Ghost in the Shell Innnocence anime review

Ghost in the Shell: Innocence is the 2004 sequel to the original Ghost in the Shell film which came out in 1995. Both films--the original and this sequel--are directed by Mamoru Oshii, known for intellectual and dialogue driven anime such as 'Patlabors' 1 and 2. Both Ghost in the Shell films are based on mangas by Japanese artist Masamune Shirow.

Ghost In The Shell: Innocence picks up after the disappearance of Section 9 Unit Commander, Major Motoko Kusanagi, who left her cybernetic body to become part of the World Wide Web. In her absence, her partner Batou--whose human body is almost completely cybernetic--takes command of Section 9. His new partner is Togusa and, unlike Batou, has few cybernetic upgrades. The film opens with Batou destroying a gynoid--or robot--that killed 3 people including 2 cops. This particular robot is modified for sex and also contains the souls--or ghosts--of real girls uploaded into them through a process called ghost-dubbing. Curiously, none of the victim’s relatives file lawsuits against the company. Also, fishy is the fact that the robots were programmed with an ethics code against killing humans--who reprogrammed the robots to violate their ethics code and why are mysteries. Robot manufacturer Locus Solus issues a recall; however, being that 2 of the victims are government officials, the incidents are treated as acts of terrorism. The terrorism theory goes out the window after a sexbot kills a Yakuza boss resulting in a revenge hit on Locus Solus’ shipping inspector. Batou follows a lead to the hideout of a Yakuza organization to get answers. A violent shootout produces no results. Later, Batou’s eyes are hacked, tricking him into believing he is under attack in a grocery store. He shoots off his arm and goes on a rampage. But luckily, tech specialist Ishikawa stops him from creating a massacre. His shot off arm is easily replaced. The only man capable of getting past his e-brain firewalls to hack his eyes is Kim, a soldier turned hacker who loves dolls and works at Locus Solus. The hacker hoped Batou’s rampage would create a scandal and get Section 9 pulled off the case. Section 9 Chief Daisuke Aramaki does take Batou and Togusa off the case--officially--but gives them the green light to go into Locus Solus on their own without any support. But they are not alone; they have an angel on their side. Before diving into the World Wide Web, Major Kusanagi promised Batou that she would never leave him. Ghost in the Shell: Innocence touches on philosophical, existential, and even religious themes such as God, reincarnation, sex, obsolescence, immortality, procreation, children, dolls, pets. But the central theme in the film, to me, is this question: what makes us human? In the 1st film, Motoko Kusanagi asks this question as most of her body--and maybe even her brain--has been upgraded by electronics, so much so that she even questions the existence of her soul. If a machine is composed of many parts working towards a particular function then how does this determine whether or not a thing is human? Can human be determined by appearance and if so then why aren’t machines or objects such as dolls that are humanoid considered human as well? If human isn’t physical but non-physical--a ghost or a soul--could not this essence exist in some other form such as the World Wide Web or--as we call it today--the internet? This dialectical argument concludes with Major Kusanagi escaping the restrictions of her body and uploading her ghost--or soul--into the web. Ghost in the Shell: Innocence is based on the same premise as the 1st film but with a twist. In this film, the souls of real children are uploaded into robots called gynoids, robots anatomically designed for sex. The process of uploading human consciousness in the film is called ghost-dubbing, after which the children die, a metaphor suggesting that at some point, cybernetic augmentation will replace all of our natural parts and force us to refine the definition of what it really means to be human both philosophically and morally as the way the gynoids are used and discarded in the film by those who are classified as human is called into question. This metaphor of obsolescence also applies to people and things in this society that become old and outdated, worn out and warehoused together in communities--like junkyards--after a lifetime of service. Or like the doll in this film that Togusa gives his daughter for her birthday that she’ll one day outgrow and throw away. Ghost in the Shell: Innocence is definitely an upgrade over the 1995 film in almost every respect starting with the animation which is more fluid and utilizes more CG elements that are seamlessly composited with hand-drawn animation that is incredibly lush, colorful, and intricately detailed. The standout scenes in the film are the parade in the Etorofu economic zone with the giant floats and the mansion at Locus Solus where Batou and Togusa find the hacker Kim. The melancholy score by Kenji Kawai matches the film’s bleak look--most of which is at night--and serves as a voice for the gynoids. Kawai said that with this film he was aiming for a jazzier mood, particularly for the music box in the doll house scene in the film in which he wanted it to sound like it was playing in a huge space. He did this by recording the track in a studio and rerecording the track in an underground quarry. Of all the films in the GITS franchise, Oshii's films are the gold standard. At the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence competed for the Palme d'Or prize, the only anime ever to compete for the prize. Oshii’s reverence for cinema’s great directors like Fellini, Bergman, Goddard and others shows in this film. In ranking this anime, I would put it beside Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey easily. If you have seen the live action film that came out in 2017 you really should see both of Oshii’s films which are light years better. The Wachowski’s wanted to bring Oshii on board to direct a short feature on their 2003 anime anthology ‘Animatrix’ but Oshii had to turn down the offer as he was deeply involved in the production of Innocence which he called a technical challenge that he wanted to exceed traditional anime limitations. There’s a lot of Ghost In The Shell in the Matrix, especially the first Ghost in the Shell film. Anyway, these are my thoughts on Ghost in the Shell: Innocence by Director Mamoru Oshii. It’s English dubbed with the same voice actors as the original film and it also has the original Japanese voice track with subtitles which I prefer. I had this on DVD when it first came out in 2004 and didn’t think it could look or sound any better until I recently got it on Blu Ray which looks and sounds incredible!