You're not saying that it's not whitewashing so much as you're saying racebending is OK. And of course it is. Because changing the race and cultural background

You're not saying that it's not whitewashing so much as you're saying racebending is OK. And of course it is. Because changing the race and cultural background of characters can subtly change the meaning and context of the piece. Except for the separate issue of majority cultures erasing minority peoples. Now, Japan is not a minority culture, it is a nation-state. But why is it always (in American media) that Asian characters are made white and never white characters made Asian? I hope and suspect that this is addressed in the movie, that Kusanagi has taken a white body for reasons.