This was one of the first animated Japanese movies I've see; the only other was the mythical adventure Mononoke Hime. I can only compare it to live-action movies with science fiction themes.
The movie is set in a future Hong Kong where cyborgs are common enough that even some of the garbage men have computers linked into their brains. The title refers to the distinction between the "ghost", the conscious mind that makes a person human, and the "shell", a person's natural or artificial body.
At the beginning, the "Section 9" internal security agency has its best agents investigating computer crimes linked to the mysterious individual known as the Puppet Master. His (or possibly her) nickname refers to the Puppet Master's criminal specialty, mind-controlling people by way of their own brain-implanted computer links.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs "Section 6" is also interested in the Puppet Master, who has apparently attempted to manipulate international diplomacy. Sections 6 and 9 soon come into conflict over how to pursue the Puppet Master, although it appears that a hostile internal rivalry already existed between those branches of government.
Section 9's top agent, "Major" Kusanagi is a cyborg who is mostly machine. Her investigative partner is Tosuga, a married man who still has almost all of his natural body. She has doubts about how human she is when she has almost nothing of her natural body left except her brain, and finds a mostly-natural partner reassuring. As she learns more about the Puppet Master, her doubts about her human "ghost" deepen.
The main plots are the pursuit of the Puppet Master, the government in-fighting, and Kusanagi's self-doubt. The interlinked plots are complicated enough to confuse an inattentive viewer. But watching closely, one can see that everything in the movie was leading toward the conclusion, although I could only managed to see that after I had seen the conclusion.
The characters all seemed to have motives that rationally explained their actions. In many movies, they would just do whatever the screenwriter needed them to do. The movie was good science fiction, with a lot of mystery and action, and a little politics and philosophy -- not just cyberpunk technobabble. Unlike so much science fiction, worst of all cyberpunk, the story isn't just a carrier for special effects, the story is the soul of the movie.
The animation was good, comparable in quality to mid-range Disney, but far short of masterpieces like Mononoke Hime. The artistic design was very good, with lots of depth and atmosphere, in the style of Blade Runner relocated to Hong Kong. The weapons and armed combat showed clear attention to realism. Overall, the movie was very good visually.
I watched the movie twice, in part to compare the Japanese and English voices. The Japanese voices were very expressive, although I couldn't understand the dialog without the subtitles. The English voices varied between competent and lackluster. The two versions are somewhat complementary -- the Japanese voices bring much more emotion to the movie, but the English sound track is often clearer on details than the somewhat-condensed English subtitles. Best of all is probably the Japanese sound track, for those who understand Japanese.
The music was excellent. The sound effects were very good. The overall sound quality was good on my modest sound system. I don't know how much better it would be in fancy surround sound.
Overall, the movie is very good.
The movie is set in a future Hong Kong where cyborgs are common enough that even some of the garbage men have computers linked into their brains. The title refers to the distinction between the "ghost", the conscious mind that makes a person human, and the "shell", a person's natural or artificial body.
At the beginning, the "Section 9" internal security agency has its best agents investigating computer crimes linked to the mysterious individual known as the Puppet Master. His (or possibly her) nickname refers to the Puppet Master's criminal specialty, mind-controlling people by way of their own brain-implanted computer links.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs "Section 6" is also interested in the Puppet Master, who has apparently attempted to manipulate international diplomacy. Sections 6 and 9 soon come into conflict over how to pursue the Puppet Master, although it appears that a hostile internal rivalry already existed between those branches of government.
Section 9's top agent, "Major" Kusanagi is a cyborg who is mostly machine. Her investigative partner is Tosuga, a married man who still has almost all of his natural body. She has doubts about how human she is when she has almost nothing of her natural body left except her brain, and finds a mostly-natural partner reassuring. As she learns more about the Puppet Master, her doubts about her human "ghost" deepen.
The main plots are the pursuit of the Puppet Master, the government in-fighting, and Kusanagi's self-doubt. The interlinked plots are complicated enough to confuse an inattentive viewer. But watching closely, one can see that everything in the movie was leading toward the conclusion, although I could only managed to see that after I had seen the conclusion.
The characters all seemed to have motives that rationally explained their actions. In many movies, they would just do whatever the screenwriter needed them to do. The movie was good science fiction, with a lot of mystery and action, and a little politics and philosophy -- not just cyberpunk technobabble. Unlike so much science fiction, worst of all cyberpunk, the story isn't just a carrier for special effects, the story is the soul of the movie.
The animation was good, comparable in quality to mid-range Disney, but far short of masterpieces like Mononoke Hime. The artistic design was very good, with lots of depth and atmosphere, in the style of Blade Runner relocated to Hong Kong. The weapons and armed combat showed clear attention to realism. Overall, the movie was very good visually.
I watched the movie twice, in part to compare the Japanese and English voices. The Japanese voices were very expressive, although I couldn't understand the dialog without the subtitles. The English voices varied between competent and lackluster. The two versions are somewhat complementary -- the Japanese voices bring much more emotion to the movie, but the English sound track is often clearer on details than the somewhat-condensed English subtitles. Best of all is probably the Japanese sound track, for those who understand Japanese.
The music was excellent. The sound effects were very good. The overall sound quality was good on my modest sound system. I don't know how much better it would be in fancy surround sound.
Overall, the movie is very good.