Appleseed (Japanese: アップルシード, Hepburn: Appurushīdo) is a 2004 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic action film directed by Shinji Aramaki and based on the Appleseed manga created by Masamune Shirow. The voice cast includes Ai Kobayashi, Jūrōta Kosugi, Mami Koyama, Yuki Matsuoka, and Toshiyuki Morikawa. The film, the second adaptation of the manga after the 1988 OVA, tells the story of Deunan Knute, a former soldier, who searches for data that can restore the reproductive capabilities of bioroids, a race of genetically engineered clones. Although it shares characters and settings with the original manga, this film's storyline is a re-interpretation, not a direct adaptation. It was released on April 18, 2004.