This movie was in theatres when I visited Japan in 2004-04 but didn’t catch it as I wouldn’t have been able to understand it (no subtitles). The story is largely adapted from the manga’s Chapter 06: Robot Rondo: 1.10.2029 where love dolls are going berserk and killing their owners. Section 9 investigates and uncovers the links between the underworld, an unscurpulous company using illegal ghost dubbing technology and victims who victimize as they struggle to escape a horrible fate.
To state an important starting point, this movie belongs the universe of the first Ghost in the Shell movie and not that of the alternative Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex universe. Major Motoko Kusanagi has disappeared and only the faint whisper of her ghost can be felt for most of the movie.
The movie is largely from Batou’s point of view as he and Togusa race to get the evidence required to nail the faceless corporate culprit.
The mood of the movie is dark and gloomy, almost like mourning the Major’s absence yet she is always on the minds of the Section 9 team and of the viewers. The constant presence of shadow and the plays on light showcased some spectacularly good animation, fitting in with the brooding atmosphere of murder and mystery.
There’s a bit of philosophy but on a much less grand scale when compared with the first movie - better given that the first movie is often criticised for being ambitious and bombastic. Such complex ideas are better explored within the space of a 26 episode TV series or more.
Essentially on whether robots can have personality given their digitial processes compared to humans who are analogue or non-binary. All this only makes sense in the context of cyberbrains where the mechanical-biological distinction has been eroded - is the difference between human and machine merely the container (human flesh or cybernetics) while the processes are the same (social conditioning and learning as to programming)? And a normative question - humans don’t want to become robots, but will robots actually find human emotions and feelings alien and abhorrent if introduced into their systems?
Some of the characters are drawn rather differently like Ishikawa (left) and Aramaki (left of right pic, voice sounds different also) whose hair are no longer so expansionist. Togusa still looks like a shaggy dog though.
I also loved the way programs, programming and data were represented. It was visually rich and even exciting as good guys battled the bad guys in cyberspace for control over realspace. Interestingly, the language interface of the bad guys was in Cantonese.
In the movie, there seems to be a strong association between organised crime, lawlessness and the Chinese - an increasingly awareness of mainland China in the Japanese consciousness which has manifested in generally negative stereotypes.
Some great quotes as well:
Life and death merely comes and goes
For the faceless puppet
But once its strings are cut
It falls with verve and dignity
(there’s a Chinese pun here which is hard to translate)
I walk alone and
do no evil
With few desires
Like an elephant in the forest
In conclusion, enjoyed this movie immensely for the high quality animation, the clean storytelling (and added sophistication and updating of Masamune Shirow’s original story), some great action scenes and a fantastic OST.
Edit: Bought the DVD (from a second hand Akiba shop) during my visit to Tokyo in 2005-04! =)
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