Where to begin? This thing is dense, because there's so much that happens in it from machiavellian political subterfuge, to incredible gunplay and vicious combat, and a mystery that opens up one of the biggest can of worms there is.
This is probably what cemented cyberpunk as a genre in anime, hitting harder than anything before and that's followed. High tech low lives, Ghost in the Shell is drowning in them. That isn't the biggest pull in the film, what really gets me is the questions it leaves you with:
What are the differences between artificial intelligence and human consciousness? What happens when you merge the two, does that become something new? If your memories can be rewritten electronically, how can you be sure you are really yourself? When you can customise every part of your physical appearance, how can you remain an individual if you change entirely or something becomes identical to you?
This film was more than entertaining, it made me want to learn more about what it was talking about. If that isn't the sign of an incredible movie, what is?
Throughout the whole film, it never feels overly preachy. Once you get into the rich story at the beginning, it all flows so (ironically) organically that the whole philosophy bits creep in subtly enough that its easy to digest, at least it did for me and I knew absolutely nothing about 'em. This is one of those films that gets more rewarding in the second or third viewing just because so much is going on at once. Every time I watch this movie, I think I love it even more. It was also great to see a really strong female lead character dealing with completely unpredictable situations, even if her clothes/swimsuit seems a bit out of place at a board meeting. Hey, that's anime for ya!
