Anime collaborations are everywhere, from Gundam watches and Naruto nights at Major League ballparks to just about anything Evangelion. But these Ghost in the Shell keyboards from Iqunix are some of the coolest examples I’ve seen of anime-inspired everyday tech. They look sick and they type and play great. At $249 they’re a hefty upcharge over the regular $169 version, but that’s still a decent price for such excellent build quality and unique designs.
The standard Iqunix EV63 that the Ghost in the Shell Edition is based on is a 65-percent Hall effect keyboard aimed at gamers. It’s got a compact layout, an 8,000Hz polling rate, and ultra-sensitive rapid trigger keys (popularized by Wooting) for getting a competitive edge on opponents with lesser gear. It’s also wired only. These days, wireless mechanical keyboards are everywhere, but if you want an 8K board that’s also Hall effect, it’s gonna be wired. The regular EV63 has some sleek stylings, but the two Ghost in the Shell Editions go hard.
They come in two designs: shell core and cyber blue, both decked out in Ghost in the Shell aesthetics, iconography, and character art. They have aluminum cases with bright RGB lighting, preprogrammed with a light pattern that matches their color schemes, and frosted keycaps on the escape, space bar, left shift, enter, and arrow keys that let that colorful light shine through.
While these keyboards coincide with the July release of a new The Ghost in the Shell anime, their looks are based on the 1995 film by Mamoru Oshii, with close-ups of characters’ faces on several modifier keys. The cyber blue model also has a toned-down outline of Motoko “The Major” Kusanagi’s nude profile from the 1995 theatrical release poster on its keycaps and bottom case. The effect is pretty subtle on the keycaps, since it’s a black outline on dark gray and broken up across a bunch of keys, and it’s a lot less revealing than the source material, but I’d still think twice about bringing that one to a stuffy office.
The keyboards have top-notch build quality. At 2.7 pounds / 1.2kg, they’re hefty — around the weight of a 13-inch MacBook Air, but in a dense package. Typing on the Iqunix EV63 is very satisfying, especially for a Hall effect board; they’re generally built more for gaming performance than feel and sound. The Ghost in the Shell editions use KeyTok Nova linear magnetic switches, which are light and crisp, and the keyboard’s tray mount gives everything a sharp feel and bottom-out. (The standard EV63 uses Iqunix’s Magnetic X Pro or Ultra switches, which I haven’t tested.)
The EV63 even manages to sound great. It’s not as deep, warm, or marbley sounding as the super “thocky” non-HE boards out there, like an Evoworks Evo80, but it’s got a satisfying clack. Compared to the very similar Dry Studio Ice Ring 63 RT, the GITS EV63 sounds significantly better to my ears. The Chilkey Slice75 HE has more of that thocky sound I usually prefer, but that keyboard doesn’t look like these little works of cybernetic art.
A 65-percent gaming keyboard built for competitive shooters is somewhat niche, and these Ghost in the Shell versions even more so, but they’re awesome. There have been anime keyboard collabs before, but many of them look a little uninspired. I’ve bought my fair share of anime-inspired keycaps, which I think look amazing, but they’re generally unlicensed homages. It’s cool to see properly licensed keyboards that look, sound, and feel this good. Designed for the biggest fans and specialized enough for the most hardcore enthusiasts. The Major should be proud.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge