People adapting a character to take on a more "local" flavor? I'm just going to leave this here... [spoiler]In all honesty though, I'm on the fence about this. I can definitely see Rinko Kikuchi as Major Kusanagi, but the voice would be a bit soft, which could be a bit offsetting from her somewhat cold demeanor. Scarlett Johansson has a deeper, more mature sounding voice which may better suit the character. Also, while we cry whitewashing and racebending, it's been proven that using a good actor can trump strict adherence to the source material. Iris Elba's Heimdall is an example of this, as is the fact that there are many people out there (myself included) who think he'd make a great Bond. A few other notable examples: Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (various Marvel franchises) Morgan Freeman as Red (Shawshank Redemption) Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez (Argo) So, while I do feel they should have cast someone of Japanese descent, I won't write off the movie on that point alone. Who knows, maybe it will end up like [i]Edge of Tomorrow[/i] or [i]Snowpiercer[/i] and notably differentiate itself from the source material.[/spoiler]