A Second Ghost in the Shell TTRPG Is On Its Way

Mantic Games has announced a new Ghost in the Shell TTRPG, based solely off of the acclaimed manga. Mantic Games has announced that they plan to publish the TTRPG in 2026. The game uses a bespoke design created by Alessio Cavatore and Zak Barouh. Per the press release announcing the RPG, "[t]his immersive RPG combines fast-paced, narrative-driven mechanics with the philosophical depth and visual flair that define The Ghost in the Shell." The RPG will feature illustrations from the manga.

Interestingly, this is the second TTRPG based on Ghost in the Shell due this year. Mana Project Studio raised over $500,000 on Kickstarter to produce Ghost in the Shell Arise TTRPG, a TTRPG based on the Ghost in the Shell anime. That game is due out in fall 2026.

Ghost in the Shell is a cyberpunk sci-fi TTRPG that features a group of cybernetically enhanced police in Section 9 solving various crimes, most of which has some kind of technological bent. The manga and anime adaptations have inspired everything from The Matrix series of movies to Cyberpunk 2077.

 

[jacleg05]

What do you mean? I've only seen the movie.

Western style is you turn the pages from right to left. Japanese style is the opposite. Back in the eighties they were printed like that, then I believe, but could be wrong, at the turn of the century, they started to print them like they do in Japan. I find it irritating.

 

[Jahydin]

Western style is you turn the pages from right to left. Japanese style is the opposite. Back in the eighties they were printed like that, then I believe, but could be wrong, at the turn of the century, they started to print them like they do in Japan. I find it irritating.

Oh, got you. All my manga is right to left so just got used to it. I wonder if mirroring the pages could be done in software for digital formats? Although there has to be more to it or else they would just do that before printing it for the West...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Well, the Arise Kickstarter mentioned that it takes place in 2027, so there IS a deadline coming up.

Not super-chuffed that bloody GitS is now a retrofuture, goddamn the linear passage of time.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Oh, got you. All my manga is right to left so just got used to it. I wonder if mirroring the pages could be done in software for digital formats? Although there has to be more to it or else they would just do that before printing it for the West...

Manga fans as a group strongly prefer preserving right-to-left, primarily because mirroring the art changes stuff. Every right-handed character becomes left-handed. Badges/medals/etc. of office worn on the right become worn on the left (which can look very weird). A car turning left becomes a car turning right, etc.

@jacleg05 is right that initially manga reprints in the West just mirrored the art and made the whole thing left-to-right, but people didn't like it, and that's why they stopped. Because as meaningless as it might seem to some people, it is damaging the artistry and ideas of the original, especially as a lot of manga is about fighting and deception and so on, so little details like handedness can actually matter. Should all manga that's flipped also reverse the words used when any discussion of handedness or generally whenever right/left comes up? You kind of have to, but it's still weird that left-handedness would be forever the default in manga in the West. It also messes with how large sonic elements are written, which is often quite fancy in manga.

You get used to it pretty fast I would say, personally. I definitely prefer not messing with the art and keeping it right-to-left in all ways (page, panels, text placement, even if we still read sentences left-to-right).