Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow - The Original Masterpiece
Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell [Released under the name Kōkaku Kidōtai - Mobile Armored Riot Police] is the manga upon which the legendary anime film of the same name is based.
The first volume was released between 1989-1991 in ‘Young Magazine’.
The entire series consists of three volumes: Ghost in the Shell 1, Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human Error Processor [1996], and Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface [1997].
All were later published as a Tankōbon [standalone book].
The story follows Major Kusanagi from the District 9 Special Unit on a hunt through the dark streets of the fictional New Port City for a terrorist called “The Puppet Master” who is hacking people's brains. Shirow’s style gives the whole manga a very energetic atmosphere while also adding a small amount of humor.
The manga also sets itself apart from others by adding a large number of technical side notes under nearly every page. These notes mainly focus on scientific technicalities that Shirow includes to explain the world he built.
In the original American release of Ghost in the Shell 1 two pages were removed from the manga due to them containing a lesbian sex scene. Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface also included pornographic scenes and nudity. These scenes were again removed from all Western releases while the Japanese versions remained uncensored.
The 1995 anime movie was directed by Mamoru Oshii who gave the film his own style.
The movie adaptation closely follows the manga while being both darker and serious. The personalities of the characters are also slightly different. The main difference in character is that of Major Kusanagi. In the manga, she is quite vibrant and wild while in the anime movie she is being slightly emotionless and “puppet-like” [this of course makes sense within the plot line].
Compared to mangas like Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Nausicäa’ of which the movie version follows the same plot, same style but with color added, Ghost in the Shell provides us with two different approaches to the same plot. Two different unique artistic worlds. Two masterpieces.
