Kôkaku Kidôtai
Tags: sci-fi

Plot synopsis:
In 2029, with the advance of cybernetic technology, the human body can be "augmented" or even completely replaced with cybernetic parts. Another significant achievement is the cyberbrain, a mechanical casing for the human brain that allows access to the Internet and other networks. An oft-mentioned term is "ghost", referring to the consciousness inhabiting the body (the "shell").
Major Motoko Kusanagi is an assault-team leader for the Public Security Section 9 of "New Port City" in Japan. Following a request from Nakamura, chief of Section 6, she successfully assassinates a diplomat of a foreign country to prevent a programmer named Daita from defecting.
The Foreign Minister's interpreter is ghost-hacked, presumably to assassinate VIPs in the upcoming meeting. Believing the perpetrator is the mysterious Puppet Master, Kusanagi's team follows the traced telephone calls that sent the virus. After a chase, they capture a garbage man and a thug. However, both are only ghost-hacked individuals with no clue about the Puppet Master. The investigation again comes to a dead end.
Megatech Body, a "shell" manufacturer with suspected close ties to the government, is hacked and assembles a cybernetic body. The body escapes but is hit by a truck. As Section 9 examines the body, they find a human "ghost" inside its computer brain. Unexpectedly, Nakamura arrives to reclaim the body. He claims that the "ghost" inside the brain is the Puppet Master himself, lured into the body by Section 6. The body reactivates itself, claims to be a sentient being and requests political asylum. After the Puppet Master initiates a brief argument about what constitutes a human, a camouflaged agent accompanying Nakamura starts a diversion and gets away with the body.
Having suspected foul play, Kusanagi's team is prepared and immediately pursues the agent. Meanwhile, Section 9 researches "Project 2501," mentioned earlier by the Puppet Master, and finds a connection with Daita, whom Section 6 tries to keep from defecting the country. Facing the discovered information, Daisuke Aramaki, chief of Section 9, concludes that Section 6 created the Puppet Master itself for various political purposes. This is why Section 6 is desperately trying to reclaim the body.
Kusanagi follows the car carrying the body to an abandoned building. It is protected by a large walking tank. Anxious to face the Puppet Master's ghost, Kusanagi engages the tank without backup and is nearly killed. Her partner Batou arrives in time to save her, and helps connect her brain to the Puppet Master's.
The Puppet Master explains to Kusanagi that he was created by Section 6. While wandering various networks, he became sentient and began to contemplate his existence. Deciding the essence of humanity is reproduction and mortality, he wants to exist within a physical brain that will eventually die. As he could not escape section 6's network, he had to download himself into a cybernetic body. Having interacted with Kusanagi (without her knowledge), he believes she is also questioning her humanity, and they have a lot in common. He proposed merging their ghosts, in return, Kusanagi would gain all of his capabilities. Kusanagi agrees to the merge.
Snipers from Section 6 approach the building, intending to destroy the Puppet Master's and Kusanagi's brains to cover up Project 2501. The Puppet Master's shell is destroyed, but Batou shields Kusanagi's head in time to save her brain. As Section 9 closes in on the site, the snipers retreat.
"Kusanagi" wakes up in a new cyborg body in Batou's safehouse. She tells Batou that the entity within her body is neither Kusanagi nor the Puppet Master, but a combination of both. She promises Batou they will meet again, leaves the house and wonders where to go next.

Review: The magic is not quite there.
I love Ghost in the Shell.
The original movie was great, the series were a bit different, but still making the viewer think about the nature of self and the direction technology takes us in.
All of that was enabled by great stories and wonderful music.While "The New Movie" is a good piece of animation and with an interesting story, it doesn't quite catch the magic of the original.
Also, as a continuation of the GitS:Arise four episode series, it makes it difficult for newcomers to understand what it is all about.
But probably what bothered me most was the soundscape.
While not bad, it is a far cry from Kenji Kawai's work.Perhaps the problem is that, in attempting to reboot the franchise, they went too soft.
Less blood, less killing, less subtlety and instead just a modernized corporate Yakuza fight that is easy to understand from the perspective of the Japanese viewer.
Ghost in the Shell was never about the present, though, it was about the future, its role to make the viewer think things forward and see the predictions of the anime come true in the years to come.
"The New Movie" doesn't quite do that and so I feel a slight disappointment with it.Still, a flawed GitS movie is a lot better than no GitS movie and I was glad to watch it.
The excitement of the original, though, I didn't find it here..
Very light on action and a bit dry plot-wise.
The original Ghost in the Shell movie is one of my favorite movies of all time and still holds up very well to this day.
GITS2: Innocence wasn't on the same level but it was still well made, looked great and had an spooky Alice in Wonderland feel.
Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie (what a retarded and inspirationless title) is actually a continuation of the Ghost in the Shell: Arise, an anime TV series.
But that actually does not matter much.
The story revolves around the assassination of the Prime Minister of Japan.
Although a bit typical for anime films and the GITS series and films there is an incredible amount of the characters just standing around jabbering endlessly with plot exposition.
And the plot does seem overly dry and long winded IMO.
When there is action it's great (but not as great as in Nr. 1) but there is so few of it.
This makes the film feel very slow and long - a problem I didn't have with the first 2.
So if you're a fan of GITS you'll want to see it just to be complete but for the casual viewer I would recommend to skip it or just watch the first 2..
Gorgeously animated sci-fi, although might not be easy for newcomers to pick up and plug in..
Ghost in the Shell is one of the most enduring and beloved anime franchises, also widely known for inspiration for the Matrix.
It's also one of the most reworked franchises, with many iterations and alternate versions, which aren't entirely accessible for some viewers.
If one can pass this hindrance, the literal New Movie possesses high quality sci-fi with excellent artworks and voice acting.Plot is a continuation from the most recent Arise: Alternative Architecture TV animation, which is television version of Arise four movies.
If all of these etymologies confuse you, it's all right, this series is known for its complexity.
Arise itself is a new rework, thus the artwork might not look like old version, especially the slimmer protagonist Motoko Kusanagi.While this is not so out-of-the-world like many previous iterations, it's not easily available for newcomers, even for fans who didn't watch the Arise version.
It's skimped on many narratives and character introductions.
It certainly doesn't have "previously on" segments, so this can feel alienating, especially when the movie has many specific jargon and terms associated with the plot.Fortunately, the sheer production is brilliant enough to compensate for the inaccessibility.
The world Motoko lives on is very splendidly done, it's also the world with prejudice, not for skin color but for the prosthetic parts one wears inside.
Motoko is born fully augmented, making her a special operative.
The same technologies are also used on different aspects like stealth, warfare, and even communication with virtual private chat, so the characters might seem speaking telepathically.The visual is very aesthetically and thematically pleasing.
It's a futuristic setting, but not so far off that it becomes unidentifiable.
There are tons of cultural and urban scenery, some of which look utterly gorgeous, even those in brief scenes.
Bits of graphical details scatter on the vista, as nifty foundations for intriguingly futuristic world.Aside for the immense amount of details, action is also fluid and inclusion of 3D effect looks admirably fitting.
Voice actors do wonderful jobs here, especially the veteran Maaya Sakamoto who delivers wide range of emotions, there are subtle variations even with the stoic character.For fans, this is a nice continuation of new series with polished execution.
For newcomers, it's almost akin to watching The Matrix straight on its second movie, rather overwhelming but can be still pleasing due to its sheer production..
Are You Willing To Sell Your Ghost?.
Though this sequel prequel is better than the first sequel, Ghost In The Shell - Innocence, it still doesn't match up to the original, Ghost In The Shell.What the screenwriters John Burgmeier, Clint Bickham, and Tow Ubukata, give the audience is the story of Major Motoko Kusanagi and her perfect machine of paid mercenaries.
I like the idea that she sees her team as a well-oiled machine, each person represents a working part of the machine and every part (man) is required to make her perfect machine.
Since she is a cyborg, I could quite easily see her making this simile.
It's the story of how they were recruited into Section 9.The story is stronger than the last as the Disney influence is no longer there and the philosophical issues are once again interwoven throughout the story, which helps to give it strength and carry the viewer along.
However, there are not as many twists in the tale.Also, the CGI is used to much better ability, as it's mixed in with the traditional animation style to help build better effects and ambiance.
I particularly liked the scene near the beginning where a child is running through a flowery archway...
The flowers are so bright and vivid it's very dreamlike.There is so much right with this animation that I cannot pick any faults, except it's just not as hard-hitting as the original...
or as stylised.If you've watched the original then I'd say forget watching Innocence and opt to watch this one instead.
It's soo much better and has a similar taste, tone, and mood to the first.
These two together what a treat, not just for the eyes but for the mind also..
A Different Perspective.
"Ghost in the Shell" is well-known for its philosophical pondering, and elegantly brutal combat scenes.
Ghost in the Shell: Arise takes things a step down, but none the less executes a beautiful story of the origins of Section 9.
A lot has changed in terms of style and character, but that does not bother me one bit considering Ghost in the Shell is a world where bodies can be easily constructed or swapped for one's personal satisfaction.
I really like the Major's younger appearance!
Although the short series does not dive into philosophy as much as Stand Alone Complex, it's still there.
The series did make me think, just not as much.
However, Mamoru Oshii seemed not to have been involved in this project (he's the director who gifted the vision of the two movies, and was an adviser for SAC).FUNimation did spectacular with the voice acting.
The four episodes of "Arise" was worth watching on my part!If you're interested in watching the new movie, best to watch "Arise" first..
just cheap.
If you don't know the Story and have never watched an animated film like this one: Stay away, don't watch it.
It may spoil your wish to watch any other Anime film.
If you have seen the Original Ghost in the Shell (Part 1 or 2 or both) you may be disappointed for the lack of story and a whole bunch of scenes that are just the same only with different characters (same drawing style, same camera, same lines).If you know the Arise Border Quadrilogie, watching it is even worse.
It looks like they just copied the animation and added some new lines and a crude story to it.
For me it looks like some people just wanted to make some quick money, without putting any effort on it.The drawings are simple and the character animation is very poor.So don't put an effort in watching it..
cool ideas badly implemented into a sleeper.
So yeah the story does fit perfectly & neatly as a prequel etc, but the storytelling is mostly very dull, the pacing of it feels like sleepwalking, it lacks strong emotions, no character development.
If you watched the other films then you get the point - timewise it's an early phase for the characters so you could say it makes sense to have them intentionally underdeveloped.
But still, I expected more depth from this series and this was very flat.
The 2nd movie was way better..
Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie is a ball of confusion..
Whilst the original had philosophical depth and an easier narrative to follow, this instalment of the Ghost in the Shell property removes all of that and focuses on the action.
Major and her squad of cyborg terminators must find out who is behind the prime minister's assassination, the only problem is, it was a computer virus, so it could be anyone.
Sounds intriguing yes?
Well half of it was interesting.
I loved the technology used in this future, especially the virtual reality crime scene recreations.
The world is thick with futuristic cityscapes and small details that obviously has had care and thought put into it.
The action scenes were exciting.
The animation was fluid, I mean I'm no anime expert by any means, but it's definitely one of the best looking anime feature films I've seen.
The story itself, although hard to follow, was fine.
Corrupt government officials and shadowy organisations, its heavy going.
That's my problem.
It's so heavy that I struggled to keep up with who was who and what was what.
A minimal amount of character development, Major's squad members have little to no introductions that I honestly did not who they were.
I couldn't tell you any of their names except Batou.
Seemed like an odd choice to have the audience automatically presume who they are, then I did some research.
This film is a continuation of the Arise story arc.
I haven't seen the Arise chapters yet and the bluray does not tell you that this is an instalment in that series.
So no wonder I had no idea what the heck was happening.
How is anyone supposed to know this without having to research it beforehand?
That's just misleading information.
So whilst this film is visually arresting and action packed, it's too heavy for its own good that it left me completely unengaged.
Lesson learnt: research a film before buying..
as mysterious as the others.
Review: I really enjoyed this movie because it is a fresh take on the classic ghost in the shell concept.
The direction and screenplay are both really good.
Both the casting and acting are really good also.
All in all I would give this five out of a possible five stars..
wow.
Who ever came up with the title ghost in the shell the new movie should be fired This is only made for money the animation is cheaper looking then other anime's these day's awful script,awful dialogue,,boring,stupid,terrible voice acting and awful when you compare it with the original..
stupid.
This is only made for money the animation is cheaper looking then other anime's these day's awful script,awful dialogue,,boring,stupid,terrible voice acting and awful when you compare it with the original..
Confusing movie.
I gave the movie 5/10 because I was even confused by the rating system.I watched the movie with my friends and popcorn.
We didn't even run out of popcorn because of our effort to comprehend.
In the end we were so confused that we watched Pewdiepie and everyone liked it.Plot: All of us agreed that the prime minister died.
Then things got very weird.
I strongly believe that the OBC was right to get in a war with EDF for gaining control over the FGT.
Everyone agreed, so then we did the YMCA.I am also confused about the cyborgs.
Can they have sex with each other?
Can they have babies?
Do they have cyber-penises?
Not clear.
Not clear.
Not clear.
The main character looked kinda cute, yet I am not sure if our relationship is serious, since my mother doesn't approve Japanese people - they freak her out.Btw all Japanese people looked like Americans.
I find this culturally offensive - most anime are euro-centric and anti-feminist.
Still, I like them a lot.