Gênero: Action, Award Winning, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense
Estudio: Production I.G
Sinopse:
With Major Motoko Kusanagi missing, Section 9's Batou is assigned to investigate a string of gruesome murders—seemingly at the hands of faulty gynoids, or sex robots. But when a faulty gynoid leaves Batou a cryptic message, he begins to question the cause of their malfunctions. Suspicions of politically motivated murder and an illegal "ghost" quickly crop up, drawing Batou and his partner Togusa into a perilous web of conspiracy.
As their investigation goes on, the line between man and machine continues to blur, and reality and perception become indistinguishable. Confronting strange and dangerous foes, Batou and Togusa explore a futuristic world filled with machines and living dolls but utterly devoid of humanity.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Vurtox
No one can ever know to understand. They can only hope to understand. What is life, what means reality? Why does man pursue the creation of artificial life? Where do we draw the line between human and machine? What classifies the perfect species? Ghost in the Shell: Innocence might very well fare as a compendium of philosophy due to the manifold questions it not only brings up but most often also provides the viewer with unique - maybe obscure at times - in any way thought-provoking arguments. The movie depicts a state of cold surreality in an eerie and sterile environment. The distinction between the organic andinorganic, between actual experience or artificial memory is of central significance.
"The imperfect nature of human perception causes the incompleteness of reality." As we perceive the world, we create our personal reality which holds neither absoluteness nor can it be considered concrete. However, because it is a product of the mind and hence incomplete, we consider it real, our own - instead of an externally imposed artificial scenario. Yet, there's no way to distinguish one from another. "You'll only ever realize later on. It's impossible to know you're in a dream when you’re dreaming."
Would we want to wake up from a dream if it was so much more beautiful than that which we consider genuine, just to seek truth?
"The mirror is not a tool for realizing the truth, but for obscuring it." And so is our consciousness. There's no verification of the truthfulness of the impressions that affect us, the memories we have, the interpretations and conclusions we come to. We are obscuring reality to make it fit our individual creations.
They definitely dwell on this subject matter. Not least due to the creepy dolls that lurk everywhere. "The doubt over whether that which looks alive is actually alive - on the contrary, the doubt that things without life might be alive" is something that's continuously played with - and the transition to another intriguing theme. The definition of life - or rather human.
"When people think 'Humans are different from robots', it is no more profound than thinking 'white is not black'." Why does man try to create machines in the image of the ideal human body? None other than a cyborg makes the quite unorthodox and controversial approach to answer this by creating an analogy between children and dolls. A child playing with a doll is essentially the same as parenting. The child substitutes the doll.
The macabre intellectual argument is taken even further. The 'content' of a child is different than that of a human, yet it is human-shaped. Therefore parenting is closest to the creation of androids which is the intent to conquer nature that created us.
A very factual and coherent argumentation - but devoid of emotion. That is obviously where the machine is lacking. And Togusa, closest to being a human in the whole movie, reacts emotionally.
Interestingly enough, about the only time the atmosphere transcends the abstract sterility of the plot is when Batou returns home to his dog. In an absolute contrast to the usually dialogue-driven story we're reduced to our visual perception and enjoy their reunion. While at first it may not seem special enough to be mentioned, the dog clearly stands out.
It is perhaps the most lively and intimate creature we're presented with. Hugging Batou from behind, scratching him with his paw in eager anticipation of the food, Batou carefully putting its ears around the feeding dish and in the end sleeping in his lap - unconditional love in a setting that otherwise shows an utter absence of this emotion.
The science that explains and defines life ultimately produces fear - "…the fear that humans might merely be the sum of simple clockwork tricks and components, in other words the fear of the phenomena called 'human' is essentially vanity."
Is the imitation of a human complete by putting a soul into a doll? Or is the existence of such a doll superior? The hacker Kim who has turned himself into a complete machine argues that either no consciousness or infinite consciousness makes a species complete and that can only be realized in dolls. "If there were such a thing as a truly beautiful doll it would be flesh and blood without a soul."
While the cyborgs might be the most complete form of existence, they are treated as inferior to man which is allegorized by the girl sacrificing the 'life' of dolls in order to be found. They are ignorantly treated as things despite the absence of a clear definition for life (which could disqualify them).
"You cry for bird's blood,
but not for fish blood.
Fortunate for ones with voice.
If the dolls had voices,
They would have screamed,
'I didn't want to become human!'"
This is by no means shallow entertainment or easily digestible. The story moves solely by its highbrow dialogues which are in a way mentally exhausting, yet quite rewarding.
Whereas the first movie impressed with detailed hand-drawn sceneries, this time around they made heavy usage of 3D CG. Although it was flawlessly executed and did not necessarily feel out of place, I could have lived with less of it. The love for detail remains nevertheless and it certainly adds to the somewhat sterile - almost clinical - atmosphere of the futuristic setting. Highly recommended.
Spagglespook
GITS Innocence is very much spiritual successor to the original GITS film, at least in terms of presentation of storyline and interspersion of philosophy. Innocence is a film that will appeal to some people, but others will either find the story too lacking or smothered with philosophical guff. To be perfectly honest I found the story to be extremely simplistic and shallow, there really isn't much depth here unless if you look to the quotation of classics or philosophy as depth. Almost all of the dialogue in the film is devoted to quotation, it becomes quite tedious after a while - not least becausethere isn't much necessary framing for those quotations.
The supposed point this endless quoting is to question artificial concepts that have no real bearing on our world, so it ultimately feels rather pointless.
Visually the film is... inconsistent. The 2D artwork is beautiful and fluidly animated, yet it is constantly at odds with ugly 3DCG artwork. Normally I wouldn't be quite so bothered about this, my complaint here is that excessive screen time given to ugly 3DCG panoramas and sweeping shots of things-which-aren't-very-interesting. Long story short, Innocence is not as visually impressive as the first GITS film.
It's a shame that this is such a disappointing film, but if you really want to try something deep try reading the many works cited in this film.
anime_junkie
Although a slighty confusing and very philosophical story, it flows very well and comes together seamlessly in the end. The animation was beautiful, fluid and lifelike. The CG blended well and made each frame stand out. An awesome soundtrack that set the mood very well. There was gradual character development but it just seemed to fill in where the first movie left off. Overall a very good anime but not a very accessible one. The story was very cryptic at times with a very serious undertone that require concentration. Not as much action but what it lacks makes up in atmosphere and detail. Watch ifyou feel up for a strongly scripted movie which may leave you pondering the many issues it brings up.
HiImAnAlien
When Oshii directed the first Ghost in the Shell he didn't just adapted the original manga, but rather made from it something of its own. Whit the second movie, rather than to give something more accessible to the viewer, he made it into something even more personal. Story: It’s more of a standard story than that of the previous movie or the arc of the SAC series, it’s basically just a detective story that deals whit the exploitation of technology for sex. So, while a step back in this regard, it’s good that the animated franchise tries to deal whit cyber-punk themes from different perspectives. Thefirst information we get makes the story start as a mystery and the conclusion is also unexpected taking what seems like a very simple premise, thus the story has a great start and conclusion. The problem tough, it’s in the middle, because while in the original movie there was a feeling of intrigue overall and some food for thought regarding the development of the events, here this is suspended whit the main characters simply knowing where to go. Fortunately, there is a big mind-screw put in there for compensation.
Whit all the stories faults, I think that Oshii also did a very good job of developing one manga chapter into an entire movie.
Action:
Now, people who appreciate the previous movie for what it was, know that they aren’t coming here for an action movie but for a movie whit action among other things, but damn good action when it comes to it. Here, every action scene is memorable.As an inconvenience of sorts tough, the cooler the scene is the shorter it is also. The action isn't distributed equally on the length of the movie as it is a signature of Oshii to make you wait on and on for the big battle.
Graphics and animation:
There are people who recommend this movie for the animation and graphics alone, so there’s not much for me to praise here, rather I will just agree whit them and make a comparison between this and the original. I would say that I actually prefer the original –I prefer the original to any anime in this regard tough- because it had just the best combination of realism and style and was ahead of its time, but this may be the anime that comes right after it. While this has a SF aesthetic, it’s quite far from the cyber-punk school popularized by works like Blade Runne. It's a more spectacular future but one that it's just as possible. While not flowing as smoothly like in the first movie, the animation is also very accomplished. 50s inspired cars, ,shattered glass, zoomorphic vehicles, a dog, etc., are all treated whit the highest respect by the graphic and animation department. That the parade scene is a high-point of the movie on these grounds alone couldn’t be more clear.
Music:
The songs “Follow Me” and “Crystal River” are both beautiful and touching pieces that express what the main character won't express in his own words. One need not worry, the traditional chants are also present.
Characters:
Through the controversial decision to remove Motoko from most of the movie, Oshii made her to be one of those characters that have an almost mythical aspect to it. The relationship between the main characters is shaped by her lack of presence and when she appears again it’s all hooray. Batou and Togusa aren’t one of a kind like her but they play their respective parts pretty damn well. Batou is one big cliché but a very convincing one, while Togusa is someone for the average man to relate to. I felt that the depiction of Batou’s loneliness was very convincing.
Philosophy and symbolism:
The quotations over-load is justified to a degree whit the technology of net-implants but I would have liked to hear the characters talk more whit their own words.
What makes this movie special is that it explores the human fascination whit AI outside AI itself, managing to link SF themes whit the past and even nature.
The religious parade is probably the scene where all the symbolism is best concentrated.
Words are sometimes superfluous, other times necessary, and here there is proof for both.There is a point where the uncanny valley is discussed but this comes off as unnecessary since this was done just fine through imagery, but some well-tough reasoning concerning its main themes it's also contained in this movie.
Atmosphere:
When all the elements of this movie are added together, they may not make for the strongest story, but they sure make for a great atmosphere such as one can find only in truly great movies.
I think this movie is best seen not as a sequel to the first Ghost in the Shell, but rather a great work that is complementary to the classic.
Davitaph
It's hard to explain to its full extent the pure disappointment and even at times frustration I had watching this movie. It really is hard to believe it was made by the same director, mostly in part to how it lacks almost everything that made the original 1995 movie the classic that it is today. Where the original arguably shined its brightest was in its brevity. It only had a runtime of 82 minutes, with a pretty short script to boot, but it got across everything it needed to and more in that time span. Ithad poignant philosophical themes, atmospheric and memorable music, great world building, through dialogue and visual storytelling, as well as some gorgeous animation and action scenes to keep it from feeling stale. Innocence seems to miss almost all of this completely, with decent 2D animation and 3D animation that has aged pretty awfully, far less memorable music, and a distinct lack of world building that made everything seem more shallow in comparison.
Arguably the one area in which Innocence has more than the original is in its philosophy and its themes, but I feel that through the awkwardness of the script and the sheer overabundance of it all it actually works against the movie rather than for it. One of the more noticeable problems with the movie, and one which actually genuinely annoyed me at times was the heavy, heavy over-reliance and quotations and proverbs. It's hard to say exactly how much of the script was quotes, but at times it feels like there's at least 1 every 2-4 minutes, and this lack of original words coming from any characters mouths just was obnoxious. Quotations are obviously not a bad thing, but with how many are here, it makes all of these characters seem, ironically enough, really robotic and uninteresting. It was hard to care about them and relate to them when their conversations felt so fake unrealistic.
I also think the themes of this movie suffer due to how much is actually trying to be said here. I can commend the desire to want to make a movie very interpretive and thought provoking, but when this much is attempted to be said, from the original themes of what it means to be human, the constant biblical references, the disparity between the real and digital worlds and so on, it feels like it's stretching itself a bit too thin. If it just stuck to one point and expanded upon it as much as the rest, I feel the final product would have been far better.
Many people who defend this movie say that the comparisons to the original shouldn't really be made, due to its status as a true sequel being pretty questionable. Even the director himself views this movie more as a stand-alone film rather than a direct sequel, and on this point I can agree. But where this defense falls apart for me however, is that no matter which way I view this film, it completely crumbles under its own weight. As a sequel, it feels like a messy, confused story that hardly holds a candle to its predecessor in any way, and only feels lesser by the originals existence. As a stand-alone movie though, it's a shallow and boring film that is over-stuffed with rambling, uninteresting dialogue and themes that believe they are far more profound than they actually are in practice.
TeKSMeLater
The Palme d'Or is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of film, coming from the highly respected Cannes Film Festival. For a film to get nominated for the prize is in and of itself a great merit that deserves praise. Within the few of several animated films that bring about a huge influential force within the industry and art itself, there's only been one Japanese animated film that was ever nominated for the said award. Regarded as even more dense and rich in philosophical detail than its predecessor, Mamoru Oshii's follow-up to the widely successful Ghost in the Shell, Innocence, is a visualfeast of intricate design and narrative. With a nine-year difference between the two films, it could be said that Innocence was a highly anticipated sequel. Yet with as much consensual praise it garners from film critics, on top of it a coveted Palme d'Or nomination, what exactly makes this film any different from your above-average anime?
In the same ways, it delivers like the first film, with Oshii's slow but methodical approach in setting scenes to build up suspense and evoking a rising curiosity to the viewers. Ghost in the Shell 1995 exemplifies scenes like the long, calming pause before the conflict arises, or the climactic chase scene with the Puppetmaster to emphasize the Major's internal existential crisis. This way, the slow-burner aspect of the film is justified as it allows the viewers to immerse into Kusanagi's thoughts as a human-slash-cyborg.
This film delivers none of those.
The snail pace of Innocence isn't really something that is as appealing as the first film's, and as a matter of fact it hinders the possibility of giving the film progress. Imagery...and long, establishing shots that take 30 seconds onwards without giving proper character conflict makes this time for the viewers to ponder completely baseless. The film does not allow us to relate or get into Batou's mindset, nor does the meandering moments help. It's something that makes the visuals and the narrative so out-of-sync it becomes flat-out boring.
The first half fails to captivate the audience with the "suspense" it should contain, and I couldn't really immerse myself into the film when all I see is Batou feeding his dog. The plot itself isn't bad—a string of murders by sex robots occur, but a particular one leaves a message that falls under Section 9's prying eyes. But if this two-hour film was a mini-series divided into two episodes, most would have dropped it after watching the first one. It drags on needlessly and unnecessarily, and only a few interesting moments happen. Not to mention the innumerable quotations from other forms of literature that makes me wonder if Oshii was writing a script or a reference list.
The story only really starts to kick in by the second half of the film, where we get into a convoluted but intriguing hacking sequence and from then onwards becomes a thrilling action-packed final act balanced with excitement and the same feeling that made the '95 film so interesting.
Whereas the story failed in execution but had enough steam to keep it going, the character aspect of the story had less appeal but were delivered well enough. Batou comes across as a ruthless character that the viewers would have a hard time relating to while Togusa sets a foil, becoming his voice of reason. We also see how these characters react as the intensity of the plot builds up, but it honestly doesn't have the approach GitS (1995) nailed with Kusanagi's unique characterization.
More or less, Kenji Kawai's helm in Innocence's soundtrack remains the same, although it becomes much less as a topic of discussion, just like the first film. It doesn't overpower, but it doesn't do anything to stand out as well. On the other hand, the sound effects and the voice acting remain one of Ghost in the Shell's strong assets.
CG animation, for the most part, does not blend well with anime—especially in a time like 2004. However, Innocence makes it all look natural, and its aesthetic (yet baseless) sequences help complement the otherworldly feeling the film's story and theme addresses. Whether it compares to the first film or not is up for debate, but in my opinion the animation utilized for Innocence and GitS 1995 are apples and oranges.
The Ghost in the Shell film series remains an overrated part of anime, both inside and outside the community. Don't get me wrong, I'm not stripping them of its merits—what GitS has done remains a groundbreaking move for anime cyberpunk. However, it is not without its flaws, and is nowhere near perfect. What is considered as a thought-provoking, introspective and philosophical form of visual art lauded by many is surprisingly straightforward, and doesn't really have that many meta-narrative interpretations that can be attached to it. Does it deserve the Palme d'Or nomination? Maybe so, but I'd like to think Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence just happened to be there, and if I was given the chance to pick another animated film that best represents the medium in terms of style and substance, I would.
ezbie
I watched this and the first Ghost in the Shell one after the other, and my verdict is that this show is just very bad. It stands in a stark contrast to the first Ghost in the Shell movie, which I consider to be very well produced and gave it a 9 here in on MAL. The reasons for me to see it as a bad show are the following. 1.well, the Arts is bad, mainly due eto the mix of 2D animation with 3D graphical computing which doesn't blend well. Whereas the 2D design itself isn't bad, the scenes are often way too darkand the 3D graphics are ugly. Also, they give 2 to 3 minutes of screen time to nonsensical and ugly 3d scenes every now and then.
2.soundtrack is a cheap copy and paste of the first show's. Whereas sound fx are good, there's only one song (apart of the backing themes) that's played through the entire movie, and it's basically the same shit you'll hear in the first movies (I guess lyrics have changed, but I don't speak Japanese to say the truth.).
3.the plot is pretty shallow. There's nothing impressive going on.
4.The dialogues make me cringe. I'd say 75% all of the lines spoken in the show are quotations from some philosopher or another. Not only they do not fit in very well, but they're also confusing as to why they're there. I got bored very soon with all the philosophical blabbering, but still it drags on and on until the end of the show.
5.Confusing scenes. Besides the dialogues and development being confuse, there are a couple scenes I watched over and over again and still didn't understand quite well what has taken place and why. One example is the shooting in the grocery store. At first I didn't get at all what had taken place, but then the characters themselves explain what happened, but still it is unclear how it took place and what that scene tried to communicate. There's also the mansion part. It eventually got good clarifications as to what happened, but I think the whole passage is a good waste of everyone's time after all.
I think these are the parts I like the least in the show, but overall it's a bad show that provided little to no enjoyment for me.
Alchemistx4
The movie was simply amazing visually and left me awe struck in several scenes. The amount of attention to detail and quality that went into every frame must have been immensely labor intensive and time consuming. As a result, this may very well be the best looking anime movie I have seen ever seen and the experience is enhanced by the wonderful sound design which fits perfectly into ever scene. On the substance side of things, the plot was very compelling, and as can be expected from a GITS, the dialog that the characters engaged in was fantastic although a little bit heavy on the philosophicalside which can leave you confused in some instances. To a certain extent, the plot development suffered as a result. People will definitely need to watch it against to fully grasp or at least better understand some of the ideas that were being exchanged between the characters.
Overall, this movie should be watched by all and not just anime fans. Although some of the substance may not be what some prefer, I think everyone can appreciate the visual masterpiece this movie is.
VeiledEdge
Ghost in the Shell 2 looks, sounds, and feels like Ghost in the Shell, but it's not. Not at all. This movie has absolutely no substance whatsoever. The execution was amazing, but as they say, you can put a tuxedo on a pig... The movie is still a good action movie, and it does a trippy scene near the end that's pretty cool. It's gorgeous and sounds great as well. The action scenes are good and well thought out, I mean, look at my score. That's a decent score. It's a good movie. Just don't expect Ghost in the Shell quality of work here. Iwould not recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen the rest of the Ghost in the Shell franchise. This should be near the bottom of your list. Go watch some good Ghost in the Shell first, then, come back to this if you have time.
VIZGIX
What can I say about this anime.... well really, plot just devolved horribly after the first part. I have always enjoyed the Ghost in the Shell series.. The original movie, the two Stand alone complex animes, and of course, Arise, but this movie is one MAJOR exception. One thing I had to realize with the GitS franchise, was that I wanted everything to be understandable, logical, and explainable. However, at certain points the plot there is just a tendency for it to "pull things outta its ***" and cleverly disguise it as being SO WELL thought out, that most people cant completely follow it.This Movie takes THAT aspect of the series, and makes a movie out of it..... yeah, so it gets really tripy about halfway into the movie, and you just go along for the ride, and HOPE things get explained, but really it just falls into the realm of "well this is philosophically abstract..that there is really no point in exploring it.....but alas they try anyway". Essentially, by the end of the anime, there are just these strong vibes given off how, every other character is weaker, both physically and mentally to Bato, who seems just to be overly and unequally badass for no real reason.. and makes everyone else to be just look horribly pathetic. I seriously cant help feel that there is some weird reason behind this, like that the creator is championing Bato as an extension of himself and going on a power trip with him in the movie. All in all, the movie is just so abstract, that you cant really take away anything from it other than,..."ow my head" and knowing that it hurts not because I'm not getting something... but that there was nothing to get about it in the first place.
Yukushi
I watched the first movie quite a while ago (what, I was fourteen?) but the second one definitely lives up to the name of “Ghost in the Shell”. I daresay I understood this movie better than the first (maybe because I’ve matured, or maybe because the presentation was simplified), but it does require the viewer to have a philosophical way of thinking. This isn’t on the level of Evangelion. Evangelion is grade school maths compared to this. "Let one live alone doing no evil, care-free, like an elephant in an elephant forest." The questioning of reality, existence and morality is constantly challenged in this film. Heck, thescene in Kim’s mansion is pure gold. What does it mean to be human? How can we be sure that we're living in reality? It isn't spoon-fed to the viewer, and nor is it so hard to understand that you'd need a degree in Philosophy. The ideas are presented in a way that makes the viewer think deeply about the question at hand. However, I felt that not enough time was given to stomach all of what was being said.
Half of the dialogue is made up of quotes. They’re hard to interpret, that’s for sure. But if you can understand them, it brings so much more meaning to viewing the movie. As I said, you can't watch this unless you are mentally prepared. This puts many people off this movie, so you'd better be ready for some big names to be mentioned. Confucius is the high flyer of this movie.
As for how the story goes, it was quite solid with a few surprises. The flow of the movie changed quite drastically according to the situation the characters were in. At one point they'd be leisurely questioning reality, and soon after they'd be thrust into a gunfight. Keeps you on the edge of your seat, no?
Batou does well to express the philosophical feel of this movie. As the protagonist of this movie, we get to see a side of him that wasn't revealed in the first movie. He is even compared to the Major at one point, which shows just how much he has changed. His only real attachment to the world is shown through his pet. His dog is the only organism that he is close to; he refers to his home (whom he shares with his dog) as his 'love nest'. It is pretty ironic, considering that the story started off with the malfunctioning of sex-droids. Togusa is also a well thought-out character. Being the most ‘organic’, he is the human perspective, perhaps even the most immature, of the cast. He provides the ‘normal’ way of looking at things; almost like a student who has been exposed to philosophical ideas for the first time. A contrasting duo tackling crime; where have I heard that before?
What people complain about is the use of CG in this movie. Over-used? Perhaps. But it wasn’t a bad idea; it represents the future world of cyber-technology and robots very well. It’d be weird to use full 2D animation in 2004, wouldn’t it? Besides, most of it was used on the scenery, and I must say it looked beautiful.
The soundtrack was impressive too, though somewhat lacking in variety. It was the sound effects that really stood out though. The sound of a car speeding past a lamp post to the sound of a robot's mechanical joint movements. All of it is executed seamlessly.
If you’re looking for a mentally challenging, philosophical anime, then go for it. If you have seen the original Ghost in the Shell, then definitely do not overlook this movie. But above all, do not watch this movie half-heartedly. You’ll find that the enjoyment plummets severely if you’re not prepared for what’s in store (haha, see the joke I made there, Batou?).
vtiger
Let's just say that when I watched Blade Runner right after watching GITS Innocence (being quite a fan of Ridley's immortal masterpiece and admiring its style and sfx which were a herculean achievement for its age) - the style, music, color palette and pacing of Oshii's movie simply make the prior seem almost like a color-uncoordinated arrhythmia-paced flick (though I admit that having the same amount of control over post-production as allotted by modern technology would probably even the odds for Mr. Ridley, but as things stand Mr. Oshii is ahead by a head). The storyline by itself is nothing to write home about: after allit's purpose here is to simply to provide a backdrop for the exposition of the universe of the movie, the art, the basset hound and anything else the creators were thinking of at the time. Confusing as it is (sometimes simply for the sake of being confusing), the adaptation of the manga's story arc is well executed and leaves anyone wishing to follow it with something to do while sitting through the experience and trying to make sense of the dialogue.
The protagonist duo of Batou and Human gives an interesting and at times an amusing dynamic to the plot - my most favorite to date of all Mamoru's films.
The music fits the bill perfectly... alternatively one might say that the bill fits the music - the point is that as with any other components of this movie nothing really ever seems out of place or overshadowing some other aspects of it - harmony, simply put.
The idea(s) of the work are for everyone to discover on their own, but even if none are actually underlined in bold with much of a conclusive yay or nay from the part of the authors - the movie does give one something to maul over in one's head pitched from an exquisitely curious angle.
Slow - yes, but well-paced and amazingly executed - a must watch for anyone, at some time in their lives.
JuneNephthys
Like Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Innocence is much more of a "Mamoru Oshii" film, than it is a "Kōkaku Kidōtai" production. It has all the makings of a Ghost in the Shell story, as far as the theme and setting goes, but the ambience is more idiosyncratic with the sensibilities of the director. Some of the fluid motions are much more advanced than anything I have ever seen in a cell-animated film, it appears much more neoteric than a movie made way back in 2004! And yet, the script gets stuck ankle-deep, in a pile of sludge. ⚠️ This review for Ghost in the Shell2: Innocence will have spoilers ⚠️
—Story/Characters
The way the center of the plot falls through, is like a bowling ball through a damp sheet of paper—it really bothered me! The cinematography, the overall message, and the dichotomy between Batō and Togusa was brilliant—but it felt like the middle of the film really faltered in the dialogue department. Every other sentence was quoting Confucius or René Descartes, and it got really tiring to listen to!
Perhaps, the film would have been better if the length was shortened, but the dialogue felt so contrived. It was bludgeoning me over the head with aphorisms, that I would have considered cool, if I was back in high school. Some of the cuts were really abrupt, too, there's a really famous scene; Batō and Togusa are talking in an airship and all of a sudden, there's a CG parade, resembling the parade in Satoshi Kon's "Paprika."
What the film was setting up was genius: I liked the comparison between Togusa having a family and having a set of dolls to play with, Batō's insistence on purchasing a living dog (rather than an artificial one), their differing ideals of what constitutes reality, and Togusa's reluctance to to accept that his entire existence might just be a product of their society! All of that was great, but the mass of references and philosophers gesticulated at, as well as the random subplot with the Major, kind of detracted from what could have been. Much of the delivery felt excessive.
I did like the comparison between Gabriel ("the light of Batō's life") and the Major ("Batō's guardian angel"), being shown to be what grounded Batō to life in a cybernetic labyrinth, that one sliver of spirituality made him stronger than the malleable, Togusa. I feel like this film would have been better with the surfeit scenes of philosophical jargon cut out of the picture, or perhaps, more would have been able to come to light, if it had been an OVA or mini-series! Like the stumbling narrative in Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, I think Innocence would have suffered less if the production staff had given Oshii less of a free-reign, during the production.
—Technical
Luna's Favorite Works by Each Respective Creator = ✅
Mamoru Oshii (director, screenplay writer), notable works:
* Blood: The Last Vampire ✅
* Dallos ✅
* Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!
* Halo Legends
* Jin-Rō ✅
* Patlabor: The Mobile Police ("Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor"
* Patlabor the Movie
* Patlabor 2 the Movie
* Ghost in the Shell ("Kōkaku Kidōtai") ✅
* Maroko
* Mezame no Hakobune
* Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai ("Miyamoto Musashi: Souken ni Haseru Yume")
* Wonderful Adventures of Nils ("Nils no Fushigi na Tabi")
* The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters ("Tachiguishi Retsuden")
* Angel's Egg ("Tenshi no Tamago") ✅
* The Sky Crawlers
* Urusei Yatsura ✅
* Urusei Yatsura Movie 1: Only You ✅
* Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer ✅
* Vlad Love
Commentary: The animation and direction in Innocence is stunning, the characters movements resemble actual human beings... what someone would actually look like, walking across the screen or something. It's impressive that it could be pulled off without rotoscoping and while using minimal CG. Every motion is directed with care and deliberation. It's no surprise, many of the talented animators that were brought onto this project, also worked on: Akira, City Hunter, FLCL, Kachō Ōji ("The Legend of Black Heaven"), Metropolis, Mōsō Dairinin ("Paranoia Agent"), Paprika, Perfect Blue, Samurai Champloo, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi ("Spirited Away"), The Animatrix, Tokyo Godfathers, etc. Gorgeous film, Mr. Oshii's screenplay isn't the greatest, but it's still a noteworthy film. Based on the visuals and thought-provoking themes alone!
Kenji Kawai (music composition), notable works:
* 009 Re: Cyborg
* A-Ko: The Versus
* Akachan to Boku
* All That Gundam
* Bakuretsu Hunters
* Barakamon ✅
* Biohazard: Vendetta
* Blue Seed
* Burn Up! ✅
* Busō Chūgakusei: Basket Army
* CB Chara Go Nagai World ✅
* Chibi Neko Tomu no Daibōken: Chikyū wo Sukue! Nakama-tachi
* Corrector Yui
* Cosmos Pink Shock
* Cyborg 009: The Reopening
* Devilman: Tanjō-hen ✅
* Devilman: Yochō Sirene-hen ✅
* Dragon Fist
* Esper Zenon
* Eyeshield 21: Maboroshi no Golden Bowl
* Fate/stay night ✅
* Fate/stay night Movie: Unlimited Blade Works ✅
* Fūjin Monogatari
* Geisters: Fractions of the Earth
* Girlfriend (Kari)
* Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai! ✅
* Groove Adventure Rave
* Gunparade March: Arata Naru Kōgunka
* Hakuouki Movie 2: Shikon Soukyū
* Hana no Asukagumi! 2: Lonely Cats Battle Royale
* Higashi no Eden ✅
* Higurashi no Naku Koro ni ✅
* Hime-chan no Ribbon
* Hyper Police
* I: Wish You Were Here
* Iczer-Girl Iczelion
* Innocence ✅
* Jinki:Extend
* Joker Game
* Jūsenshi Gulkeeva
* Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor ✅
* Kōkaku Kidōtai ✅
* Kurogane Communication
* Kyūketsuhime Miyu ✅
* Mahō Senshi Louie
* Maison Ikkoku ✅
* Majū Senshi Luna Varga
* Maroko
* Mermaid Forest OVA
* Metal Fighter Miku
* Mezame no Hakobune
* Mob Psycho 100
* Kidō Senshi Gundam 00
* Mutekiou Tri-Zenon
* No Guns Life
* Oira Uchū no Tankoufu
* Ranma ½ ✅
* Ryūō no Oshigoto!
* Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarō ✅
* Seirei no Moribito
* Servamp
* Shōka
* Shōmetsu Toshi
* Starship Operators
* Subete ga F ni Naru
* Tachiguishi Retsuden
* Taiho Shichau zo The Movie
* The Sky Crawlers
* Tōken Ranbu: Hanamaru ✅
* Towa no Quon
* Twilight Q
* UFO Princess Valkyrie
* Wakaba*Girl
* World Trigger
* Xi Avant
* YAT Anshin! Uchū Ryokō
* Zetsuai 1989
Commentary: Mr. Kawai creates a haunting atmosphere in the cyberpunk setting of Innocence, it very closely resembles the OST from the original film! Kimiko Itō's rendition of the classic song "Follow Me" (the song that is featured during the ED credits) gave me goosebumps! Ms. Itō has a gorgeous voice!
I watched Innocence with the English dub, so I will list the Japanese seiyū, but comments will be on the performances of the English voice actors.
Akio Ōtsuka as Batō, notable roles:
* Lion, Africa no Salaryman
* Zōroku Kashimura, Alice to Zōroku
* Amon, Amon: Devilman Mokushiroku ✅
* Kunimitsu Tange, Ayane-chan High Kick!
* Tōta Kijima, Bakuen Campus Guardress ✅
* The Skull Knight, Berserk ✅
* Kurō Hazama ("Black Jack"), Black Jack ✅
* Jirō Sōzōsuke Shunsui Kyōraku, Bleach ✅
* Daitetsu Kunikida, Blue Seed
* All For One, Boku no Hero Academia ✅
* Geronimo Jr. ("005"), Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Solider ✅
* Kenzo, Darkside Blues ✅
* Rider ("Alexander the Great"), Fate/Zero ✅
* Nemo, Fushigi no Umi no Nadia ✅
* Gwendal von Voltaire, Kyō kara Maō!
* John Estes, Mad★Bull 34
* Magma, Magma Tenshi
* Ekubo, Mob Psycho 100
* Avavel Gato, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories
* Montana Jones, Montana Jones
* Moominpappa, Mūmindani no Suisei
* Toshimi Konokawa, Paprika ✅
* Valgas, Power Stone
* Zaxon, Sōsei Kishi Gaiarth
* Regal Bryant, Tales of Symphonia ✅
* Demitri Maximoff, Vampire Hunter ("Darkstalkers' Revenge") ✅
Richard Epcar as Batō, notable roles:
* Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
* Vamdemon ("Myotismon") and Etemon "King of Digimon"), Digimon Adventure ✅
* Mitsukake, Fushigi Yûgi ✅
* Ryu Nakanishi, Gatchaman
* Joseph Joestar, JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken ✅
* Daisuke Jigen, Lupin III ✅
* Hokusai Katsushika, 百日紅～Miss HOKUSAI～
* John Silver, Takarajima (Movie)
Commentary: Mr. Epcar is very talented at playing the strong and silent character roles; I really liked his more crazy roles, too, like his casting spots in Digimon Adventure. As a kid, Vamdemon ("Myotismon") was my favorite villain from the first season. Mr. Epcar did a good job at making him both charismatic and cruel. As for Batō, his voice conveys the enigma of a stoic, badass. Good work!
Kōichi Yamadera as Togusa, notable roles:
* Spike Spiegal, Cowboy Bebop ✅
* Beerus and Tenshinhan, Dragon Ball Z
* Kōichi Zenigata, Lupin III—待て, ルパン!! WAIT, LUPIN!! ✅
* Ryōji Kaji, Neon Genesis Evangelion ✅
* Papacharino Nanadan, Photon
* Mew and Lugia, Pokémon
* Ryōga Hibiki, Ranma ½ ✅
* Akihito Kayaba, Sword Art Online
* Abert Desler, Uchū Senkan Yamato 2199 ✅
* Meier Link, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
* Sorata Arisugawa, X/1999 ✅
Crispin Freeman as Togusa, notable roles:
* Balmung, .hack//SIGN
* Hideki Motosuwa, Chobits ✅
* Kōichi Kimura, Digimon Frontier
* Tōma Norstein, Digimon Savers
* Shizuo Heiwajima, Durarara!!
* Kirei Kotomine, Fate/stay night ✅
* Rude, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
* Campanella, Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru
* Alucard, Hellsing ✅
* Hibiki Amawa, I My Me! Strawberry Eggs
* Togusa, Ghost in the Shell ✅
* Holland Novak, Eureka Seven ✅
* Alex Row, Last Exile ✅
* Itachi Uchiha, Naruto
* Joseph Carpenter, R.O.D.
* Shannon Casull, Scrapped Princess
* Tōga Kiryū, Shōjo Kakumei Utena ✅
* Zelgadis Graywords, Slayers ✅
* Kyon, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūtsu
* Rosiel, Tenshi Kinryōku ✅
* Amon, Witch Hunter Robin
* Tsume, Wolf's Rain
* Fūma Monō, X
Commentary: Mr. Freeman has one of the most recognizable voices in the industry, his role as Togusa is very human and believable. Wonderful casting choice!
Atsuko Tanaka as Motoko Kusanagi, notable roles:
* Bayonetta, Bayonetta
* Silene, Devilman: Crybaby ✅
* Caster ("Medea"), Fate/stay night ✅
* Motoko Kusanagi, Ghost in the Shell ✅
* Claudette Vance, Queen's Blade
* Kyrie Ushinomiya, Umineko no Naku Koro ni ✅
* Jagara, Wolf's Rain
* Karulauatsuurei (or Karura), Utawarerumono ✅
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Motoko Kusanagi, notable roles:
* Urd, Ah! My Goddess
* Ayla V. Roznovsky, Battle Athletess Daiundōkai (TV)
* Cornelia li Britannia, Code Geass
* Nuriko, Fushigi Yûgi ✅
* Sofia Galgalim, Geneshaft
* Naoto Shirogane, Persona 4
* Kanna Kirishima, Sakura Taisen ✅
* Feb Fall, Sol Bianca
* Buburina, Totsuzen! Neko no Kuni Banipal Witt ("Catnapped")
* Jura Basil Elden, Vandread
Commentary: I haven't seen many of Ms. McGlynn English roles, I've primarily watched that anime that she's in with subtitles. I did really like her as Nuriko (Fushigi Yûgi) and Kanna Kirishima (Sakura Taisen), though; she's really good at playing strong, sultry female characters! Great job as the Major!
Overall, I had a really tough time with rating this installment of the franchise. The reliance on philosophical quotes and avant-garde imagery really hindered the progression of the plot—conversely, I was dumbfounded by the beauty in the film's conclusion and stood in a hot shower for far too long, ruminating on the meaning of it all. Despite my low score, I think everyone should experience this film, at least once! I give Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence a 4/10, and suggest checking it out, if you have some spare time!
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
korison
Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, is the sequel to the movie Ghost in the Shell. It was released in 2004 by Production I.G, who are known for many other works, such as Psycho Pass and Guilty Crown. Story: The story of GitS 2 doesn't depend on the first movie as much, as you might think considering it's something like a sequel. After the Major vanished, Batou and Togusa, are investigating a series of murders commited by Androids that kill their owners, before comitting suicide. The story is just as complex as the one of it's prequel, but a bit better to understand. 8/10 Characters: The characters are prettymuch the same as in the first movie with the sad exception of the Major. It is not much to say since we simply dive a bit deeper into those we already know.
8/10
Visuals: The visuals of the 2nd GitS movie are outstanding for it's age. Another great work by Production I.G. at this point. The Animations are always fluent. It does use a whole lot of CGI, does this in such a good way, that I wouldn't have expected by something that got released in 2004 (if you consider that the dragon from Fate/Stay Night got released in 2006...what a shame). The backgrounds look gorgeous too and the character design isn't bad.
9/10
Sound: The Soundtrack at this point was composed by Kawai Kenji, who we know from such titles as Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni and Fate/Stay Night. The music always fits the scenes, and has some parts that are really good. But in total nothing too memorable. I didn't watch the sub, which I don't like to comment on normally. I actually watched the dub of this and have to say, that it is surprisingly good in my opinion. With the best performance having Richard Epcar as Batou.
Enjoyment: In total, GitS2:Innocence has a pretty good mistery story about characters we all learned to love. If we include the art to this one it really does become quite a good movie and is of course really enjoyable.
8/10
ktulu007
Welcome, my Friends, to the last film festival week review of the year. We've looked at a lot of films. Some well known. Some more obscure. Some tied to popular franchises, some stand alone adaptations. We started the week with a call back to last year's film festival and we're going to end the same way. So, let's take another look at Production I.G's Ghost in the Shell franchise. Last year, I took a look at the first film, which was excellent. This year it's time to look at the second film. Co-produced by Studio Ghibli, this is Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Story:The Major has gone missing. Our hero in this installment is Batou. The story opens with Batou being called to the scene of a crime to investigate a murder committed by a prototype sex robot. It seems like a job for the regular police, but Aramaki is concerned by the fact that there are several such murders, all by the same line and that some of them have been against people in powerful positions. As such, he sends Batou and Togusa to investigate the incidents and the company behind them.
Let's start with the positive aspects of the story. It does do a really good job of converging its plot points in a way that makes sense and is largely compelling. It also does a good job of establishing everything that factors into the climax well before the actual climax. Everything is foreshadowed handily without spoiling what's actually going to happen. The twists make sense and do help keep things interesting. The film, however, is not without story problems.
The pacing of the film is pretty bad. There are some pretty long stretches that serve no purpose other than to pad things out and show off the artwork. The investigation itself suffers from the effects of this with some scenes being far shorter than they should and others dragging a bit. It's not so bad that you'll lose track of what's happening but it's bad enough that it's jarring.
Characters:
Our major characters in this one are Togusa and Batou. The film does do a really good job of giving them both character arcs that develop them and give them complexity. They also exchange some really good banter. The weak link is the antagonist. There really isn't much of one aside from a vague corporate entity motivated by profit. They barely even show people who work for this company Yeah, real companies do make decisions that emphasise profits over people and there are cases where those decisions are unethical or even illegal, but it still feels weak and kind of cliché given how many works use the amoral corporation in the exact same role.
Art:
The art in this is gorgeous. There's a lot of detail and the futuristic technology looks really cool. The character designs are unique and combined with the technology in a way that gives the film a unique aesthetic. Batou's dog is also adorable. The action scenes flow really strongly and I have no complaints about the art whatsoever.
Sound:
Yamadera Kouichi and Otsuka Akio both reprise their roles as Togusa and Batou to great effect. Tanaka Atsuko also successfully reprises her role, albeit very briefly. All of the actors in this give great performances. As for the music, it is very good but I have the same criticism I had with the music of the first film. The same bloody song gets used throughout the movie during atmospheric scenes and it ends up really over-used.
Ho-yay:
Another film without any. 1/10.
Final Thoughts:
Ghost in the Shell 2 is not as strong as the first film. Don't misunderstand, it's still a good cyberpunk work with strong protagonists, excellent artwork, great acting and a good narrative. What really hurts it is the pacing and the antagonist being really weak. Still, if you're into cyberpunk narratives, give it a watch. My final rating is a 7/10. Next week we'll be back to our regular schedule and looking at Tales of Symphonia the OVA. Wait... there are three of those, not counting the specials. We'll look at the first Tales of Symphonia OVA, The Sylvarant Chapter.
Zhaitan
I thought the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie was alright. It had a story that (eventually) made sense. People talked to each other in a way that could reasonably be considered realistic. The music had some variety. The visuals were pretty consistently decent looking. Innocence has none of this. The story is terrible. What you read in the synopsis is the whole story. The answer to the question is given in the span of 30 seconds at the end of the movie. It was not interesting or exciting. The story is mostly delivered through long stretches of exposition where they drop 3+ names and 5philosophy quotes. Something like:
"This crime family killed this guy who killed this guy who saw this guy but then this other guy got killed by these people for this corporation. let a man walk alone, let him commit no sin, with few wishes, like an elephant in the forest. Then years ago this guy was good at this and there was this corporation that made things. Death, robots, uh, AI, and souls or something. Yeah, we're really smart."
The biggest issue, worse than the crappy story is the dialogue. Imagine if every single line in Bladerunner or your favorite mystery movie was replaced with loosely related philosophy quotes. Regardless of what is being discussed, there has to be a philosophy quote. It seems that as part of getting a cyber-brain you get a complimentary download of a library of philosophy quotes. The dialogue was so painfully uninteresting.
The music consists of the theme or snippets of it being played every 20 minutes or less. It was alright the first time, but the only music I even remember anymore is the theme song.
The visuals are a weird hodgepodge of 2D animation, 3D animation that's close to 2D animation, and really out of place 3D animation that is sometimes given light cel shading. The inconsistency is jarring. It lacks the style and charm of the original movie. There were some neat set-pieces but most of them didn't matter.
Adramelech
I loved the animation and music, I want to start by stating that. We do not see much quality anime in psychology/philosophy kind. Ghost in the Shell movies are a very successful, but a little overrated example. I think most of the quotes, those which seem to be eccentric and meaningful, were not very appropriate for or synchronized with the story. It is not an easy thing to use those quotes effectively, I know, but if you're going to use tens of heavy and important quotes, you should do it right. Again, many of the quotes looked like they were added by some editor after themovie was done, they don't look or sound like they belong to those conversations. I know many of you may think: "It is because you don't understand the meaning of them!" but I must disagree.
As I said, music was outstanding, it deserves a 10/10 easily. The artwork and animation is so, too.
There was not much, actually almost none, character development in this sequence movie.
Story was good, but I expected a wider story instead of this specific case. However, as I said, it was well.
"But", I think the story was not very well integrated to the anime. Overall, something is missing, that is what I feel. It feels like something is undone about this anime, and I am sure that it is not because I do not understand the content; even though they say "No one can ever know to understand".
In total, I give it a 8 out of 10. Despite all my negative critics above, Ghost in the Shell series as a whole with the idea behind it, deserves it.
Baharuka
I wanted to add that this movie has an epic opening! It shows the girl in the picture 'being made', with an awesome soundtrack piece from Kenji Kawai. Really breathtaking music and visuals! Some parts of the story is good, some parts a little lame. The main thema about the 'robot-sex-slave's-problem' didn't interest me much, but made me think 'Actually that can happen!' :) I liked the part about virtual reality and generally giving thought about the future world it creates. The thing I didn't like about the movie is rather personal: I also watched the GitS TV anime series, and I love the main female character,the Major. In the movies, they gave less time to her, in this movie very little sight of her, and took the story somewhere else, making it more of a 'man's world' movie. Well, I'm a woman and I want my female character! ^^
comiclove
Ghost in the Shell: Innocence is a rather base-breaking film. People either love it for its heightened philosophy and art, while others detest it for a lackluster plot and characters. I, however, am one of the /other/ people who found a middle ground: it contains a lot of thought-provoking concepts, accompanied by a strong soundtrack and consistent voice-acting, but lacks in an actual plot, character development, and solid art quality. [Story - 6] The story itself is rather simple, yet intriguing to a point - it follows two (really, just one) of the supporting cast members of Section 9 a couple of years after the events ofthe first film. This time around, they're involved in a case of rogue 'dolls', which soon unravels into something far more sinister. The film does also continue the themes of its predecessor (such as 'Do robots deserve the same basic rights as humans?' and 'What are the ethics of overwriting their hardware?'), but it however does not flow as smoothly as before. This time around, the philosophy is so suffocating that the actual story being told is rather bare-bones, and plot development can be jarring to see after a long while of discussion. While I do enjoy the philosophy a lot, I was rather annoyed with how it could not be interwoven with the plot more skillfully.
[Art - 7]
The artstyle used here is a mix of traditional 2D animation with multiple CGI renders splattered throughout the film. I'm gonna get this over with: I REALLY did not like the CGI at all. If I had to assess it in thirds, it'd be '2/3 of this is absolute garbage' and '1/3 of this is tolerable but would have looked WAY better in 2D'. One infamous scene representing the former of the thirds is when a 'cyber-dog' is rendered in CGI: I have no other way of saying this, but it looks like it was a reject scene from Toy Story.
That being said, the reason this got a '7' and not a '5' was the traditional 2D segments. Fortunately, this is still rather prevalent in the film, and still quite up to snuff with the original. The few combat scenes come together rather well, even when CGI is used to assist it. The colour/lighting palettes are as subtle and moody as ever, and the character design is rather fitting. I particularly found the technology used throughout the film rather 'cool', and I'm thankful that it still turned out okay.
[Sound - 8]
The sound in this film is also on par with the original. While the soundtrack may not be quite as memorable, it was still rather gorgeous and perfectly suited for the film. I particularly enjoyed the one soundtrack playing when the two protagonists discuss the case with a forensic analyst (can't remember the name though).
The seiyuus did a good job as well, considering most (if not all of them) are reprising their roles from the first film. Special shout-out goes to Batou's and Togusa's for doing their best to inject a variety of emotions into the script they had received.
[Character - 5]
The characters here are probably the weakest link in the film. I did try to go into this film without expecting a lot since the first film had proved that the creative team preferred a more 'brainy' approach, but I'm still rather surprised. Perhaps it's because of the overwhelming concept discussion in here, but I felt like the characters here were even less fleshed out than in the first film.
While Batou and Togusa are somewhat shown to be more than Just Cops with their own beliefs about the world around them, I feel like they needed a lot more screentime than what they got for us to truly care for them, and thus how they express their views on the film's proposed ideas. Togusa's struggle doesn't seem to be rather clear to me, and Batou's 'stoicism' is rather exhausting to see after the first film (despite having several scenes where he clearly opens up and/or expresses himself). The antagonist here is rather.....lackluster: A former soldier who now hacks in the comfort of his reclusive mansion, he doesn't really do much once met in person. Perhaps it's because of his 'condition', but since all he did was, again, spout out philosophy, I never really felt like he was a threat and just thought that 'he was a weirdo.'
Another reason that the film is lacking in character is because of the notable absence (for at least the first 3/4) of the former protagonist, Major Kusanagi. While I already knew that she wouldn't be prevalent in this film, and I found that it did help to strengthen the Batou-Togusa dynamic, I /still/ think she would have made this much better. Even though she isn't superbly fleshed out in the film canon, she is probably the best way to express the series' concepts of struggle, and it's a shame she only got to do that in the last 20 minutes or so.
[Enjoyment/Overall - 7/6]
Nonetheless, I still walked away from here not being completely let-down. It's rather light on the plot/action, but it has quite a lot of thought-provoking material for those who prefer to digest that (myself included). I would actually only recommend it for that alone, as I feel that this was an ultimately unnecessary (but somewhat enjoyable) experience in the GitS franchise. Proceed at your own caution if you do decide to check it out.
