Ghost In The Shell ‘whitewashing’ row: Director of original movie HITS BACK at critics

The story, which began life as a manga, was made into an animated film in the 1990s, and is now getting a live-action revamp – out at the end of this month.

Johansson’s casting has had a lot of criticism, however, given the story’s Asian roots – but Mamoru Oshii has no issue with it whatsoever.

Oshii oversaw the animated original, and pointed out that her character – the Major – is a cyborg, and thus there is no blueprint for how she should look.

“What issue could there possibly be with casting her?” he told IGN by e-mail. 

“The Major is a cyborg and her physical form is an entirely assumed one. 

“The name ‘Motoko Kusanagi’ and her current body are not her original name and body, so there is no basis for saying that an Asian actress must portray her. 

“Even if her original body (presuming such a thing existed) were a Japanese one, that would still apply.”

He added: “I believe having Scarlett play Motoko was the best possible casting for this movie.