Ghost In The Shell icons
August 1998

Introduction: These icons are inspired by two different sources: the remarkable and stunning film "Koukaku Kidoutai", or "Ghost In The Shell", by director Mamoru Oshii (based on the manga by Masamune Shirow), and the Playstation game of the same name from THQ Inc.. I visited a friend one day and found him playing the game on his console. It was wild! The graphics were the first I had seen that I felt captured the "feel" of Anime. After watching him maneuver his "fuchikoma" up the sides of buildings in a futuristic William Gibson-style scenario, I thought the one thing I usually think... "Wow! These would make great icons!"

Well, I started right to work, borrowing the insert from the CD for reference and going out on the Web for source material. Finally, it occurred to me - it was really high time I saw this film! I had been aware of it for a while, always putting off renting it to get some other more topical title. Well, that was a mistake. I talked my best friend into watching it with me, and from the opening titles, we knew we were unprepared for how striking this film would be.

Maybe it was because the SurroundSound was cranked up, but I was simply stunned. It was beautiful! The images and sound together were beyond any animation I had ever seen. It is a powerful film and, despite a few awkward elements, I recommend it to anyone interested in great animation, intelligent Science Fiction, or simply gorgeous eye candy! After the viewing, I knew the film characters were going to be added into what had started out as a "mecha" set.

In these icons, you will find elements of the film *and* the game, and I hope that this set will make fans of both happy!


Legality: "Ghost in the Shell" and "Koukaku Kidoutai" ©1995 Masamune Shirow/Kodansha Ltd./Bandai Visual Co., Ltd./Manga Entertainment

How To make Use of Icons: Changing icons on Windows can be done in many different ways. The two easiest, and most common methods, are described below.

To change the My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places (also called the
Network Neighborhood), or Recycle Bin icons, follow these steps:

1) Right click the desktop.
2) Choose Properties from the menu.
3) In the properties dialog, select the "Effects" or "Plus!" tab.
4) Select the icon you wish to change.
5) Press the "Change Icon" button to open the icon selection window.
6) In the icon selection window, press the "Browse" button.
7) Use the file selection dialog to locate to the folder that contains the
icons you downloaded.
8) Choose the ICO file you want to use as a replacement and press "Open".
9) Press "OK" in the icon selection window and on the properties dialog.

You can also change the icon for a shortcut using these steps:

1) Right click the shortcut.
2) Choose Properties from the menu.
3) In the properties dialog, press the "Change Icon" button to open the icon
selection window.
4) In the icon selection window, press the "Browse" button.
5) Use the file selection dialog to locate to the folder that contains the
icons you downloaded.
6) Choose the ICO file you want to use as a replacement and press "Open".
7) Press "OK" in the icon selection window and on the properties dialog.

There are many other ways to change icons by editing the Registry. These
techniques are more complex and potentially dangerous to your system, but
they do allow you to completely customize your computer. For more
information, we suggest that you visit Virtual Plastic at
http://www.virtualplastic.net

Contact the Author: Dave Brasgalla

Related Sites: If you enjoy this freeware icon collection, be sure to check out these other, killer GUI web pages:

The Iconfactory - The web's best place for killer Mac icons
The DeskStop - Windows wallpapers, desktop picts, icons and more

Thanks: I would like to thank Mamoru Oshii for making this wonderful and beautiful film, and all at Playstation and THQ Inc. for creating such a cool and amazing game!

Thanks to Dirk Uhlenbrock and the gang at Eyesaw for the great font "Ticker", which was used for the IconDropper Pack banner.