Anime Review: Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell was first created as a manga by Masamune Shirow the creator of the series. It ran from May 1989 to November 1991 and had only 11 chapters. Then a sequel to the manga was made called "Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface" which only had one volume and made in 1997. Finally the last manga created to finish up the series was called "Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor" It ran from 1991 to 1996 and only contained 4 chapters which was not shown in the previous manga.

Ghost in the shell finally had its debut to the western world as a feature length movie named “Ghost in the Shell”. The movie was directed by Mamoru Oshii and was released in Japan in November 18, 1995. With the movie successful the series was able to take off when it was adapted into an anime called “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” it ran from October 2002 to March 2003 with 26 episodes in total. Then one year later the 2nd season was made called ”Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG” which ran from January 2004 to January 2005 with 26 episodes in total. During this time the second feature length film was made called ”Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” which Mamoru Oshii directed again and was released in Japan on March 6, 2004. Finnally a final movie was made to end the anime series called ”Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society” which was released in japan on September 1, 2006.

Stand Alone Complex takes place in the year 2030 in a fictional city called New Port in Japan. The series is a police action drama, it follows the exploits of Public Security Section 9, a special operations task-force made up of former military officers and police detectives working in the intelligence department under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its operatives are trained in various methods ranging from investigations to cyber warfare, as their structure was based on the German GSG-9. They also had Cross-training exercises in the past with the British SAS's 22nd Regiment. Public Security Section 9 was established as a search and rescue organization. On the outside its cover is a international organisation however it is actually a counter-terrorist network and anti-crime unit operating in the Japanese National Public Safety Commission. They are allowed to act on their own with or without consent from the government as their existence is almost unknown to the general public. In particular, Section 9 and its members are among the best cyber warfare operatives in the country, and as a result usually end up involved in case relating to the internet, such as hacking and cyber terrorism.

In these times technology has advanced this far to the creation of Cyber Brains. These enhancements not only contain, protect, but also interfacing the artificially augmented brain inside. This allows the brain to be physically transported outside of the body. However its main purpose is interfacing with the internet as a sea of information; as it is wide and deep. This essentially makes people androids as technology has successfully advanced this far. Not only in humans but through the creation of robots with complex AI to help work alongside humans such as Operators who deal with various tasks. However robots also come in the form of “Tachikoma” which were built by Section 9 as a AI walker/roller tankette to help in missions. The series is comprised of individual cases and the underlying mystery called the “Laughing Man” In a world where almost everything is controlled by the internet and information flow it is prone to hacking. One such hacker is named “The Laughing Man” who is the main antagonist of the series. He is the ultimate hacker and incredible an genius and it is Section 9 job to stop him.

Motoko Kusanagi: Major Motoko Kusanagi is main female protagonist and the Major/Field Commander of Section 9. Her entire body is a cyborg and the only organ she has is her brain hence the term “Ghost in the Shell”. She is a highly skilled melee fighter as her entire body is made of metal being able to handle anyone hand to hand. With her cyborg body she can whit stand being shot several times and several tons of pressure. She is also one of the world's most skilled hackers and net divers having the ability to infiltrate almost any electrical component. She has a lot of military connections, and is the kind of person that sections of the government hire to assassinate without leaving a trace. She is an incredible genius able to think up instant win strategies in battle, while also confusing the viewers with over 9000 philosophical terms for almost any situation. Her main offence is using her stealth camouflage being able to infiltrate almost any complex undetected. Her main weapons is pistols and submachine guns like a P-90.

Batou: Batou is the main male protagonist and the Lead Investigator plus the second in command under Major Motoko Kusanagi. He is the second best melee fighter in Section 9 because almost his entire body is cybernetic as well. Where Batou is about power and technique, the major is about power, speed and technique outclassing him. Batou is an ex-ranger and has served in the military with Motoko and Ishikawa. He visibly has cybernetic eyes that are used by rangers, and improved strength from cybernetic arms and legs to make him capable of any confrontation. However his personality is much to be desired as he is very cold and quite a hardliner some times. He always takes things seriously and gets angry at failure. In section 9 he primarily does field work with Togusa as his partner in investigations. However when on a mission he sometimes takes point with the Major and together they making them an incredible team. In terms of weapons he likes to use heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

Togusa: He is the second main male protagonist and the newbie of Section 9. His position is Investigator with Batou and second field Commander after Batou as well. Unlike everybody else in Section 9 Togusa is mostly human, having only cybernetic memory upgrades and other small brain implants. To Section 9, Togusa is a reminder to them all of true humanity, because he is the most like a normal person compared to the rest of Section 9. He has a family, and strong moral beliefs that visibly get in his way when trying to kill someone for example. He does investigations with Batou but over time he is seen to very capable of doing them alone. Physically he is the weakest of the members in Section 9 because he is least likely to win in a fight against anyone else in Section 9. His previous job was a police detective, and was chosen because of history as an uncorrupted detective. His main weapon is using revolvers because he loves to use them. However everybody laughs at him for using them because there unreliable.

Laughing Man: He is the main antagonist of the Ghost in the Shell series, Laughing Man proves to be the ultimate hacker, capable of such feats as hijacking multiple video streams simultaneously, taking over someones cybernetic brain entirely, or even editing his own images out of someone’s cybernetic eyes, and all in real time. This is not limited to one person, he could enter a room of people and he would be invisble to them. When people encounter him they cannot see him because his “laughing man logo” obscures his face entirely. He moves around swiftly and leaves no traces behind being much like a “ghost”. He can also alter memories, erasing all records of his existence from both people and computers. In a world where the information highway controls everything he is simingly unstoppable. He is the only person in the entire series who can keep up with the majors philosophical phrases, as he knows over 9000 aswell. However he is not evil per say, more like a hidden agenda to uncover a dark secret.

This might be cheating however I am going to rate the animation presented throughout the entire Ghost In the shell franchise. In the anime series, the animation is top quality and a great example of clean and detailed modern animation. Nothing is over dramatised and everything is realistic. However what the main focus of the animation is when ever a character interfaces with the internet, the world wide web of information. When ever this is shown the animation budget goes through the roof as there are so many colours and tones represented graphically in any shape of form. To me this is one of the best examples of high quality animation in scenes for all anime’s. Now if we are talking about the films animation as well, then the animation budget goes sky high. In some scenes of the film, there are no characters or dialogue shown; it is simply a viewing of the background with intense classical music. The level of animation becomes breath taking and the colours are so bright and fluid. With an incredible level of detail coupled with intense colours, in my opinion it goes way higher than anything Miyazaki does.

Out of every anime I have seen in my life, I can proudly say that the music from Ghost in the Shell is simply the greatest I have ever listened to. Now I like to listen to J Pop or J Rock from animes because I find them energetic and catching. However there comes a time when everybody can listen to some classical symphony. Now when you mix this with an amazing vocal singer Yoko Kanno you have a true piece of art. When the music starts, it comes in fast but slows down, and then you hear the singing and get taken in with the flow of the music. The music makes you feel at calm and peaceful, at puts you at ease of all your troubles. The sound of the music opens your minds and all you can do is listen to ever pitch and every beat. Heck “Inner Universe” alone is one of the greatest songs I have ever heard, it goes beyond what generic J Pop or J rock can ever accomplish. It is the kind of music everybody should listen to before they die. Whenever this song plays for the opening of the episodes you feel lifted up ready to watch Ghost in the shell, because the music perfectly syncs in with the theme of the anime.

So yeah what more else is there to say? It is one of japans highest rated anime series alongside the likes of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira. If you’re a really intellectual and philosophical person then this anime is perfect for you as it is for a mature audience. However if your not that kind of person, then you will simply be blown away by the magnitude and depth of the story. There comes a time when you have to put aside the animes with swords and demons. When you pick up a serious anime like Ghost in the Shell you will come to realise the true magnificence of how much an anime can truly achieve. However you just might find the series boring because they just keep talking and talking about politics, religion, science and philosophy. But hey, why not give it a try? It might just be one of the greatest animes you will ever see before you die.