Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese cyberpunk manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. It was first serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Young Magazine Zōkan Kaizokuban from 1989 to 1990, and was then compiled into a single tankōbon volume. Shirow produced two sequels: Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor and Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface. Set in the mid-21st century, the manga tells the story of the fictional counter-cyberterrorist organization Public Security Section 9, led by protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi.