The Ghost in the Shell

“… but now it’s time to cast off all restrictions and shells, and shift to a higher-level system…” Ghost in the Shell is a work constantly asking what comes next. Whether it’s the next potential move of a cyber-terrorist, the next iteration of technology and weaponry, or the next step in the evolution of mankind. We know where we are right now, and we think we might know where we could go, but… what comes next? It is the year 2029 in Newport City, Japan. Section 9, a branch of Public Security, has recently been founded as a unit specialized in counter-terrorism and anti-cybercrime. When necessary, theyalso act as oversight against government corruption. Towards those ends, their ranks are filled with an awesome group of highly-proficient individuals. Major Motoko Kusanagi is the assault leader. A savvy smart-ass with skills in hacking few in the world can compare to. Batou is the powerful fist even without weapons; Ishikawa the tech expert; Saito the sniper; Togusa the rookie former-policeman; Boma the demolition specialist; Pazu the jack-of-all-trades; and Chief Aramaki the brains behind them all. Watching them work together is the best part, but sadly some don’t really have much presence. We spend little time with Ishikawa, Boma and Pazu -- and beyond Motoko, there are no real character development arcs. Thankfully, their fights are further augmented by the crazy fuchikomas. I say ‘crazy’ in the most affectionate way possible. Depending on how their silliness strikes you, it will probably be love at first byte. A fuchikoma is a think tank, an AI-controlled armed robot that can either act independently or be entered by a controller and used as a vehicle. They look something like cute, pudgy, mechanical spiders. Much of the manga’s humor comes from the quips of these curious, sometimes recalcitrant, automatons. Though more often than not it’s the Major’s own defiance towards authority that gets the biggest laughs. The world of Ghost in the Shell is awash in technology. It’s everywhere you look. Usually where you don’t look too since it’s so prolific. People have begun casting away their flesh and organs in place of cybernetic enhancements or even full cybernization. Cyborgs are a norm. Motoko herself looks no different from an average, fully-human girl you might encounter beating criminals senseless while packing Seburo-style heat. Only when you get a little closer, lift up her hair, you see the ports on the back of her neck for hardwiring into a computer terminal or for direct connection to another cyborg. Not long into the manga, there is a particularly profound section where Motoko observes the creation of a cyborg. An entirely biomechanical cyber-body is split open at the back of the neck, awaiting the only original organic material left of the woman to be cybernized -- her brain and spinal cord. Is this what our individual consciousnesses can be reduced to? Our bodies, like a two-meter high block of flesh and blood instead of marble, carved down to this small yet significant bit? It is no wonder that the Major often wonders about the nature of her ‘ghost’. In a body 90% manufactured, it is hard to be sure what is really ‘her’ and what is not. Is there a ratio of human-to-machine where Motoko’s identity disappears and ‘she’ becomes something else entirely? And would ‘she’ know the change even occurred? At one point, she jokes that maybe only two brain cells remain the ‘real’ her. Shirow plays this concept of identity like a violin. It’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to our sense of self. Our bodies support our brains; our brains give rise to a consciousness. We are our bodies. However, in this new world there are hackers that would change this would-be permanence. Now cyberbrains can be infiltrated and implanted with false memories and personalities or be hijacked altogether and controlled remotely like a puppet. The main story arc involves such a character: The Puppeteer, a wizard hacker that can crack the strongest ice barriers and use people as pawns. So the question becomes not how we can retain our identity, but whether it’s even possible. Although steeped in deeper philosophies, Ghost in the Shell is primarily an action-packed gunshot. Whether using a thermo-optically camouflaged fuchikoma to sneak around, hunting down a wanted target or busting onto the scene full force, Section 9 and the Major take you for a ride. Even when the build-up of the story is gradual, there is a great sense of anticipation of the payoffs to come. Shirow’s drawing is fluid when it comes to this tension-and-release, creating dramatic moments one after the other. A firefight may take only a few pages here or there, but it’s elegant and bloody and satisfying. And when the barrage carries on for page after page, better hold on! Whether the technical prowess of Shirow’s art is greater than his creative choices is an academic question. Both are married perfectly. He makes Motoko look cool visually and adds to that coolness with the fact that she is a cyborg. So too is Newport City a fascinating place for both the way he makes it look and the futuristic technology he decides to fill it with. His ideas and execution are amazing. At times even prescient, given that this was first published in 1989. As with William Gibson’s Neuromancer, I guess there’s just something in the cyberpunk water. To ask what comes next is to invite change. “Change is the only constant.” It feels pedantic to say that. It’s one of those simple truths that stretch from the cosmological to the infinitesimal. And there we are right in the middle of it. I’ve changed while I’ve written this sentence. You’ve changed while you’ve read this one. Our cells replenishing themselves, dividing, dying. Admittedly, those are tiny changes. Motoko herself confronts a great change head-on, the “what comes next” of our development as a species. It’s only one of many possible paths we could take, I imagine. It’s possible we’re well on our way, walking in her footsteps and mustering up the courage to do the same. Hell, we might have already made the decision. Motoko talks about her ‘ghost’. It’s the last bit of her identity housed within the cybernetic shell of her body. It whispers to her, guides her, offers as much assurance as it can even though she fears it might not even exist. Housed within a life of constant change, what permanence can we find? Maybe just those changes that birth a new future… and being lucky enough to witness them when they come to pass.

As a big fan of Ghost In The Shell Movies and TV shows I thought at some point I would see what the original source material of one of the greatest Sci-fi anime's ever. Before reading Ghost In The Shell I was at the time not really a manga reader so I went into it with a open mind and after reading this manga I was more sold on reading Manga and also made me love Ghost In The Shell more than I already did. The story had already familiar aspects from the films and shows as well as other stories that I found very enjoyable andall have a great Sci-fi elements and being a big fan of Sci-fi I found these very enjoyable from Hacking and diving into the internet. The style the manga has is some of the best that I have ever seen in a manga which impressive as this came out in 1987. One of the greater parts of the style are a lot the fight scenes and also all the depiction's of the future with all the technology looks really good and you will find it hard to find something that looks just as good. Characters at first what I expected from the anime's but they are a little bit different in some aspects. The best example is the Major herself. If you have seen the anime you know that she is a bad ass and very self confident but also trying to find out what her purpose is and if everything is real. But one ting that the manga has that the film or the TV show don't really show is that the Major has a immature side to her and also if you thought she didn't take any crap from ayone in the anime then read the manga as she takes it to a hole other level. I guess if there was one last thing to talk about it is and if you know anything about this manga is the infamous Lesbian Cyber Sex scene between the Major and 2 of her cyborg friends and really to be honest its not much to shout about to be honest and it only last's about 2 pages and its just a dream sequence in their minds being hooked up together with some kind of drug (Not really mentioned) and so I don't think its gonna shock anyone over 18 put it that way. So to sum up the Ghost In The Shell manga is a classic manga that all anime and manga fans must read. Even if your just a fan Sci-fi its defiantly worth reading as it is a classic and a part of one the great Sci-fi franchise and in anime and manga.

I must say that my first interaction with the universe of GitS was the 1995 film. So when I first started reading this I was put off by how much of a different character the major was. The whole book is much more light-hearted than the film. For the most part it is more of an episodic work. We start in-media-res and the feeling of that only really goes away at the end as we go through snippets of life in section 9 and in this sci-fi future. You don't really get to understand all the context, and there's some small (author or translator's?) notes explainingthings throughout the whole work which help a lot, but ultimately you don't really need to know everything about the universe. Eventually I reached a middle point where the brand/model number gibberish is scarce enough that stopped feeling bad for filtering it out. As I said this is more of an episodic work, with only the latter chapters making up a longer narrative. Due to this you could say the writing matures throughout the book, as you go from small chapters with things like that lesbian scene on the boat (with the most contrasting dialogue ever) to longer chapters about finding out who the bad guys are amidst all the politics. The art-style isn't one of my favourites but it was fitting and worked out for both machinery and people. As far as panelling goes, I had a lot of trouble figuring out what happened in close-quarters action scenes. Who came from where and what are they doing? Sometimes it felt like we were missing a panel in the middle, or would benefit from seeing the thoughts of a character. The colour choices, giving some pages a colourful oily look, and mostly dabbing on dark tones with strong contrast of cold and warm colours were really good though. Really gives the vibe of big artificial polluted city.

Imagine a comic book that tries too hard to be a novel, and a novel that struggles a lot to be a comic book. Then, mix these two concepts. That's what type of manga "Koukaku Kidoutai" is, I feel. The visual layer is very pleasing to the eye. The designs are well thought out, the characters stand out from each other in terms of appearance, and the illustrations are full of detail. The numerous color pages are especially good. Unfortunately, this is where the positives regarding the art end. The detail-rich illustrations are often very crowded, which makes it hard to follow what is happening ina given scene. Additionally, the paneling is inconsistent, leading many times to sequences that are simply chaotic. There are also several sex scenes depicted in this manga. While lewd jokes or remarks fit the overall vibe of this manga, these scenes felt forced, as if they were added for the sake of including more spicy content. They were drawn very well and from an artistic point of view they did not bother me at all. It's just that their placement felt weird. The writing has similar pros and cons to the art. Good concepts, rather well-written characters with their own distinct personalities and ambitions, nicely handled dialogues among certain groups of people featured in the story, and a lot of care put into small details and explanations... To the point (and here starts, as you've guessed right, the less optimistic part of this section) of dialogues feeling stiff, as if characters were reading their lines from a prompter filled with overly long technobabble, to make the whole scene feel like a chore to read. To make things worse, there are a lot of author comments in the form of text. Some might see this as an advantage and a sign of attention to detail, however, as someone who likes comics and does not mind lengthy descriptions, as you can see in for example many graphic novels, I did not like this way of narration. Here you can see why I started this review by mentioning that this manga seems to want to be too many types of literature at the same time. The downside of such a scenario is that, in essence, this manga ends up not being a very good manga. Not a bad one either. Just closer to something average, despite its complexity and overall vibe. While I respect its cult status and understand why "Ghost in the Shell" has become an iconic work of art representing the cyberpunk genre, I don't think it's for everyone. It's hard for me to recommend it in general. I can imagine even mild cyberpunk enthusiasts getting tired of reading it at some point. Not because it's intellectually challenging, even though it has a lot of thought-provoking moments and technology-oriented elements. It's because you don't feel like you're reading a manga, but rather a bizarre hybrid; a work of art dedicated to a specific group of readers (huge, devoted fans of cyberpunk), all while forgetting about the technical aspects of a manga that make it both enjoyable to read and capable of offering its own atmosphere with all its uniqueness and depth. That's why I don't recommend it in general, unless you are someone who is really, really fond of everything related to cyberpunk.