Ghost In The Shell - In a World Between Akira and Miyazaki

Ghost in the Shell is probably the most talked about title before Neon Genesis Evangelion came along, and it is the first in this decade (1990's) that has been able to get decent attention in the U.S. cinemas. Many hoped it would be the next Akira, and despite it is a very good film, it is far from being Akira.

To check out my Akira review, visit Russ's Online Home - rohmobile.com.

And as a bonus to this blog, check out this cool Ghost in the Shell midi that was originally part of The Bus's Transit of Anime Realities.

The year is 2019, and technology is being used to enhance humans and create cyborgs. With these advancements comes one problem, the mind is even more vulnerable. People can now hack into a persons ghost (soul/mind) to take the information they want, or even alter the memories of the victims to control them. This is why there is a government security branch called Section 9. They are a group of mostly cyborgs who deal with this kind of terrorism. The newest threat is a hacker called the Puppet Master, that no one even has the faintest idea who he is.

Three members of Section 9 are on his tail though, led by Major Motoko Kusanagi and assisted by a fellow cyborg Bateau and the mostly human Togusa. Will they succeed in capturing the Puppet Master, or will the Major's own existential queries interfer with not only this case but international security?

For a 17 year-old in 1997, Ghost in the Shell was one of the best animes I had seen. I don't particulary care for the style its drawn in (which is not particularly loyal to the Manga), but I still have to say it does capture more realism than most animes.

The action scenes are superb. The battle with the tank is one of the best action sequences I've ever seen. Also the converging of CGI and traditional animation works very well.

If there is a problem with the film, it might be how much time they spend on the major trying to find a meaning to her exitstance. The long scenes they show with her looking at society are extremely boring no matter how good they look. Also the ending isn't very satisfying. They had so much potential to take the ending to much higher levels.

Ghost in the Shell does what I think anime was meant to do which is to use plots that are simply assumed to be done in live action, and to do it as well as live action. No, this is not the next Akira, and maybe I should have bought Burn Up at the time, but GITS won't disappoint you if you see it. This is a great example of a films whose positives overcome the viewer's concerns with the its negatives.

www.deviantart.com/i-guyjin-i