GHOST IN THE SHELL (animation, 1996)

GHOST IN THE SHELL (Kôkaku Kidôtai [original title]). Mamoru Oshii, dir.[1] Toshihiko Nishikubo, animation dir. Japan: Kodansha, Bandai Visual Manga Entertainment (prod.) / Manga Entertainment (release), 1995/1996. 82 min.

Animation ("Based on the Manga by Masamune Shirow"). Release coverage by Dan Persons in Cinefantastique (28.1 [Aug. 1996]: 49-52), which attributes to the film a "sophisticated cyberpunk aesthetic, thematic ambitions, and impressive visuals," and compares it to AKIRA. Note cyborgs and idea of personalities/souls as the "Ghost in the Shell" of people with cyborg enhancements. Featured villain is "the Puppetmaster, a sophisticated hacker who has recently moved from manipulating financial markets to altering the memories of cyborg-enhanced humans." Opposing him is Major Motoko Kusanagi, a "lithe, beautiful, and extremely dangerous" female, cyborg-enhanced "member of the ultra secret, government strike force, Section 9"—and the Puppetmaster is opposed by the rest of the section. "The members of Section 9 are unabashed in the tech-enhanced prowess of their near-perfect cyborg bodies and computer brains. But they're also prone to machinelike consistency, forcing them to recruit unagumented humans in order to keep the random factor in play"; and, like all cyborgs, they're "virtually slaves to the government that financed their augmentation." With the augmentations removed, there is little left except "the original greymatter and, within that, what the characters refer to as 'the ghost'" (using Gilbert Ryle's phrase, "the ghost in the machine")—i.e. "the indefinable quality that forms the human soul" (Persons 49). Note images of superimposition of the electronic upon the human and imposition within the human. Contrast as well as cf. the rather beautiful images in GiS with the grungier, funkier, more industrial worlds in Anglo-American cyberpunk films and graphic novels (e.g., BLADE RUNNER, Dark Knight). GiS available in English-dubbed version from Manga Video. Back of that box spells "Puppet Master" as two words and stresses complexities of interaction between Section 9 and "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shadowy Section 6." As of 2015, Manga Video could be contacted at <http://www.manga.com/manga>.

See also GHOST IN THE SHELL (film 2017)

(RDE, 07/07/96, 20/09/99; renamed 3Apr17)