Or at least I don't think I will...
So today's review is on Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Now I'm not a huge fan of this, but they are worth watching (if your okay with the *cough* content) and I just watched them and was already brooding over what I thought of them (which helps me in writing a review). But they go together in an odd sort of way, so I'm reviewing them together.
The first movie begins with Ishikawa killing a bunch of people... Naked. (No, they arn't naked). The reason she is naked is because she wears a suit that turns her invisible, but she cant wear anything underneath it... ANYWAYS! She is a cyrborg (a human mind in a robot) that works for the police and takes out gangs and stuff, which she performs with significant bloodshed right in the first scene (Naked...).
But there's an actual plot! (lol) It's very much in the future, when machines and the human mind have become uncannily close. To the point where hackers can make people have memories of things that never happened. The human mind (called a Ghost) can be transferred to machines, thus letting special police forces (like Ishikawa) live longer and be tougher.
After totally pwning a bunch more hackers in the movie (Naked... she had to turn invisible), another story starts in. The government reports an escaped robot. So Ishikawa and her (Kick Butt) Partner Batou go to find it. They do (and it's... you guessed it... naked), and bring it back. The plot turns into, however, that this isn't just some robot. In the huge unlimited internet that exists in the future, an intelligence formed, and took over this robot.
So the robot escapes, and Ishikawa and Batou follow. This leads to that and eventually they end up in a huge battle with a giant spider robot. They kick its butt, but then find out this one supposed hacker they had been chasing is the Intelligent Robot. But the robot wants to merge with Ishikawa so it can understand people. Batou tries to stop him, but its too late.
Batou fights of a buncha bad guys, and takes the bodies of Ishikawa and the bot back to his place. They are so damaged from the fight, he buys an empty cyborg off the black market to put Ishikawa's spirit in. But the spirit that enters is the merge of both of them, and she says thank you and leaves. THE END!
So yeah, you're probably wondering why I just told you the whole movie. Well, it didn't spoil it too much, since its mostly action and not plot. But really, the only reason I would even say to watch this is for the second one. But I'll finish this first.
=Sub vs Dub - Watched it in English, it was fine. Didn't watch it in Jap w/subs.
=Content - *COUGH* This is where the movie puts a big wall. It's rated R. They don't put any obvious visual on her bottom section, but her top half gets a lot of view... nothing in this show is sexual, but if u have a problem dealing with toplessness, I would recommend avoiding this one. It's either the 2-3 times she's pwning people with her "Invisible Suit" (which not only turns her invisible but IS invisible), or its the intro to the movie where you see her cyborg body being made. And the violence is heavy, lots of blood. I had no problem with that part, lol. And there may have been some language, but I dunno, it was a while ago. But, if you've seen some movie with tribal settings (like Mel Gibson's APOCALYPTO), the toplessness is probably not going to bug you, lol.
=Sound - Ooo... some interesting weird chanting music is throughout the movie. I downloaded the soundtrack it is surprisingly enticing... most of the rest was just your usual quiet orchestral tracks. Oh wait, there's THAT ONE SONG. There is this bubbly Japanese pop song that totally doesn't fit. I don't know if its in the credits or what, but it doesn't fit the movie. But it's a good song.
(There's less info for a movie than a series)
Category: I dunno! It didn't fit mine, it really doesn't fit anything, although it did have a lot of Theology in it in relation to people and machines...
Year: 1995 (1996 US)
Japanese Title: Gōsuto In Za Sheru
Studio: LOTS OF THEM
Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_(film)
AnimeNewsNetwork Page: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=465
Become a Fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ghost-in-the-Shell/12791225309?sid=93c7bd6ccd8abc731691cf52789d8b7d&ref=s
Download: Just google a torrent. I got it from the Library.
Okay, now that THAT is out of the way, onto the second movie.
Batou is still around, but now He's in charge and has a partner, and he loves his dog. He pretty much walks around and kicks peoples' butts. But the plot is really interesting. I thought this was gonna be some bland movie like the first one, but I was hoping it would kind of put the first one to rest. However, it used the background history of the first one to make a fine movie. But you gotta pay attention to understand.
Robots from the same company are going crazy and killing people. Batou is the first person to stop one without destroying it. The robots turn out to be... ahem... sexaroids (self explanatory). This explains why the families were settling out of court. But anyways, the adventure goes on and you figure out why this is happening, along with some other mysteries you find along the way.
But you'll enjoy how it ends. You have to understand the Ghost concept from the first movie, and who Ishikawa is. The ending has mild content issues, but nothing too major.
On other interesting thing: about half of the dialouge in the movie is quotes and sayings; most are Japanese ones I have never heard, and they quote the Bible. Most of the characters do it, especially the main ones, and they argue by saying quotes even. But whats funny is sometimes one will ask the otehr why he uses sayings all the time, even though everyone in the movie does it. I found the quotes interesting, though. Like "There is Loyalty that hides secrets and Loyalty that hides the truth."
=Sub vs Dub - FYI there is no dub of this movie. Maybe there will be, but I watched the official American release on DVD and it was Japanese with English (and other) Subtitles.
=Content - Thankfully, this one was only PG-13. No nudity, just lotsa blood and some mild language. There was, of course, the topic of Sexaroids, but nothing shown. The final twist also reveals something that is slightly perverted, but it's very subtle and not emphasized. Personally I accept something more when its plot relevant and they had to, than when they stick something in for the sake of smut, and this is the latter.
=Sound - I don't have this soundtrack, but from watching the show it seemed just like the first movie's. I caught the weird chanting music, and then quiet orchestral pieces.
Category: Plot
Year: 2004
Japanese Title: Gōsuto In Za Sheru 2: Inosensu
Studio: LOTS OF THEM
Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_2:_Innocence
AnimeNewsNetwork Page: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2081
Become a Fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/s.php?init=q&q=ghost%20in%20the%20shell&ref=ts&sid=93c7bd6ccd8abc731691cf52789d8b7d&_ecdc=false&n=-1&o=4&k=100000000020&sf=t#/pages/Ghost-in-the-Shell-2-Innocence/7068089958?sid=93c7bd6ccd8abc731691cf52789d8b7d&ref=s
Download: Hard to find, but probably available in a torrent (Use google). I rented it (surprisingly) from Blockbuster.
Purchase BOTH on DVD ($9): http://kcdvd.com/GITSMovie1and2.html
That's about it. In summary, I guess I'd say if you were looking for a good starter anime, this wouldn't be it. Nor would I recommend it when you've seen about 10 and are looking for more. But if you've seen about 20+ anime already, and you don't feel like watching a series, I'd say check this set out. You might enjoy the second movies plot and the theology throughout that gets your mind going.
NOTE: This is not the complete Ghost in the Shell story. There is actually a series called Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, then a second season called Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG, plus two SAC-based movies and two OVAs (Specials). I haven't seen them, but I know Batou is in them. (Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is merely a remake of Ghost in the Shell.)
Hmm...sounds very droll.
ReplyDeleteuhh, the cyborg chik's name is Motoko Kusanagi. Ishikawa is the male hacker with a half-fro. Get your names right nest time, bra.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you suck at reviewing anime movies. Although the GitS content is very psychological, it is very well put together. I will admit it is hard to follow the first and maybe second time through, but if you put effort into it you'll see it is a lot better than what you thought in the first place. Watch it again, and this time, with purpose.
ReplyDeleteMy bad. Screwed up there. It's been a while since I watched the first movie (long enough to forget names, short enough to remember my opinions).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you suck at commenting on reviews. Although your comment may have some value, it was very poorly thought out. I will admit my review my not be be perfect, but a review is simply my opinion. You are free to disagree, but this time, without insulting.
ReplyDelete;)