Kodansha's Sam Yoshiba Supports Scarlett Johansson Casting Choice for Live-Action GitS
Sam Yoshiba, the director of the international business division at Kodansha’s Tokyo headquarters, commented on the controversy with support for Johansson.
“Looking at her career so far, I think Scarlett Johansson is well cast,” he said. “She has the cyberpunk feel. And we never imagined it would be a Japanese actress in the first place.” He added that the adaptation is offering an opportunity for a Japanese property to be seen worldwide. Yoshiba recently returned from the set of the film in New Zealand and said he was impressed by the respect the production was showing for the source material.
Japanese manga fans have commented that if viewers wanted a Japanese cast, the film should be made in Japan. Another Japanese fan mentioned how casting a non-Japanese, Asian actress in the role would be more offensive to Japanese viewers but would still probably placate most American audiences. Twitter users also pointed out how the reverse took place when adapting Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan, and that the themes ofGhost in the Shell were more important than the actress.
