Ghost in the Shell, 1995. Mamoru Oshii. 

A while ago I reviewed Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters Part 1. I enjoyed that, a lot, and it made me want to continue my anime journey. So, where better to start than Ghost in the Shell? Something tells me that this film is a good place to begin my journey into anime.  Ghost in the Shell was released in 1995, and was directed by Mamoru Oshii, and written by Kazunori. What is very important for me with these reviews, is to describe my own feelings and write down what I learn about the film. Okay, I SHELL begin.  

The first thing that catches my eye from opening credits, leaves me wondering if the Wachowski’s stole the number grid from this film? it looks very similar! I do love the cyberpunk aesthetic, and from the start, this film looks beautiful, and the animation looks very impressive for the time. The look of the landscape, and the sounds of the city really put me inside the movie. I am curious as to why the Hollywood remake bombed? I’m only about ten minutes into the film, and I want to watch that film now. Alternatively, I want to see how different it is from this, as this is amazing. I really do enjoy watching a female lead character, and Kusanagi looks kick ass. 

As the film begins, Kusanagi and her team try to track down the Puppet Master. He is responsible for hacking into a cyber brain to extract information! I really did enjoy the garbage truck chase, and I started having flashbacks of all the great cartoons I used to watch when I was younger. I’m starting to think these characters are cyborgs throughout this chase, as one of the officers is looking through a monitor screen to help see the perpetrator in his thermo-optical camouflage? The chase ends, and we find out this guy is not the person we are looking for, as his brain has been hacked.

As the film continues, it becomes pretty interesting when a cybernetic body escapes from Megatech, and is run over by a truck. Later, the body ends up at Section 9, and pleads for political asylum! The one thing I have noticed, is there is a lot of discussion about life, death and everything involved with it. We later find out that there is a ghost in the brain of the cyborg, and this starts me believing that this is something more than man can create? I will need to watch this film a few more times before I totally understand it. The cyborg ends up escaping Section 9, and it seems Section 6, who came to see the cyborg, are the ones who helped create it? Confusion is kicking in a bit for me now. Kusanagi tracks down the Puppet Master to an abandoned warehouse and the next fifteen minutes are superb, as there is a battle between Kusanagi and a walking tank. There is something quite elegant about this fight, as Kusanagi is almost killed after ripping her own arms off trying to enter the tank. 

This is a little hard for me to explain, but after connecting with the cyborg, I think Kusanagi merges with the Puppet Master, and they have both become sentient life forms. My interpretation makes me believe that any life-form will always look for answers to their creation, very much like ourselves. I am a daydreamer about my own existence, so this sits well with my ideals. After the battle ends, Kusanagi and the ghost have been transferred to a child’s body, no longer the Major and no longer the Puppet Master. The entity is free to go and discover the World. Please tell me if there is a sequel to this movie, because I need to know more? This film was not what I expected. It was more than I expected, and I enjoyed it immensely. I will say I am even more curious about the Hollywood remake now, and will be watching that very soon. This was such a wonderful viewing experience and now, I want more. 

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The Ghost in the Shell Anthology.

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