Microsoft is getting in on new Ghost in the Shell goodness, partnering with Production I.G. for a tie-in sponsored short ahead of the new OVA series. The premise of the story is "Snatch the rebel elements' secret data using the Surface! There is a leak saying that the giant coporation Ishimiya Industry will commit an act of international terrorism, and Motoko Kusanagi and the Armored Riot Police head out to seize the plug data!"
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"In 2027, one year after the end of the Fourth Non-Nuclear War, the guttural town of New Port City is plagued with one mass tragedy after another. Enter Public Security Section's Daisuke Aramaki to lead an investigation along with Batou better known to the criminal scourge as "the man with the eye that does not sleep." Running parallel to this investigation is the military's clandestine 501st Secret Unit, which happens to count Motoko Kusanagi, the cyborg, wizard-level hacker amongst its many members. Also investigating these events is the Niihama Prefectural Police detective Togusa. When all three investigations cross paths, secrets will be revealed and terrible truths unearthed."
"ARISE" is set in 2027 A.D. making it a prequel to the original Ghost in the Shell. It's set for release in Japanese theaters on June 22,2013 and will then be available worldwide on blu-ray and dvd on July 26th. The story will be told in four 50 minute OVAs. The first installment is titled "border:1 Ghost Pain." The principal voice cast is entirely new in order to reflect the younger incarnation of the characters and includes Maaya Sakamoto as Mokoto Kusanagi, Kenichirou Matsuda as Batou, Tarusuke Shingaki as Togusa, Tomoyuki Dan as Ishikawa, Takurou Nakakuni as Saito, Youji Ueda as Paz, Kazuya Nakai as Borma, Ikkyuu Juku as Daisuke Aramaki, Mayumi Asano as Kurutsu, and Takanori Hoshino as Raizō.