Motoko Kusanagi

Major , or just "Major", is the main protagonist in Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell manga and anime series. She is a synthetic "full-body prosthesis" augmented-cybernetic human employed as the field commander of Public Security Section 9, a fictional anti-cybercrime law-enforcement division of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission. A strong-willed, physically powerful, and highly intelligent cyberhero, she is well known for her skills in deduction, hacking and military tactics. Conception and creation Motoko Kusanagi's body was designed by the manga author and artist Masamune Shirow to be a mass production model so she would not be conspicuous. Her electrical and mechanical system within is special and features parts unavailable on the civilian market. Shirow intentionally chose this appearance so Motoko would not be harvested for those parts. Character In the 1995 anime film adaptation, character designer and key animator supervisor Hiroyuki Okiura made her different from her original manga counterpart, stating, "Motoko Kusanagi is a cyborg. Therefore, her body is strong and youthful. However her human mentality is considerably older than she looks. I tried to depict this maturity in her character instead of the original girl created by Masamune Shirow." In nearly all portrayals, Kusanagi is depicted as a self-made woman. She is a fiercely independent and capable leader who has proven herself under fire countless times. Kenji Kamiyama had a difficult time identifying her and could not understand her motives during the first season of the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Due to this, he created an episode in the second season where he recounted her past. He was then able to describe her as a human who was chosen to gain this superhuman power; she probably believes that she has an obligation to use that ability for the benefit of others. English voice actor and director Mary Elizabeth McGlynn states she loved playing the role of Motoko Kusanagi and described her as "someone [who] was that strong, and still kind of feminine at times, but also kick-ass".