Translation
Posthumanism and Constructionism of the Body in theFilm Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Keywords:
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, posthumanism, body schema/image, social constructionism, networks
and interactions with others

Naomi NEMURA, Nihon University, College of Economics

Abstract
Before attempting to conceptualize the body schema/image in the film Ghost in the Shell 2:
Innocence, which is directed by Mamoru Oshii, this study compares the film with European andAmerican cyborg films. Based on this comparative review, it is concluded that the film intends to
avoid the return to humanism in the postmodern condition where the theoretical and ideologicalskepticism has arisen, and such thought of the film is called posthumanism.
Next, this study analyzes what kind of body schema/image is created by posthumanism. In thefilm Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, the bodies of dolls are interpreted as artificial constructions.
The body schema/image constitutes the underlying theme of the entire film, and the bodies ofdolls are exactly the representations of human bodies. In other words, the film reveals that theunderstanding of the body is socially constructed, and such social constructionist perspective of
the body frees us from the mystique attached to ‘human bodies’ as organic unity.
Furthermore, according to the body schema/image in the film Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,‘the construction of the body’ is not merely an abstract concept but has boundaries defined inconcrete conditions and also this construction can only have the contingent foundation: ‘the body’
can be constructed by networks and interactions with others different from but constituent of
oneself. In addition, this understanding of the body may be connected with the concept of respect
for others that cannot be understood or valued by humanism.

14

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 12 No. 1 Sep. 2019

Kusanagi3 suggests that the investigation of the

1. Introduction“ghost” is going toward a new stage (Nemura,
To use the argument presented by Gilles

2014). On the other hand, Oshii regards Ghost in

Deleuze and Félix Guattari as a reference

the Shell 2: Innocence as a ‘body theory’ (Oshii,(Deleuze and Guattari, 1991) , we can consider

2004: 35-39). When considering all these points,

that art actualizes possibilities of the world

explaining the body schema/image in Ghost inthat are concealed when things are organized

the Shell 2: Innocence can be conceived as notusing certain methods and that philosophy

only the key to understanding the “ghost” butconceptualizes them. Then, we can grasp suchalso the entire work itself. However, few

art as a type of “social information” that actualizes

discussions on exploring body image/schema at

the world’s possibilities. Furthermore, as an

the center have been conducted, and the bodyattempt to decode it and to conceptualize to ainterpretation in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocenceclear form of knowledge, such philosophy can be

has not been fully clarified. Thus, this paper

positioned as one field of “social informatics.”

attempts to analyze the body image/schemaThis kind of grasping of “social information”

shown in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and puts

means expanding the range that is treated byforth new knowledge and develops understanding“social informatics.” That is, it becomes possible

about the work.

1

to put various cultural activities into range.

This paper first explores the underlying

In contemporary cyberculture, there are more
and

more

trendsinterpretations
environment

toactualize

thought of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence through‘body’2

a comparison with other cyborg films. Then, thiscreatedbytheelectronic

study conceptualizes the body schema/image in

which

we

find

ourselvesthe film. Based on that, this analysis adds an(Zylinska, 2002; Dovey and Kennedy, 2006;

ininsight about the connections between the body

Brians, 2011). Based on the argument of Deleuzeinterpretation and the “ghost” concept.

and Guattari, such attempts seen in contemporary

2. Summary of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocencecyberculture may be regarded as the art in thesense of presenting the hidden possibilities of
the world. Then, the philosophy as an attempt

The setting is the year 2032, and the coexistence

to conceptualize such art can be understoodof people, cyborgs, and robots has progressed.

asstudies.

Meanwhile, there is frequent terrorism occurring

Furthermore, it is possible to understand thein various places. Batou, a complete cyborg4, is akinds“socialmember of Public Security Section 9, known as

information” and to consider the cyberculture

the “Mobile Armored Riot Police,” which cracks

studies,down on such terrorist crimes.

indispensableoftocyberculture

cyberculture
which

decodetrends
the

as

above

“social

One day, Hadari gynoids, female-shaped

information,” as a field of “social informatics.”
In this regard, this paper analyzes the film

androids constructed by the company Locus

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), directed bySolus, begin to slaughter their owners and self-

Mamoru Oshii. In the final scene of the prequel

destruct. While such incidents continue to occur,

Ghost in the Shell, the protagonist, Motoko

a consignment inspector of Locus Solus is15

Posthumanism and Constructionism of the Body in the Film Ghost in the Shell 2: InnocenceNEMURA

murdered, which appears to have been done as

and save the trafficked girls. However, this plan

revenge for the death of a yakuza boss killed by a

was exposed, and thus, the yakuza serves the

Hadari. To investigate the yakuza family’s

consignment inspector to avenge the yakuza

relationship with Locus Solus, Batou and his

boss.

partner, Togusa, attack the family. These

3. Posthumanism as the Underlying Thought

conspicuous moves spur Locus Solus into action.

of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

They hack Batou and cause him to act recklessly
to obstruct the investigation.
Batou, who has believed that not many people

As mentioned in the introduction, this paper

can hack him in that manner, becomes suspicious

explains the body schema/image seen in Ghostof his old war buddy Kim. Batou and Togusa

in the Shell 2: Innocence. This is a science fiction

head toward Kim’s mansion after learning his

film in which the protagonists, who are in awhereabouts from an informant. Batou andcondition where human faculties have been

Togusa encounter a hacking attack by Kim.

transformed through technology (in other words,

However, they capture Kim, breaking out of thethey are cyborgs), live in a setting in the neartrap with the help of both the word inscribed

future. We can unobjectionably categorize thisupon the Golem’s brow and the watchword forfilm as a “cyborg cinema,” defined by Sue Short6

the reunion with Kusanagi “2501”5.

as “a focus on the intersection between humanity

Batou and Togusa use Kim’s e-brain to infiltrate

and technology” (Short, 2011 ix) (when this term

Locus Solus’s factory ship. When they do so,

is used in Short’s definition below, quotation

Hadari gynoids on the production line start a wild

marks will be used). In that sense, viewing

attack all at once. Batou is surrounded andShort’s study of “cyborg cinema” sheds light ontrapped by the group of Hadaris. However, he is

the underlying thought of Ghost in the Shell 2:

saved by Kusanagi, who has seized control of one

Innocence by comparing it with other films. Thus,of the Hadaris. Kusanagi and Batou get theby using Short’s discussion for clues, this section

Hadaris’ attack under control and arrive at theattempts to explore the assumptions upon which

truth.

the world of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is

Locus Solus has been using the yakuza tobased.

traffic young girls and “dubbing” their “ghosts”

3-1. Humanism of “Cyborg Cinema”

into the gynoids. In past animal experiments of“Ghost dubbing,” scientists could mass-duplicate

As far as Short’s discussion goes, theinferior copies. However, since it was proven thatcharacters in science fiction films as fictional

the original brain would be destroyed, thecyborgs symbolize an unavoidable “postmodern

technology was banned. In this case, thecondition,” that is, a situation in which modern

consignment inspector revised the ethic code of“humanity” is faced with certain crises (Short,

Hadaris and was responsible for the Hadaris’

2011:163). According to Short, the characters areattacks. The trafficked girls and the consignment

given the role of revealing the fact that various

inspector thought that if they could cause violent

theories and ideologies are only partially effective

incidents with Hadaris, someone would comeand the foundations on which they stand are16

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 12 No. 1 Sep. 2019

unstable (Short, 2011:192).

cyborgs are evaluated in accordance with the

Let us look at the examples of Blade Runner

degree of resemblance to humans, which, at the(Ridley Scott, 1982; Director’s Cut, 1992; Finalsame time, leads to a re-evaluation of the value ofCut, 2007) and Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven,“humanity” (Short, 2011: 197).

1990; Remake: Len Wiseman, 2012), both of

For example, in Total Recall, through thewhich are based on original works by Philip K.

battle, Quaid comes to realize who he is. The

Dick.

postmodernist

director of the 1990 version says that in the lastskepticism about the various theories andscene, he tries to express that those events tookideologies that generated trust in modern

place in Quaid’s dream8. However, since thehumanity is expressed through the uncertainty

scene does not explicitly describe this, it isof the characters’ identities or of the world in

possible to think that Quaid has verified hiswhich those characters live.

identity and relation to the world by asking who

In

these

films,theFor instance, in Blade Runner, Rachael is a

he is (Short, 2011: 196). Furthermore, Quaid’s“replicant” (i.e., an android with an organic body)

objective changes, that is, to rescue the people ofin whom the memory of Dr. Tyrell’s niece has

the colony9. In Blade Runner, Roy Batty, thebeen transplanted. She visits the protagonist,

leader of a renegade replicant group, saves

Deckard, in an attempt to find out whether she is

Deckard, who was hired to kill him.

a replicant. Although Deckard lies and tells her

These characters are perceived not as “passivethat she is not a replicant, Rachael perceives

victims,” but as “active agents” (Short, 2011:

herself to be a replicant and then disappears. In

197). Moreover, going beyond self-assertion,

the director’s cut and the final cut, Deckard isthey are depicted as subjects with collective

depicted to be a replicant himself. In Total Recall,

responsibility (Short, 2011: 198). Thus, while thethe protagonist Quaid is a character who isimage of cyborgs in the film that Short calls

troubled by some dreams. He visits the Recall“cyborg

Company and tries a machine that implants

skepticism toward “humanity,” that is to say,

manufactured memories. After that, he ishumans’ ability to understand themselves and themysteriously attacked7. When he manages toworld and their ability

return home, his wife also attacks him. He is thenresponsibility, we can see this image functioning

informed that his memories about his marriage

to restore our trust in such “humanity.”

cinema”isburdenedtowithshoulderdeep

socialhave been implanted in him. He then begins to

3-2. G host in the Shell 2: Innocence Avoids

take action to find out who he really is.

the Return to Humanism

However, in these films, re-evaluation of“humanity” under a doubtful gaze is anotherAs noted in the science fiction films brought up

important element. This is because “in a period

by Short, the cyborg representation symbolizing

where virtually every concept is now subject tothe crisis of modern “humanity” returns to thetheoretical cross-examination and dismissal,”frameworksuchhumans’ ability to understand themselves and thecinema“conceives

andcorroboratesofhumanismthat

re-evaluates

humanity’s potential for intellectual growth andworld and their ability

ethical responsibility” (Short, 2011:199). The

responsibility. However, what about Ghost in the17

toshouldersocialPosthumanism and Constructionism of the Body in the Film Ghost in the Shell 2: InnocenceNEMURA

Shell 2: Innocence? First, let us look at thethe reality, created by human awareness, isfollowing conversation between Kim and Batou

recognized in the “cyborg cinema” mentioned inabout breathing a soul into a doll through “ghost

the previous section. In that sense, Ghost in the

dubbing”:

Shell 2: Innocence belongs to the “cyborg cinema.”
However, in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, we

Kim: That would mean replicating humans bycannot see the position of trying to reconfirm thebreathing souls into dolls. Who’d want tovalue of modern “humanity” by bringing it to

do that? The definition of a truly beautiful

cyborgs. In this film, the resolution of the incident

doll is a living, breathing, body devoid ofdoes not lead to an acknowledgment of humana soul. “An unyielding corpse, tiptoeing

characteristics apparent in the “cyborg cinema”;

on the brink of collapse.”in other words, it does not lead to humanism. Let

Batou: Or reduced to a raved body with an

us look at the scene in which Batou and Kusanagi

e-brain…like you.

rescue the young girl who instigated this incident:

Kim: The humans is no match for a doll, in its
form, its elegance in motion, its very

Batou: Didn’t he consider the victims? Not the

being. The inadequacies of human

humans... What about the dolls endowed

awareness become the inadequacies ofwith souls?

life’s reality... Perfection is possible only

Girl: But...But... I didn’t want to become a doll!!

for those without consciousness, orKusanagi: “We weep for the birds cry, but notperhapsendowedwithinfinitefor the blood of a fish. Blessed are those

consciousness. In other words, for dolls

with a voice.” If the dolls could speak, no

and for gods.

doubt they’d scream, “I didn’t want tobecome human…”

In the dialog between Kim and Batou that
follows these lines, it is implied that animals are

Here, these thoughts cannot be incorporated

also equal to dolls or to gods.

into humanism that praises humans’ ability toThen, Kim says, “Shelley’s skylarks areunderstand themselves and the world, and theirsuffused with profound instinctive joy. Joy weability to shoulder social responsibility. In thishumans, drive by self-consciousness, can neverscene, returning to humanism is rejected and theknow. For those of us who lust after knowledge,

line of thought that tries to evaluate others on theit is a condition more elusive than becoming

basis of those humanities is avoided. Such caregodhood.” In these dialogs, they display a strong

toward non-human existence does not originate

disgust toward the act of breathing human soulsin sympathy arising from similarities as regards

into dolls. This is because Kim thinks that the“humanity.” What we can see in the words ofstate of human beings, in particular, the “human

Batou and Kusanagi is respect, which refers to theawareness,”“theacceptance of others different from forms of

inadequacies of human awareness become

existence articulated by humanism. Care for non-inadequacies of life’s reality.” This kind of doubt

human existences in Ghost in the Shell 2:

toward human awareness and the uncertainty of

Innocence can be conceived as being based onisinadequate

and

that

18

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 12 No. 1 Sep. 2019respect for different things and not on sympathy

ponder, and act, upon the acknowledgment thattoward similar things. Thus, we can say that thelife forms have messy, intertwined histories”

incident comes to a close in Ghost in the Shell 2:(Nayar, 2014: 31). That is, according to Nayar,

Innocence through demonstrating respect for“critical posthumanism” is an ethical position thatdifferent existences which cannot be appraised

opposes the human hierarchization of life forms,

by humanistic values.

for the reason that “such ranking has inevitably

Furthermore, in the last section of Ghost in the

resulted in exclusionary practices directed at

Shell 2: Innocence, there is a scene with Batou

particular life forms, races, and groups.”

and his dog in which Batou is looking at a girl doll

Furthermore, this project argues for the

being held by Togusa’s daughter. In the previous

awakening of responses and responsibilities toscene, Togusa’s daughter appears and receives

others and differences. The stance to avoid

the doll as a gift from Togusa. The contrast

placing “humanity” at the center of value and to

between the girl and the doll brings to mind therespect toward others in Ghost in the Shell 2:

conclusion of the preceding incident. In this

Innocence corresponds to the “ethical project” ofscene, Batou is looking at the doll. We will look at

Nayar’s “critical posthumanism.”

this in the next section but, in Ghost in the Shell 2:

4. Body Schema/Image in Ghost in the Shell

Innocence, Kusanagi is hinted at through a girl

2: Innocencedoll or through a bird, or otherwise appears as a
gynoid. She never manifests in a human form.

Next, this section explains the body schema/

These things may also suggest that respect for
fully

image shown in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,

articulated by humanism is the underlying

continuing to accept that the thought referred tothought of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

as posthumanism is the underlying thought ofdifferent

existences

that

cannotbe

In this paper, we refer to the stance that rejects

this film. However, when we wrestle with thisthe return to humanism (in the sense of praising

theme, we encounter a methodological difficulty.

humans’ ability to understand themselves and the

In analyzing Ghost in the Shell, a phenomenologicalworld and their abilitysocialmethod developed by Ingrid Richardson andresponsibility) and demonstrates respect for

Carly Harper on the basis of arguments byothersas

Maurice Merleau-Ponty was adopted (Nemura,

posthumanism. Posthumanism in this sense is a2014). In this method, the concept of the “bodypoint worthy of special attention in Ghost in theschema” or “body image” asks us to “set aside

Shell 2: Innocence, and on that point, we can think

our prejudices of both science and commonof this film as clearly differentiated from thesense” and to “reflect on the consciousness of“cyborg cinema” brought up by Short.

lived experience” (Richardson and Harper, 2002:

with

their

own

to

shoulderheterogeneity

This sense of posthumanism is in reference toonline). Furthermore, the body understanding

Pramod K. Nayar’s “posthumanism,” or to bethat is not caught by the image of both “science”

precise, Nayar’s “critical posthumanism.” Whenandexplaining this, Nayar argued that “criticalphenomenological notion of the “body schema”

posthumanism is an ethical project that asks us toor “body image” includes “the concept of a19“commonsense”

means

that

the

Posthumanism and Constructionism of the Body in the Film Ghost in the Shell 2: InnocenceNEMURA‘fictional’ or symbolic mapping of the body”

the concept of the “suppression apparatus” and(Richardson

online).

argues that the body has already ceased to

Accordingly, this paper regards such concept asfunction as a suppression engine by beginning tovalid for studying cyberculture, which means

function as a “variable” (Sato, 2004). However, invarious cultural activities related to electronicthese discussions, the phenomenological method

technology, and attempts to analyze the nature ofwith the acceptance of posthumanism is not

Kusanagi’s bodily experience based on the

adopted. Considering this situation, this paper

phenomenological method.

will present knowledge about Ghost in the Shell 2:

andHarper,2002:

However, in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,

Innocence that has not been obtained in otheraside from the scenes in which she rescues Batou

arguments up to now.

(i.e., at Kim’s mansion and on the Locus Solus

4-1. The Constructionism of the Body Shownfactory ship), Kusanagi is depicted as an absent

by the Dolls

being. Certainly, it is conceivable that Kusanagi’s
absence, which is different from her in Ghost inFirst, let us focus on the scene before thethe Shell, indicates the body schema/image of

opening credits. Here Batou faces a gynoid that

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Nevertheless, it ishas just killed its owner and a police officer in alargely impossible to explore Kusanagi’s bodily

dark passageway. After grappling with Batou, theexperience based on her lines. Furthermore,

gynoid tears open its own chest while saying,although the climax of Ghost in the Shell 2:“Help.” Batou shoots the gynoid with a shotgun

Innocence, in which Kusanagi appears on theand destroys it.

Locus Solus factory ship in the form of a doll (i.e.,

The gynoid attempts to self-destruct before

gynoid), presents the dolls as a very important

being shot, and in this process, it reveals that its

motif; the dolls are not depicted in the form thatbody is comprised of mechanical parts. In thisallows for the phenomenological analysis. The

scene, it could have been possible to depict things

dolls never describe their own bodily experience.

in the following order: a gynoid with an intact

Accordingly, this paper employs a somewhat

Japanese doll exterior, the shooting, followed byirregular phenomenological method of describing

the gynoid in small pieces. In fact, however, thisand interpreting the body schema/image implied

scene preceding the opening credits describesby the dolls, though they do not speak of their

the gynoid that tears its own skin and emphasizesown

the fact that the gynoid’s body is artificiallybodilyexperience,

based

on

variedconstructed.

information.
As mentioned in the introduction, few previous

The body image as artificially constructedstudies have focused on the body schema/image

segues into the background scene of the openingof Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. To the best

credits. In this scene, we see the manufacturingofaprocess of a gynoid, from “artificial cells to thepsychoanalytical approach and states, “the bodymyknowledge,

Tamaki

Saito

tries

construction and assemblage of robot body

begins to become an imperfect armor, andparts” (Brown, 2010: 15). It implies that themultiplies as a frame” (Saito, 2004). Furthermore,bodies of the dolls are artificially made; that is,

Tetsuya Sato adopts an analytical method using

they are thoroughly constructed. This type of20

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 12 No. 1 Sep. 2019body schema/image must be a rehashing of thebe considered that this strong protest against thebackground scene of the opening credits in Ghost

ideal of the perfect body was inherited fromin the Shell, which suggests that Kusanagi’s body

Bellmer.

is artificially constructed. While connecting to

4-2. Doll Bodies=Human Bodies

Ghost in the Shell, this scene of the birth of thegynoids can be thought to present the body

The next point to be examined is theschema/image, which runs through the entire

relationship between doll bodies as artificiallyfilm.

constructed and human bodies. Ghost in the Shell

Oshii’s inspiration for the doll motif came from

2: Innocence is sprinkled with lines representing

Hans Bellmer’s ball-jointed dolls (Bellmer, 2011).

doll bodies as the motif with relation to human

The dolls in the aforementioned scenes clearlybodies.

show visual influence from Bellmer’s works.

First, when Batou and Togusa visit the lab of

However, the influence seen in Ghost in the Shell

Haraway, a police forensic specialist, Haraway

2: Innocence does not stop at the visual level.

says the following: “Unlike industrial robots, theBellmer attempts his doll experiments as

androids and gynoids designed as ‘pets’ weren’t“corporeal anagrams” (Brown, 2010: 39), in

designed along utilitarian or practical models.

which a body resembles a sentence, that

Instead, we model them on a human imagine, andismantles it into its component letters, and that

idealized one at that. Why are humans soreconstruction is repeated. In that experiment,

obsessed with recreating themselves?” Batou

Bellmer’smachinic

says, “Descartes didn’t differentiate man fromhybridities set against the most banal of everyday

machine, animate from inanimate. He lost his

setting and tableaux, conveying ‘gruesome

beloved five-year-old daughter and then named ascenes of everyday life’” (Brown, 2010: 40-41).

doll after her, Francine. He doted on her. At least,

Furthermore, the emphasis on the grotesquethat’s what they say…” Furthermore, in theand uncanny aspects is none other than anscene at Kim’s mansion, Kim says, “That’s why“artistic resistance to the Nazi social regime anddolls haunt us. They are modeled on humans.

its cult of the perfect body” therein (Brown, 2010:

They are, in fact, nothing but human. They make43).

us face the terror of being reduced to simple

dolls

are

“monstrous

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence seems tomechanisms and matter. In other words, the fearemphasize the depiction of the process ofthat, fundamentally, all humans belong to theassembling the dolls in the shape of a girl, rather

void.”

than the image of the reconstructed body itself.

Each of these lines guides us toward seeing

However, it is possible to say that the interest indoll bodies as human bodies. That is, in Ghost inthat

anagramthe Shell 2: Innocence, doll bodies are nothing but

perspective of disassembling the components

the expression of human bodies. If that is thecomposing the body. Moreover, the sight of acase, it is concluded that constructionism of doll

gynoid tearing itself to pieces can be seen as abodies, clarified in the previous section, represents

resistance against the ideal of beauty of

constructionism of human bodies.

processhasinherited

the

Kim’s

“adolescent girls” (Brown, 2010: 47), and it can
21

above-mentioned

line

shows

an

Posthumanism and Constructionism of the Body in the Film Ghost in the Shell 2: InnocenceNEMURA

understanding of doll bodies as human bodies and“2501” shows up, the figure of a bird appears forthis understanding attempts to reduce bodies toa moment. This scene can be read as implicitly

thematter.

showing that Kusanagi has changed her form to

Nevertheless, this line does not seem to assume

that of a bird. When heading toward the factory

the existence of a physical substance that should

ship after escaping from Kim’s trap, the figure of

be called the human body in that material world.

a bird that seemed to guide Batou can also be

world

of

mechanisms

andCertainly, Kim’s line: “Further, Science,

thought to be suggestive of Kusanagi.

seeking to unlock the secret of life, brought about

If these scenes express that Kusanagi’s bodythis terror. The notion that nature is calculable

appears

inevitably leads to the conclusion that humans,

perspective that grasps the body as constructed

too, are reducible to basic, mechanical parts,”

assumes that the material world is the incessantly

followed by Batou’s line: “The human body is acontinuing phenomenon, and that the body would

machine which winds its own springs. It is thebe rather absent there. Thus, as mentioned

living image of perpetual motion,” gives us anpreviously, Kusanagi’s absence itself becomes animpression of assuming the human body as aimportant key for understanding the body

physical substance. However, In Ghost in theschema/image in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

Shell 2: Innocence, the protagonist, Kusanagi, is

Oshii states the following in a talk with Takashi

an absent being in most scenes. Her absence canTachibana: “Such a thing as a created by thebe thought to imply that she is embodied throughhuman brain, the body as an illusion. Aside from

our interpretation. This is indicated by the scenes

this, perhaps there is no such thing as a final,

at Kim’s mansion in which Batou and Togusa

original existence of an inherent human body”

manage to escape from Kim’s trap. In those(Takashi Tachibana and Oshii, 2006). We canscenes, Kusanagi’s existence is shown throughalso read this statement as being based on thehints in the sights depicted, and her body starts toaforementioned body schema/image. Such ancome to the fore through the interpretations ofunderstanding of the body can be considered tothose watching the scene.

be based on social constructionism. When taking

throughourinterpretations,theFor example, a girl doll playing with cards andthe standpoint of social constructionism, alla dog doll jump into the vision of Batou andrecognition and description is made within our

Togusa when they first enter Kim’s mansion. The

social relations and is grasped as being mediatedgirl doll does not explicitly state that she isby our interactions (Gergen, 2009, 2015)10.

Kusanagi. However, the girl doll is a “guardian

Therefore, all of our bodily recognitions andangel,” and Batou’s “guardian angel” could be

descriptions is understood as not existingnone other than Kusanagi. In the third scene incompletely away from the grasp of our cultural

Kim’s mansion, the fact that the number “2501,”

dimension.

which the girl doll leaves behind, is the password

When Ghost in the Shell is analyzed, we can see

for the reunion of Batou and Kusanagi provides

the thought that the awareness of I as a human is

us with another hint that the girl doll is abased on the body’s organic components and thatmanifestation of Kusanagi.

the greater the body’s organic integrity is, themore certain the humanity is (Nemura, 2014),

Just before the scene in which the number
22

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 12 No. 1 Sep. 2019with reference to Angus McBlane’s argument“contingency” (Laclau, 1990). As argued by(2010). In contrast to this, in Ghost in the Shell 2:

Judith Butler and Donna Haraway, there can be

Innocence, it is not possible to acknowledge thenothing but “contingent foundations” in such a

privilege of human bodies as organisms . This isconstruction (Butler, 1992; Haraway, 2003).

11

because,socialFurthermore, we can consider that theconstructionism, the notion of the body as anwhenstartingfromnetworks and interactions with others create theorganism is constructed by our grasping and“contingency” that constructs the body. In theunderstanding to sort machines from humans

factory ship scene, it is clear that Kusanagi’s

and animate things from inanimate things. When

body is constructed in her relationship withadopting a perspective that grasps the body as

Batou. If we consider that Kusanagi’s existence isconstructed, the human body as an organism

suggested in the girl doll and the bird at Kim’s

cannot be regarded as being in a special position

mansion, we can also see in these scenes that thethat assures the awareness of I as the proof ofrelationship with Batou constructs Kusanagi’s

being human.

body. Kusanagi is always constructing the body

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence releases us fromin connection with Batou.

the mystique of the human body as an organism.

Then, in the scene in which Batou and Togusa

That is, if we assume the social constructionist

escape from Kim’s trap, as suggested by Togusa’s

perspective, the main theme of the film is to castline of “That I’ll never cut it as your partner,”

doubtsKusanagi and Batou are depicted as indispensable

on

the

essential

andexceptional

supremacy of the human body as an organism.

to one another. In other words, we can consider
that Kusanagi’s body is only constructed through

4-3. How is the Body Constructed?

her networks and interactions with others that are

As clarified in this study, the eradication of the

not herself but rather essential to her (hereafter,

mystique bestowed on the human body as an“others that are not oneself but rather essential toorganism is the main theme of Ghost in the Shellone” will be expressed as others)

2: Innocence. This theme is brought to the fore in

In the previously cited talk with Tachibana

the scene in which Batou boards the Locus Solus(Tachibana and Oshii, 2006), Oshii calls “not thefactory ship. In this scene, Kusanagi appears as abody that you have and you were born into, but

gynoid, in a recognizable form. In that scene, thethe second body that you acquired while thinking

film seems to demand us to understand how thefor yourself and being socialized” the “body.” Hehuman body, which was previously absent, isgoes on to explain that “calling it a ghost is

constructed.

cumbersome.” He also argues, “the body cannot

For Kusanagi, the given body is not assumed,

be born without interactions.” Furthermore,

and that its construction comes about in each

Oshii discusses, “whether your partner, yourscene. For instance, the construction of the bodyparent, or your child, whether your cat or dog

as a gynoid is not based on some preceding entity.

that you’ve loved for some dozen years, when one

The body is constructed in the practice of chasingof them dies, you feel that the body decreases, athe truth of the incident. Its construction or the

big hole opens up. I think that the recognized

delimitation of the body is founded on the

body at these times may never recover from such
23

Posthumanism and Constructionism of the Body in the Film Ghost in the Shell 2: InnocenceNEMURA

a large hollow or loss.” These remarks of Oshii

basset hound living with Batou in Ghost in theshow that he presumes that the body schema/

Shell 2: Innocence is an essential being for Batou,

image

similar to Kusanagi. We can see that when Batou

iscreatedthrough

networks

andinteractions with others.
Toborrowis with the basset hound, through their
Harper’sinteractions, he lives the way of a different body

expression, this body schema/image presented

Richardson

andfrom the one when working at Public Seculity

in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence asks us to “setSection 9. Then, as confirmed through theaside our prejudices of both science and common

dialogs between Kim and Batou in Section 3, thissense” and to “reflect on the consciousness offilm suggests that animals also cannot belived experience” (Richardson and Harper, 2002:

understood and appreciated completely by the

online). On this point, we could say that thisframework of humanism.

perspective is identical to Merleau-Ponty’s

As noted above, in Ghost in the Shell 2:121945) .

Innocence, others that cannot be understood andFurthermore, on the point of thinking that theappreciated by the framework of humanism arebodily experience is not necessarily limited byalso positioned as beings related to thethe boundary of the skin (Merleau-Ponty, 1945:

construction of the human body. We could see

173-179), the perspective corresponds to thethis positioning as a form of respect for suchbasic standpoint presented by Merleau-Ponty. On

others. Thus, the body schema/image of Ghost in

the other hand, the body schema/image captures

the Shell 2: Innocence corresponds to thea point that Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology

underlying thought of posthumanism; at the same

does not focus on; that is, the existence of others

time,in our body schema/image.

recognize the underlying thought again.

phenomenology(Merleau-Ponty,

Furthermore, others are not necessarily
existences

that

can

be

understood

the

body

schema/image

makes

us

In this paper, for the sake of convenience, we

andhave analyzed that the body schema/image ofappreciated in the framework of humanism that

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is based onpraises humans’ ability to understand themselves

posthumanism. However, we can say that theseand the world and their ability to shoulder social

two are actually in a cyclical relationship. This is

responsibility. To adapt this to Batou, the other is abecause the body schema/image itself createsdoll. Certainly, in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,the posthumanistic thought and posthumanism

the doll body is nothing but the representation of

supports the body schema/image; both do not

the human body. Nevertheless, as we have seen

have a tree structure relationship and neither one

in Section 3, Kusanagi’s line, “If the dolls couldof them is leading the way.

speak, no doubt they’d scream, ‘I didn’t want to

5. 
The “Ghost” in Ghost in the Shell 2:

become human…,’” suggests that the dolls

Innocencecannot be understood and appreciated completelyby the framework of humanism.
If we consider the bird that leads Batou from

Finally, this section briefly touches on the

Kim’s mansion to the factory ship to be Kusanagi,

subject of how the concept of the “ghost” isthe other at that point is a bird. Moreover, therelated to the body schema/image in Ghost in the24Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 12 No. 1 Sep. 2019

Shell 2: Innocence that we have elucidated thus

6. Conclusion

far. In Ghost in the Shell, Kusanagi, who is acomplete cyborg, harbors suspicions about her

This paper analyzed the interpretation of theown “ghost.” As mentioned previously, in the

body demonstrated in Ghost in the Shell 2:film, the awareness of I based on the body as an

Innocence based on posthumanism from theorganism is called “ghost.” Therefore, it isphenomenological method. Such analysis has notconceivable that Kusanagi inevitably has doubts

been conducted until now.
In Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, the image ofregarding her own “ghost,” as she hardly has any

doll bodies as artificially constructed forms theorganic components (Nemura, 2014).
However, in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, thekeynote throughout the film, and those doll bodies

doubts experienced by Kusanagi in Ghost in the

represent human bodies. Then, the body schema/

Shell are barely mentioned. On the contrary, inimage on social constructionism releases us fromthe dialog between Kim and Batou, Batou says,

the mystique bestowed on human bodies as“We are both but worthless humans, though weorganisms.

walk very different paths. Of course, if you don’t

Furthermore, in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,

believe in ghosts, you’ll never know madness or

the body is constructed in concrete situations

schizophrenia, either,” flatly rejecting Kim’s

through its relations with others. That is, the bodywords that cast doubt on ghosts. Kusanagi also

is based on the “contingency” brought about by

no longer talks about her doubts regarding her

networks and interactions with others that are not“ghost.”oneself but rather essential to one. Moreover, theMoreover, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,

body schema/image is connected to respect forthrough the concept of “ghost dubbing,” hints

those others that cannot be understood andthat the “ghost” is related to awareness of I. At

appreciated completely by the framework of

the same time, as examined in Section 4, in Ghost

humanism.

in the Shell 2: Innocence, the “ghost” also refers toThis study has advanced the insight of thethe body that is created through networks andbody schema/image expressed in Ghost in theinteractions with others. That is, the film suggests

Shell 2 as well as in Japanese cyberculture. For

that the agency manifests itself through the bodyfuture studies, I intend to examine what types ofmade by networks and interactions with others

worlds and life forms can be created based on theand that the body is constructed along with the

body schema/image and posthumanism in Ghost

manifestation of the agency.

in the Shell 2: Innocence. In particular, I would
like to reveal the world and life enabled by theThus, we can see a major turn in the “ghost”

concept of respect for others.

concept from Ghost in the Shell to Ghost in the
Shell 2: Innocence. The supporting axis of that

Noteturn is the body schema/image examined in thispaper. It can be considered that in Ghost in the1.

T he reasoning adopted by Deleuze and Guattari

Shell 2: Innocence, Kusanagi no longer has doubt

referenced in this paper is mentioned in thisabout her own “ghost” because of the body

work repeatedly and can be assessed as aschema/image.

thought that penetrates the entire work,25

Posthumanism and Constructionism of the Body in the Film Ghost in the Shell 2: InnocenceNEMURA
although it does not have a uniform expression.

he is unable to return to reality and has been

Therefore, specific page numbers are notplaced in a vegetative state.

described.
2.

9.

F
 rom the standpoint of this paper, to make

the

4.

version,

the

area

where

the

underclasses live on Earth is set in Australia.

it seems appropriate to always use quotation

10. Social constructionism in this paper is based onmarks on the word ‘body.’ However, after thethe arguments presented throughout thesefirst appearance, in principle, I do not use

works by Kenneth J. Gergen. Therefore, specificpage numbers are not described.

T he protagonist of the “Ghost in the Shell”

11. This way of thinking has entered our lives. For

series, who is the commander of Public Security

example, according to the final report by the

Section 9, is also called “Major” by her teamProvisional Commission for the Study on Brain

members. With an e-brain and a complete

Death and Organ Transplantation in Japancyborg body, she exhibits superhuman abilities.

(Umehara, 1992), in light of the reasoning

In the earlier work, Ghost in the Shell, she isadopted in recent medicine and biology, a

depicted as having doubts about her own “ghost”“human being” is perceived as one organism

due to an incident involving the Puppet Master.

system or organic integrated body furnishedIn the final scene, Kusanagi disappears.

with consciousness and feeling and it is nowT he word “complete cyborg” means “extension

commonplace to define the death of suchof artificial arms and artificial legs,” that is, toindividual as “human death.”
12. The thought of Merleau-Ponty, as mentioned

replace the entire body with machinery
5.

2012

different implications from the existing concept,

quotation marks to avoid redundancy.
3.

I n the 1990 version, this is a colonized Mars. In(Tachibana and Oshii, 2006).

here, is recognized throughout this entire work.

O riginally, the name of the project that gave

Therefore, specific page numbers are notbirth to the “Puppet Master” in Ghost in thedescribed.

Shell. The “Puppet Master” is a hacking program6.

made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs toReferences

execute international strategies but has acquired

Belmer, Hans (2011) The Doll: Doll Photographa “ghost.”

Collection of Hans Belmer. The refurbishment

S hort is a media and film studies expert who has

version. Kawade Shobo Shinsha.

presented many papers and works on themes
7.

Butler, Judith (1992) “Contingent Foundations:related to film and television.

Feminism and the Question of ‘Postmodernism’.”I n the 1990 version, he is attacked by an

In Judith Butler and Joan W. Scott, Feminists

unidentifiable group including his colleague

Theorize the Political. New York: Routledge. pp.

Harry. In the 2012 version, he is attacked by the

3-21.

police.
8.

Brians, Ella (2011) “The ‘Virtual’ Body and theI n the audio commentary included in the Total

Strange Persistence of the Flesh: Deleuze,

RecallDirector

Cyberspace and the Posthuman.” In Laura

Verhoeven states that the last bright white scene

Guillaume and Joe Hughes (eds.), Deleuze and thesuggests that all of it is Quaid’s dream and that

Body. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

DVD

released

in

2014,

26

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 12 No. 1 Sep. 2019
Brown,

StevenT.

(2010)

Cyberpunk:

Oshii, Mamoru (2004) Notes for Innocence: Dolls,

Posthumanism in Japanese Visual Culture. New

Architectures, Trips of the Body ＋Talk. Tokuma

York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Shoten Publishing.

Tokyo

Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari (1991) Qu’est-ce

Richardson, Ingrid, and Carly Harper (2002)

que la philosophie? Paris: Editions de Minuit.

“Corporeal Virtuality: The Impossibility of a

Dovey, Jon, and Helen W. Kennedy (2006) Game

Fleshless Ontology.” Body, Space, and Technology

Cultures: Computer

Games

as

New

2:

Media.

Maidenhead: Open University Press.

2.

http://people.brunel.ac.uk/bst/vol0202/

ingridrichardson.html, accessed at December 12,

Gergen, Kenneth J. (2009) An Invitation to Social

2012.

Construction. Second edition. Los Angeles: Sage.

Saito, Tamaki (2004) “Body, Frame, and Reality.”

Gergen, Kenneth J. (2015) An Invitation to Social

Eureka: Oshii Mamoru, Innocence of Image pp. 75-

Construction. Third edition. Los Angeles: Sage.

84.

Haraway, Donna (2003) The Companion Species

Sato, Tetsuya (2004) “Body as a Suppression

Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness.

Apparatus.” Eureka: Oshii Mamoru, Innocence ofChicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.

Image. vol. 36, No. 4. Seido Sha. pp. 123-127.

Laclau, Ernesto (1990) New Reflections on the

Short, Sue (2011) Cyborg Cinema. First published in

Revolutions of Our Time. London: Verso.

hardback, 2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

McBlane, Angus (2010) “Just a Ghost in a Shell?” In

Tachibana, Takashi x Mamoru Oshii (2006) “A talk”

Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin (eds.), Animein Premium 10. NHK. http://sci.digitalmuseum.

and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder. Chicago: Open

jp/project/gis/premium10/, accessed at May 12,

Court, pp. 27-38.

2014.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1945) Phénoménologie de la

Umehara, Takeshi (ed.) (1992) Brain Death Is Not

perception. Paris: Gallimard.

Death. Tokyo: Shibunkaku Shuppan

Nayar, Pramod K. (2014) Posthumanism. Cambridge:

Zylinska, Joanna (ed.) (2002) The Cyborg Experiments:

Polity.
Nemura,The Extentions of the Body in the Media Age.
Naomi

(2014)“A

Phenomenological

London: Continuum.

Analysis of the Corporeal Schema or Body-Image
in Ghost in the Shell of Mamoru Oshii.”

Acknowledgment

Proceedings of 2014 Conference of Social Informatics

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant
Number 25511014.

Society (SSI). pp. 271-276.

27