on the Ghost in the Shell franchise's 25-year history.

Funimation licensed the Ghost in the Shell: Arise Alternative Architecture recompilation series last month, and streamed the first episode on April 8. Funimation describes the series:

The Ghost in the Shell Arise OAV sequence has been rebuilt into eight TV-length episodes and extended with two new broadcast exclusive episodes to create Ghost in the Shell: Arise ­ Alternative Architecture! In this highly anticipated prequel set in the year after the fourth World War, cyborg and hacker Motoko Kusanagi finds herself wrapped up in the investigation of a devastating bombing. But she's not the only one looking for answers — as she delves deeper into the mystery of who is behind the attack, a specialized team unlike any before begins to take shape.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise was originally a four-part anime series, helmed by Kazuchika Kise at Production I.G and written by Tow Ubukata, that premiered in Japanese theaters from July 2013 to September 2014. Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell manga inspired the video anime. Funimation released the series' first two episodes in North America in a Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo last October.

Sources: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Dengeki Online, animeanime.jp


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