**Mamoru Oshii** (born in 1951) is an influential Japanese director, screenwriter, and producer, known for his distinctive contribution to animation and cinema.

He gained recognition with *Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer* (1984), already showing his surreal and introspective style. His most famous work is *Ghost in the Shell* (1995), a cyberpunk film that had a global impact, exploring complex themes such as identity, consciousness, and the relationship between man and machine in the near future.

Other notable works include the *Patlabor* films (such as *Patlabor 2: The Movie*, 1993), the cryptic and philosophical *Angel's Egg* (1985), and the sequel *Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence* (2004). Oshii's style is characterized by meditative narratives dense with philosophical dialogue, visually rich and detailed imagery, often immersed in melancholic and rainy atmospheres. His films frequently question the nature of reality, the existence of the soul, and the boundaries of humanity.