Mamoru Oshii's "Ghost in the Shell"

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Many people at least marginally familiar with Japanese animation recognize the name of Hayao Miyazaki. He is well known for his interestingly complex and unorthodox plots and his beautiful and fluid art style. Many casual fans, however, would not recognize this less popular but no less deserving name. Mamoru Oshii, creator of the Ghost in the Shell series is easily one of the best animators out there. His stunning visuals and intricate (if not much more mature) plotlines make his work a must-see for any anime fan.

Which brings us to the topic of discussion, Ghost in the Shell. A story that examines what exactly makes humans humans, it is a dark, futuristic story rife with philosophical speculation and amazingly sharp visuals. While one might feel bogged down in the philosophy during the second movie Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and others may take exception at the use of CG in the 2nd movie since the original was all breathtakingly hand-drawn, it is hard to refute that the works are genuine masterpieces. The characters are well defined and the backgrounds are extremely detailed and often contain a great deal of symbology. Some people may feel bothered by what could be considered to be excessive nudity in the first movie, but if you look beyond that it truly is a great series.

So, for those of you who have seen Ghost in the Shell, what do you think of it? For those of you who have not, would you watch it? Why or why not?

Also, I've not yet seen Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. For those who have, is it worth watching?

[Necronopticous]

I only saw the original Ghost in the Shell years ago. I liked it but I wasn't particularly blown away. I think I might need to give it another chance, I'd like to see the newer Ghost in the Shell stuff too... I'll have to get around to that sometime.

[Peegee]

Despite being a pretentious philosophy buff, I couldn't sit through the second movie. I'd like to though..having the dvd around and having my brother watch it on his first sitting is no fun to have over your head.

The animated series is more palatable.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

There's a scene in the second movie which is extremely strange and somewhat repetitive, so I'm wondering if that's where you stopped. I think I liked the first one better than the second, the execution was nicer, but the second was not bad at all. Much of the scenery was just breathtaking (the CG was quite well done, though I did miss the original's entirely hand-drawn art).

[edczxcvbnm]

Ghost in the shell is an interesting concept but the series and movies move slower than a sloth working its way through super glue.

I blame him as director though. I like the story and I like the writer Kazunori Ito. Ito also wrote .hack...most all of it on some level. It also deals with the mind in a ghost in the shell type way with people's conciousness getting trapped in a computer world. But no where near the level that ghost in the shell goes into in. Didn't focus on that so much as a whole story with lots of background.

The writing similarity is there though in that they never "tell" you the plot but expect you to figure it out for yourself.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I don't mind the slower pace, but I'm a lot more patient than most. One of my favorite scenes, which is done in both movies, is this montage of scenes from the setting. There's no dialogue, you just get to watch life unfolding and view the city and what is going on.

[Captain Maxx Power]

GITS is freaking awesome! I utterly love this movie, and it quite proudly rests in my DVD collection. It's a shame that you don't see many movies like this being made nowadays. It's been some time since I last saw a mature Manga film that wasn't so off-it that it was near impossible to follow.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Not to say that Ghost in the Shell can't get a bit trippy. especially in the second movie. I've been looking into the manga, but I'm not sure if it's just a transcription of the movie in manga form like Spirited Away was.

[Endless]

the manga was written a while <i>before</i> (in 1991, in fact) the first movie was made (1995). The manga elaborates more and gives stories not mentioned in the movie (a la <i>Stand Alone Complex</i>, with the Fuchikomas being actually present in the manga for example), and the puppet master arc comes at the end of the manga. The GITS 2 manga (2001) also differs (a lot) from the second movie (2004) or SAC.

[KoShiatar]

I haven't seen Innocence yet. The first Ghost in the Shell was a damn good movie, but - much like Akira - it had a fault: you couldn't understand fully what was going on if you hadn't read the manga. (in Akira it was much worse, actually).

I'd like to spend some words for the breathtakingly beautiful soundtrack, truly amongst those which I most love - especially the "Making of robot" theme song.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Oshii's works tend to be unbearably slow-paced with lots of obtuse exposition. The best thing he ever did by far was Urusei Yatsura.

[XxSephirothxX]

I enjoyed the first movie, but either I didn't understand it very well at the time I saw it, or the plot wasn't as superb as I was expecting it to be. I'm sure the manga is much better and more detailed, but I've never read it. Also, I thought the second movie was pretty bad. It was long, boring, had a meandering, hard-to-follow plot, and only a couple good action scenes.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I didn't find the 2nd movie too extraordinarily difficult to follow except for at a part or two, When Batou and Togusa get Ghost-hacked. And really I thought that those parts were well done because they portrayed the confusion quite well. I also liked Batou's dog :D

It certainly wasn't as good as the first, but it was a good movie.

[black orb]

Mamoru Oshii, creator of the Ghost in the Shell series
>>> The creator was Masamune Shirow, Mamoru Oshi just adapted Shirow`s work for his movies.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Ah sorry about that.

[GhandiOwnsYou]

The Slow plot was incredibly nessecary to the point of the Movie though. that's the thing that gets to me about that particular critique. Granted, it is a jump from a lot of anime, but GiTS isn't about action, or even storyline in particular IMO. It's alot like Reading Ayn Rand i guess. You get a fantastic and enthralling story, but it comes at a slow pace to force you to analyse each characters, in terms of their purpose, their particular ideological views, and how these views sit with the authors favored viewpoint. if the movie just rolled along at a good clip, you'd be looking at the action and the story rather than enjoying the play between Batou and the Major, or going into the philosophical implications on technology that the anime does so well.

[mike without a hat]

Ive seen the first one, it was ok considering i had no idea what was happening.(first time watching any ghost in the shell) Anyway, i havent seen the second one, i was following the show on adult swim for a while then i missed a few and when i got back to it the last episode i saw all the people were in hiding and they were all captured and killed. So, can someone tell me what led up to that? and is that gonna be it/ the end?