Customer Reviews

Ghost in the Shell (Book 1 through 8)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First created in 1991, 'Ghost in the Shell' is Masamune Shirow's vision of a future world, complex and dysfunctional peopled by humans, robots and cyborgs. Best known in this country as the Anime film of the same name, it has had an unexpected influence on manga, anime, and the world to come. Like Phillip Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,' is asks questions about the essence of life and the validity of a society where it is an artifact that can be installed instead of something innate. The Film was my first sight of what anime was capable of, and this book was my first introduction to manga, the unique Japanese form of the graphic novel.

The action of the story centers on a security team led by Major Matoko Kusinagi. Kusinagi, like almost all of her team, are highly modified humans, or highly humanized machines, depending on your viewpoint. They are shells, biomechanical miracles, in which a human brain and spinal column have been places. However, unless you see one of them being made, or notice their cable contact points, they seem utterly human.

The team investigates possible cases of government wrongdoing. Their paths often bring them into contact with the less reputable side of human and cyborg traffic. Shirow uses these contacts, robots in revolution, berserk cyborgs, illegal memory copying, etc., to gradually shift the story from hard science fiction to a semi-metaphysical deep dive into the significance of the information net and alternate life form possibilities. The question, of course, is not just 'what is human?' but 'what is intelligent life?' Where exactly is the boundary between the shell, whether it be bioengineered or flesh.

The last third of the book, which comprises most of the film, is Major Kusinagi's quest to bring down a 'hacker' called the puppeteer. This goes awry in unexpected fashion and Kusinagi finds herself confronted by the impossible rather than the criminal. What effect this has on her, and the possibilities is creates are Shirow's answers to his own questions. Like the rest of the book before them, they raise as many issues as they resolve.

Masamune Shirow's imagination has built a finely detailed world. To complete the picture the artist/writer provides countless notes and commentaries about his technology and society. Unable to do this, the film simplified the plot to make it digestible. While it succeeded, the reader will find that manga is much richer and engaging. Given the longer format, Shirow is able to spend his time setting the scene, focusing on the interactions of the characters, and at exactly the right time, pulling the trigger. Working in both color and black and white, his artwork is a mixture of high tech detailing and unembarrassed sensuality.

The manga and the subsequent film created a whole new era for the Japanese storybook. For many people in the US such as me, 'Ghost in the Shell' is the anime production that made them fans. The themes validated it as a literary form, and the images forced readers to acknowledge that manga was art rather than artifice. Masamune set a standard for manga, which has rarely been surpassed. If you are genuinely interested in understand this art form, 'Ghost in the Shell' is the place to start.

GITSh is a book about the dark side of cybernautics technology.
Taking place in the near future, 2030, it tells the story of
conflicting viewpoints of what conscioussness means.
Technology has become so advanced that a human soul, ghost,
can be transpanted into a cyborg body, shell. There are
many robots in the world that look human, and behave human
with the aid of AI, but only cyborgs with ghosts are truly
considered alive. Major Motoko Kusanagi is one of those
cyborgs. She is the leader of a covert actions team, in a
section of the Shinahama Police. Related incidents lead her
into an encounter with a life form known as the puppeteer, a
software program that claims to call itself a ghost. What
is a soul, and what exactly is life then? The ensuing events
are facsinating, up to the book's climatic ending, leaving
the reader wondering what the soul really is. GITSh is
beatifully drawn by one of the best Japanese Manga Artists,
and has several full color pages to complement the rest of
the black and white ones. The english translation has been
censored by Shirow, and Dark Horse, therefore I can only
give it a 9, instead of a 10 for the original.

The story in Ghost in the Shell is very complex with many ways of interpeting what has happened. I liked the way the story takes you to another place where morals are different but the human spirit remains even if it is in an android. The questions that come up are not always answered and I enjoyed coming up with my own answers. The art enhances the effect. Shirow draws with so much detail the average person could go insane trying to find all the little details. Most of the book is black and white but the colored parts are rich with energy and reminded me of another manga story, Akira. While the story does slow down at times the ideas more than make up for it.

This is without a doubt Masumune Shirow's greatest manga work. By now, most you all should have seen the anime movie, but the manga is even better. (Note to all fanboy wannabes: the comic is always better than the movie it's based on!) Set in Tokyo during the mid-21st Century, a special branch of government security codenamed Section 9 helps protect against outside terrorists and foreign crimimals. Their special cybernetic agent, Major Matoko Kusinagi, and her crew patrol around in their special spider-like Fujikoma robot-mechs. Each has the ability to shield them selves in thermoptics that are transparent coverings that make them look invisible. Matoko takes on various cases dealing with "ghost-hacking" which is where people have their cyborg brains violated and reprogrammed to do crimes. One of the most ellusive of these ghost-hackers is the mysterious Puppeteer. Finally, the Puppeteer is caught, but he turns out to be a lifeform that emerged into existence inside the internet itself. After downloading himself into a cyborg body, he is captured by the government. However, it looks like he has been deleted once in for all in an attempt to escape. Matolo then gets charged with manslaughter after botching an assignment. She's to be sent to prision, but fakes her own death in a kidnapping ruse. Her partner tries to fix her up with a new body, whilst the Puppeteer show up not dead but just sunk back into the net. He convinces Matoko to merge her cybernetic mind with his to form one combined persona. Matoko agrees, and the result is someone with all of Matoko's memories and the Puppeteer's abilities. This is a lead in to the new GHOST IN THE SHELL 2 manga being released by Dark Horse. Truly, this futuristic sci-fi is the pinnacle of cyberpunk comics and intense action. You must own this!

the action here is better than in the movie and the story is much more elaborate and does not concentrate on the philosophical aspects so narrowly. They should've asked William Gibson to write the movie script -- this is his area of expertise and probably would make a much better movie from the material of the novel. Don't get me wrong: i loved the movie when i saw it first (and many times since), it's just after reading this novel i realize how much of the movie is spent in long-winded conversations and how much of the good stuff is left out. Another area where the novel excels and the movie practically fails is character development. So if you liked the movie, you'll learn much more about the characters here.

Also, since i was only exposed to US version of the novel, i can only guess how much was censored out but it feels that a good chunk didn't make it through. Hence the eroticism level is low against the expectation.

This book has great artwork, interesting characters and a plot which will drive you mad if you skip a page by accident. Full of humor and serious scenes, this book deals with the greatest fears and greatest gifts of mankind. Life, what is it and do I fit the mold? Masamune Shirow takes us on a ride, with Major Motoko Kusanagi, to answer this questions and much more. Of course, sometimes, like in real life and trains, we get derailed and have to be put back on track, but the subplots just add to the flavor of the setting. I loved the idea of 'Fuchikoma' and they kept me laughing.

The reason I think this will never be outdated is, while much of our knowledge is advancing at a very fast rate and stuff like interfaces between organic systems and computer systems is becoming more and more steamless, I don't think we will ever be able to truly answer the question 'what is life' anymore than we can define what we mean by 'artificial intelligence'. 50 years ago my watch would of freaked half of the US military and made most scientists drool. Now its something that is tossed away if it breaks! 50 years from now my computer will be looked at as lower in 'intelligence' than the kitchen table!

Ghost in the Shell takes place in the future populated by cyborgs - people with mechanical parts. The stories follow a team of assasins and through their exploits we get to see the world they live in.

There are definite philosophical metaphysical concerns in Ghost in the Shell. If a person has mechanical parts at what point do they stop being human? The definition of life is dealt with from a legal standpoint by Team 9. In court cyborgs are evaluted to see if their "Ghost", the part of them that represents their inate humanity and not programming, is responsible for crimes they have committed or if the crimes are a computer malfunction. One of the plots running through these stories deals with "The Puppeteer", a computer program which has become self aware and developed a ghost.

Introducing these philosophical concerns in an action heavy plot makes for a nice balance. By making humanity a legal technicality the philosophy is made neccesary to the plot and flows well.

I also liked the sciency footnotes (and endnotes), which pepper the pages of Ghost in the Shell. They explain this or that bit of real technology which could lead to this bit of fiction being real. Basing science fiction on real science tends to be a bit silly but it is fun to see.

The graphics in Ghost in the Shell are good. Each chapter starts with a few color pages and the rest of that chapter in black and white. This makes for a nice balance where I've got my color pics but the book doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The drawings themselves are well done. I probably would like many of them much more if I were a guy though.

I highly recommend Ghost in the Shell. It was fun to read and cleverly written. I hope it never goes out of print.

I am a huge anime fan, having watched dozens of different animes. I soon became a HUGE fan of Ghost In The Shell. I then knew i had to get the manga. This is THE best comic i have ever read. It has everything you could want: humor, action, drama. In addition, the art is great with occasional full color art.

I would buy this immedietly if you have ANY interest in anime.

Those of you who are major fans or followers of The Matrix may know the film received inspiration from the philosophically-intense anime, Ghost in the Shell. The 1995 film introduced the world to a smart, visually-groundbreaking adult animation, but for all the praise it received, Oshii's vision lacked the heart to make it pure entertainment, like The Matrix succeeded in becoming.

It's surprising then, when one learns of the manga on which Oshii's film is based. Not only is it smart, complex and visually appealing, but writer/artist Masamune Shirow presents his sci-fi epic with an air of wit and attitude, giving it a personality that absorbs readers, continuing to spawn new works both related and inspired fifteen years later.

The best part about Ghost in the Shell is that, unlike the film, it isn't afraid to have fun. As deep and philosophical as Shirow gets, he never strays too far from the lighter side of the picture, cracking jokes and playing around with visual gags to keep the reader entertained. The characters are also developed pretty well, or at least better than in the film...a lot regarding the characters' lives, specifically the Major, is left to the imagination. Still, the core of the cast - even the capable yet eccentric Fuchikoma robots - come alive with Shirow's writing and art, creating character's you'll actually care to follow, and not just try to comprehend.

Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell is a true treat for fans of metaphysical concepts or traditional sci-fi entertainment. Those who liked the 1995 film but found it lacking will find what they're looking for here, and anyone else looking for a smart yet amusing graphic adventure would do well to give it a shot. If the film is groundbreaking and praiseworthy, then the manga is a true literary classic in its own right.

Ghost in the Shell is peak era Shirow material. Without doubt the culmination of his science fiction work. The story takes place in the classic "near future" cyber-punk setting [much like that of William Gibson's Neuromancer with a dash of Appleseed] and focuses on Section 9 a kind of domestic Rainbow 6. The art is mind-blowing. Shirow's ability to capture movement is superior among comic artists anywhere. His action sequences are breath taking. Good enough to keep you starring at the page long after you've read the content. Most of the characters are classic military/para-military types. Batou is my favorite. He is bold, reckless and overly aggressive but never particularly serious. Kusanagi works well as the main character, calculating and insightful. The story itself is difficult to summarize. The cases [and/or case?] move at a phrenetic pace -- it may take two or three times reading a section to understand what happens. The shear complexity and scale of this work is truly impressive. So much so you will still find additional plot details re-reading it. Even with the TV series and two movies based on the story there is still plenty of material in the graphic novel to tell more. The plot however is more intelligent than deep. Exploring the intricacies of technology and shooting people isn't deep thinking no matter what people tell you. Cyber-punk as a whole just isn't deep stuff and Ghost in the Shell is no exception. If you want "deep" read the Bible this story isn't deep -- it is intelligent. Ghost in the Shell rarely touches on morality or true philosophy. Questions are asked but conclusions aren't often drawn and if so the answers are not clear. Shirow himself seems to take for granted the reader understands the technology of the story and rarely takes time out to explain things outside the scope of the story itself. There is an Index of sorts in the back and you are best off reading it first. All in all this is a seriously good piece of work and will survive as such long after the genre itself is dead.