The Laughing Man from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (popularly known as S.A.C.) struck the Production I.G and Kodansha homepages just in time for the in-story date of the event, February 3. But don’t worry — unlike the apparently real hacking of the franchise‘s X (formerly Twitter) account, the websites’ “defacing” is all part of a planned campaign.

As of the writing of this article, the CEO of Production I.G and the CEO of Kodansha had their profile pictures covered with the Laughing Man symbol on their respective websites. On top of this, the Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Twitter profile picture is currently replaced with the symbol. This comes days after the official Ghost in the Shell X/Twitter account was apparently hacked on January 28. But unlike that earlier hacking, this website “hacking” was planned by Production I.G and Kodansha in celebration of the (real-world) date of the (in-story) Laughing Man incident.

Up until February 1, the only official commemoration of the date that the staff announced was the Human Trust Cinema Shibuya holding a special showing of S.A.C. on February 3. But since then, an official website has launch with information about the events and a video showing people in Shibuya with their faces obscured by the Laughing Man symbol.

The website not only promotes the special showing and the “hacking,” but also announced a hashtag campaign with 20 people receiving an original gift, a fan art contest with the Laughing Man symbol between February 3 to February 29, a Discord Q&A on February 1, a limited-time free posting of the manga series on Magazine Web, a limited-time free streaming of the S.A.C. The Laughing Man compilation on YouTube until February 3, a S.A.C. pop-up store in Akihabara, a giveaway of an original, not-for-sale Laughing Man t-shirt to 40 people who participate in the hashtag campaign, another fan art campaign, and the talk show at the Human Trust Cinema, Laughing Man collaboration Rageblue apparel, a S.A.C. The Laughing Man exhibition, collaboration apparel with Subciety, and a collaboration champagne with Angel Champagne. So, there’s something for every fan of Ghost in the Shell. Unfortunately, it’s not specified if you must be living in Japan to receive the gifts for the hashtag campaign or the fan art campaign.

It’s really no wonder why companies involved with S.A.C. are going all out for the events for the Laughing Man incident. It’s a seminal moment not just in the franchise‘s history, but in anime history in general.

Sources: Production I.G, Kodansha, The Laughing Man 2024, Ghost in the Shell franchise‘s X/Twitter account (link 2, link 3), Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 anime’s X/Twitter account, Emotion label’s YouTube account, Magazine Web, Human Trust Cinema Shibuya, Comic Natalie