It is the year 2029, where widespread cyberization has allowed for humans to accept robotic limbs and organs, including cyberbrains to store & process information at a much faster speed, and even access networks. Full-body cyborgs are a possibility as well, and one such person is Motoko Kusanagi, who works in Public Section 9 tasked with dealing with cases of cyber-terrorism. The movie follows Kusanagi and Section 9’s team of investigators in cracking down on a hacker known only as the “Puppet Master”.
From its MAL entry, the movie has a more darker tone compared to its source material, the manga of the same name.
ANIMATION QUALITY
According to the production report, the movie uses DGA (Digitally Generated Animation), a combination of hand-drawn images and computer graphics. DGA was a novelty at the time, so it brought some neat aesthetics to the table, especially the thermoptic camouflage effects.
The gunfights are great. Lots of bullets flying, and you’ll get the occasional exploding of cybernetic bodies, too.
To sum it up, great animation quality for a movie from the 90s.
Animation Quality score: 8.5/10
SOUNDTRACK
The movie’s soundtrack greatly enhances its cyberpunk atmosphere, the most iconic one being “Making of Cyborg”, played at opening credits sequence.
There’s also the “Puppetmaster” track that plays while a thug is running down a long alleyway, giving a sense of gloom and isolation.
Soundtrack score: 8.0/10
CHARACTERS
The characters help to highlight different degrees of cyberization. While Batou is a full-fledged cyborg, Togusa is completely human save for a slight brain augment, and prefers to use his Mateba revolver in fear of automatic weapons jamming up. However, he’s no slouch, and has a great observation ability as a detective, able to detect anomalies even without fancy cyber eyes or sensors.
And then there’s the main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi(simply referred to as “Major” by her peers, probably because she outranks them), a full cyborg save for her organic brain. Despite being all-machine, she enjoys diving in her spare time, much to Batou’s chagrin, fearing the floaters would one day stop working and she would drown.
One of the main plot aspects is Kusanagi’s identity crisis. While she is enhanced with many abilities and access to a vast network, she feels restricted somehow.
More of her Kusanagi’s internal struggle is explored later as the team digs deeper into the Puppetmaster case. Their investment in the case grows when it ties back to the corporation that made the artificial limbs of Section 9’s personnel including Kusanagi’s body, as only Togusa and Chief Aramaki do not possess artificial limbs.
Characters: 7.5/10
PLOT
Unlike the source material, the movie has a much darker tone, which is perfect for a cyberpunk setting.
The invention of a cyberbrain is an interesting concept. It allows an individual to access a wide information network directly, leading to a new world of possibilities. When Kusanagi was tracking down a garbage truck, she directly accessed the city’s Sanitation Department records to determine how many trucks were making their rounds at that time, and because she could see could track the truck in real time while Togusa couldn’t, she proceeded to remotely take the wheel of their armoured car, all while relaying orders to the rest of her team members on their comm frequency via thought alone.
Later in the movie, we see personnel being able to directly interface with their combat vehicles for greater accuracy and control.
While direct access to the net via a person’s brain seems great, the connection works both ways, and that’s where the hacking comes in. A person’s cyberbrain can be hacked for information or to take control of their body.
There is another term that gets a fair mention throughout the series, the titular “ghost”, the equivalent of the human soul or consciousness. This is the core of the series, to explore the possibility of machines having a soul, or to closely mimic one. This also ties in with Kusanagi’s identity crisis mentioned earlier.
Accessing the network or a device with a ghost is known as “diving”, to imply that the entire person’s consciousness enters the network.
The plot thickens when the team discover an android that self-assembled itself on a production line and fled the area, and when scanning its backup brain to reveal the presence of a ghost, something only humans were able to possess.
My only gripe with the plot was its short run time. A mere 82 minutes wasn’t sufficient to cover what the movie sought to explore, and as such, it ended up doing so only at a surface level of something with a much greater depth.
Plot score: 7.0/10
SUMMARY
Animation Quality score: 8.5/10
Soundtrack score: 8.0/10
Characters: 7.5/10
Plot score: 7.0/10
CONCLUSION
Ghost in the Shell has great production value for its time, coupled with decent characters & soundtracks. Watching it was a great cyberpunk experience, one I will not soon forget. If only the plot was longer.
