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Reviewer Patrick Douglas

Patrick Douglas is a Library Technician at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Title

Ghost in the Shell

Review

Based on Shirow Masamune's manga comic, Ghost in the Shell is the story of one possible future for humankind. In 2029, technology has advanced to the point of mimicking, even improving upon the human body. With enough money, anyone can enhance or replace any part of his or her body, putting those who don't enhance themselves at a disadvantage. Only the brain cannot be completely replaced, because it contains the one thing that makes one human, the ghost. 

A mysterious and very well connected old man named Aramaki runs a top secret government agency called Section 9. His elite group of agents include his second in command Batou, a tough guy with cybernetic eyes and limbs; Motoko "the Major" Kusanagi, a female cyborg, fearless and cunning, who is beginning to doubt her own humanity; the hacker and technology wizard, Ishikawa; and Togusa, a former Tokyo police officer and the one member of the group without any cybernetic body parts. 

When the brain implants of ordinary citizens are hacked, allowing them to be controlled remotely, Section 9 is sent to investigate. They uncover a secret government experiment and a naturally evolved computer sentience that longs to be truly alive, and the Major becomes obsessed with the artificial body it has chosen to inhabit. 

Ghost in the Shell is not only an original plot concept, but ushers in a new age of animation, as well. Computer-aided cel animation blends seamlessly with CGI to provide the viewer with a constant stream of impressive visual effects. The musical score, a mixture of futuristic and traditional Asian styles, lends a feeling of isolation to the experience, further emphasizing the film's underlying question, "How do we define human life?" It's no wonder this movie won the 1997 World Animation Celebration Awards for both best theatrical feature film and best director of a theatrical feature film. The next two films and the television series are also quite impressive. 

This film is one hour, twenty-two minutes in length. Although unrated, it has warnings for mature content, including graphic violence, explicit language, and nudity.

Review Date

Reviewed November 2009