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Paper short abstract

This paper examines, through adaptation theory and character analysis, how the shinsaku nō “VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai”, based on the manga series Ghost in the Shell by Shirō Masamune, reshapes the concepts of “ghost” and the digital world into spiritual themes through the mugen nō narrative structure.

Paper long abstract

Over the past two decades, the staging of famous manga series into nō theatre has become, although still at an early stage, an interesting outcome of the relationship between pop culture and traditional Japanese performing arts. Among the few shinsaku nō (newly written nō) written within this phenomenon, “VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai”, based on Shirō Masamune’s manga series Ghost in the Shell, represents one of the most compelling examples of the new directions that nō theatre has taken in recent years.

Written by Oku Shūtarō and staged for the first time in 2020, this play reconfigures the manga’s visual panel-driven narration into the performative and literary stylistic norms of nō, also implementing the use of light effects and holograms. The narrative structure follows the conventions of mugen nō style and portrays the final events of the first volume of the original work. The plot focuses on Batō’s search for his former captain and friend Kusanagi Motoko, recalling her merger with The Puppeteer, and later on her encounter with one of her isotopes (digital clones) in the digital world.

The mugen nō narrative pattern, which intersects reality and a dreamlike or illusory state in which a spirit or ghost appears, in VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai functions not only as a strategic choice to adapt Ghost in the Shell’s story, but also as a way to culturally reinterpret the original cyberpunk themes for a general nō audience. Indeed, the philosophical questions about the relationship between humans and robots, and the dichotomy between physical and digital worlds, are progressively reshaped into religious and spiritual themes, such as overcoming the boundary between this world and the afterlife.

This paper aims to explore how VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai reinterprets the cyberpunk aesthetics and philosophy of Shirō Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell through the lens of nō theatre. Drawing on adaptation theory and character analysis, the paper examines how gradually the meanings and concepts of “ghost” and the digital world shift to a spiritual framework throughout the play, with a particular focus on the characters of Kusanagi Motoko and The Puppeteer.