Ghost in the Shell (1997): The first game made for the franchise, released for the Play Station.Ghost in the Shell: Arise (2013): A series of four OVAs + one movie, directed by Kazuchika Kise.īesides the above series, there is also a handful of one-off media:.Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 (2020): A revival of the anime set eleven years after Solid State Society.Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2006): A Made-for-TV Movie and the Finale Movie of Stand Alone Complex.Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002): An anime series, directed by Kenji Kamiyama.Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004): The sequel to the 1995 film.Ghost in the Shell (1995): An anime film adaptation, directed by Mamoru Oshii.Written by Junichi Fujisaku and illustrated by Yuki Yoshimoto. Ghost in the Shell: The Human Algorithm (2019): Takes place after the events of HEP.Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (2003): Takes place between the 1989 manga and MMI.Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface (2001): The sequel to the 1989 manga.Ghost in the Shell (1989): The original manga, by Masamune Shirow.Each iteration of the series features (mostly) the same cast of characters, the same setting, and explores the same themes of identity, memory, philosophy, and political intrigue. In addition to the original manga, there are three subseries that all use the title "Ghost in the Shell", all unrelated from each other outside of being based on the same source material. Since then, the series has spawned multiple adaptations, including movies - both animated and live-action - multiple animated TV series, video games, tie-in novels, and spin-off manga and comics. It began with a manga that first started publication in April 1989 and finished publication in November 1990. Ghost in the Shell is a highly influential Cyberpunk franchise about a cyborg woman that leads an elite Japanese police force. "Ghost in the Shell" is my #3 choice Anime' film (behind "Spirited Away" and "Akira") because it's so full of ideas and is masterful in telling a dark story about our times.L-R: The Major, The Major, and The Major. Most American animation would never touch up on this sort of subject matter. "Ghost in the Shell" could very well be a mere reflection or a parable of a doomed society that's probably already accepted its dark fate. It has been said that the majority of American audiences would be afraid of Anime' because of the many stereotypes surrounding it, but that's why it's boundless - it's been given free reign to use those stigmas to its advantage in developing truly remarkable pieces of art that have gone largely ignored here in the U.S. Most Japanese animation films, like this one, "Akira," or Mayazaki's "Spirited Away," are on a level of sophistication that will never be matched in America. I think that to understand "Ghost in the Shell," it would help to accept that Anime' is much more complex and daring than traditional American animation. The Wachowski Brothers certainly do owe a lot to this movie for the success of their work in America. This film is also even more revered today, in 2004, since some of this film's core themes helped to develop the plot basis of the insanely popular "Matrix" films, and some scenes from "Ghost in the Shell" were even homaged to in the first "Matrix" movie. And the dialogue helps sometimes too, with helping to sort out the confusing plot and many of its mythical ideas about personal identity and human evolution. This helps to give the film a surreal, yet beautiful look. "Ghost in the Shell" was one of the first Anime' films to skillfully blend traditional drawn animation with computerized imagery. But it's far from being gratuitous, and does not slow down the movie at all. Not surprisingly, as with the stigmas surrounding Anime', "Ghost in the Shell" is not short of nudity and graphic violence. The story is that a team of high-level government operatives are hot on the trail of a notorious computer hacker called the "Puppet Master," who is wanted for various crimes in cyberspace and has taken a particularly fond interest in the team's tough, female cyborg leader. I'll avoid going real deep into the plot simply because there's a whole lot to grasp and even I got more than a little confused trying to follow it. Many of the characters in the film are enhanced, someway or another by machines, to help them get the advantage in a vastly changing society. Even more, it's a nightmarish vision of a society that's dominated by cyberspace and looking back now, is eerily prescient of today's computerized times. "Ghost in the Shell" is an intricate masterpiece of cyber-punk fiction and storytelling, successfully melding intriguing philosophical ideas with a coherent, well thought-out (albeit) confusing plot.
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