Ghost in the Shell

AUTHOR: Shirow, Masamune

ARTIST: Masamune Shirow (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Kodansha (Japanese); Dark Horse Comics (English)

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION:Kokaku kidotai, 1989-1991

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 1991 (English translation, 1995)

Publication History

First published in Young Magazine in 1989, Ghost in the Shell is the creation of writer and illustrator Masamune Shirow, famed for manga cult classics Appleseed (1985-1989), Black Magic (1983), and Dominion (1985). Ghost in the Shell is considered a seinen manga, targeting Japanese businessmen between the ages of eighteen and thirty. The English translation was produced by Dark Horse Comics, which released the first full volume of the collected work in 1995. The manga proved popular in the West, where it attained such a cult status throughout the 1990’s that second and third volumes were released in 2003 and 2005; the latter contains an addendum of four chapters that were originally intended for the first volume.

Plot

The various plots of Ghost in the Shell have to do with the work of Public Security Section 9, a government agency dedicated to locating and capturing cyberwarlords. Two of the chief cybercriminals are Puppet Master and Laughing Man, world-class hackers who possess capabilities beyond those of the best employees of Section 9. Cyberhacking allows the perpetrator to overtake a person’s mind and, thus, control that person’s body. During these hacking instances, the hacker can make victims commit suicide or criminal acts. Puppet Master is able to hijack the minds of top-level officials; the Laughing Man takes over the minds of large groups of people and is able to hide his face under the camouflage of a special seal. In each instance, the team at Section 9 is forced to respond quickly and use the most technologically advanced equipment to take down the cybercriminals, who prove almost unbeatable.

Volumes

• Ghost in the Shell (1995). Collects issues 1-8. In the year 2029 in Newport City, Japan, Major Kusanagi and the others of Section 9 seek to stop Puppet Master. They are stunned when they realize the hacker is actually a project for government department Section 6. In the end, Kusanagi merges with the Puppet Master on the Web.

• Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (2003). Collects issues 1-8 of Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor. Technically the third installment, though released in the United States before the collected Ghost in the Shell 2, it contains material that was meant to be included in the original publication. A politician named Mr. Hayasaka is kidnapped and murdered; his corpse is controlled remotely by a hacker. Azuma and Togusa investigate.

• Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface (2005). Collects issues 1-11 of Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface. Motoko Aramaki, a composite version of Major Kusanagi and Puppet Master, works for Section 9 and seeks to capture cybercriminals, spies, and hackers.

Characters

• Major Motoko Kusanagi, the protagonist, is a female cyborg with an organic brain and spinal cord. She is always connected to the Internet; therefore, she can hack into other people’s interfaces and direct other versions of herself remotely. Emotionally, she is often represented in a brooding manner, philosophizing about her sense of self. She is the tactical commander for Section 9 and is also bisexual. She appears in Ghost in the Shell 2 as Motoko Aramaki.

• Batou, second-in-command of Section 9, is a male cyborg with cybernetically enhanced eyes, through which he is able to connect to the Web. He is physically powerful yet down-to-earth and spends his free time working out at the gym or with his basset hound.

• Togusa is one of the few noncyborgs of Section 9 at the start of the series. He is a family man and has a penchant for antiquated weaponry.

• Ishikawa is the warfare technologist of Section 9. Like Togusa and Saito, he has little (if any) cybernetic enhancement. He is a master hacker and contributes to the missions from behind the computer, rather than serving actively.

• Saito is the sniper for Section 9. He has a cybernetically enhanced arm and eye, which are useful for precise handling of heavy submachine guns.

• Pazu is the team investigator. He spends his time on the streets interviewing old connections from the underworld, where it is rumored he was previously part of the yakuza street gangs of Tokyo. He is also a notorious womanizer.

• Boma is the weapons specialist of the team. His job is to fight synthetic threats and cyberorganic threats such as viruses. He has an imposing physique and cybernetically enhanced eyes.

• Chief Daisuke Aramaki is a male cyborg and the chief of Section 9. His crew has several epithets to describe his half-man, half-ape face. He is a loyal, fatherly figure.

• Hideo Kuze is a male cyborg who was with Kusanagi in the plane crash that left them both paralyzed and in need of cyborg bodies.

Artistic Style

The style of Ghost in the Shell is often referred to as “cyberpunk,” a term that describes the futuristic, artificial world in which the characters reside. There is also an overriding sexual subtext to the work, and a parental advisory warning is often displayed on the cover of the Dark Horse versions of the manga due in part to this characteristic. Kusanagi is often presented in skin-tight clothing and thigh-high boots, on her knees, and connected to the Web via a series of cables that calls to mind a bondage scene. Despite being sexualized, Kusanagi is the leader of her police unit and is physically and mentally capable.

The series usually employs the yonkoma vertical four-panel splash effect, and scenes are often dramatized using no captions or bubbles. During the scenes in which characters have philosophical soliloquies, the line drawings are more open and the usage of narrative bubbles limited, inviting readers to participate in the characters’ search for identity and meaning. At the beginning of a new sequel chapter, a page is often dedicated to bringing readers up to speed on the events that occurred previously; this will sometimes be done in a different Artistic style than the rest of the manga. These catch-up diaries depict the characters as shorter, with rounder faces, and the dialogue and plot are truncated to give a brief summary of events.

The manga is primarily presented in black and white, but the first several pages are colored. Shirow’s original watercolor illustrations are reproduced exactly in the English version and help to depict the artificial world the characters inhabit. The mood of the watercolors is muted, and they contribute to the dreamy, futuristic, and sometimes dark mood of the series. Eventually, Shirow abandoned the watercolor method and began to use computer-created animation. At times, he also uses photographs changed only by the imprint of his graphics. His illustrations are renowned for consistently portraying minute details, which are often accompanied by footnotes, helping readers understand scientific details or technical definitions. In some instances, the footnotes are direct editorials in which Shirow speaks to the readers to explain his choices in relation to the technology.

Themes

The primary theme of the Ghost in the Shell series has to do with the defining elements of humanity. The series poses several philosophical questions to readers regarding what it means to be human. Kusanagi often wonders if it is possible to be human when the majority of one’s body is nonorganic. She consistently debates whether she is truly human and wonders if she has any real memories or if her few memories are fabricated. Kusanagi is also known to be one of several versions of her mechanical self, which reflects on her need for individualism. These are all subjects to which most readers can relate, and they endear the characters and the series to readers.

Impact

Produced in the Modern Age of comics, Ghost in the Shell is considered to have inspired the futuristic film The Matrix (1999) and its sequels. The directors of the film have commented that they were inspired by the world created by Shirow and tried to duplicate the atmosphere. Both the manga and the film are concerned with alternative realities and the connection to a virtual world. In its own right, Ghost in the Shell has been one of the most popular manga in Asia and the West, and the franchise has moved from graphic art to other media, including film and television.

Films

Ghost in the Shell. Directed by Mamoru Oshii. Bandai Visual Company/Kodansha, 1995. This animated film features the voices of Atsuko Tanaka as Motoko Kusanagi and Akio Otsuka as Batou and adapts part of the manga’s plot dealing with the Puppet Master.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Directed by Mamoru Oshii. Bandai Visual Company/Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2004. This animated film adaptation stars Tanaka and Otsuka and features Batou as the protagonist. The film is set in 2032, and its plot focuses on a character named Locus Solus, referencing the eponymous 1914 French novel by Raymond Roussel. The plot mirrors Roussel’s novel in that the characters watch different versions of themselves through a window. The film became a Selection Officielle at the Cannes Film Festival and also won the Orient Express Award at the Catalonian International Film Festival.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex—Solid State Society. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama. Production I.G., 2006. This film spin-off of the television series stars Tanaka and Otsuka. The Puppet Master returns and hacks into people’s cyberbrains, forcing them to commit suicide. He also kidnaps children by hacking into their parents’ brains. However, the Puppet Master goes to Section 9 to seek amnesty, claiming that he had been committing the crimes against his will.

Television Series

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Directed by Kenji Kamayama. Bandai Visual Company, 2002-2003. This series stars Tanaka and Otsuka and follows Section 9 as they search for the criminal known as the Laughing Man, who is discovered to be a hacker known as Aoi. Section 9 uncovers the truth about Aoi and offers him a position on the team.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, 2nd Gig. Directed by Kenji Kamayama. Bandai Visual Company, 2003-2004. This series stars Tanaka and Otsuka. Section 9 is being manipulated in a plot to use terrorists to cover up a government conspiracy to rid the nation of refugees. Section 9 turns against its government to uncover the truth about the prime minister.

Further Reading

Miura, Kentaro. Berserk (2003- ).

Oku, Hiroya. Gantz (2008- ).

Otomo, Katsuhiro. Akira (1988-1995).

Bibliography

Brenner, Robin E. Understanding Manga and Anime. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2007.

Cavallaro, Dani. Magic as Metaphor in Anime: A Critical Study. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2010.

Napier, Susan J. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. New York: Palgrave, 2000.

Ryberg, Jesper, Thomas S. Petersen, and Clark Wolf. New Waves in Applied Ethics. New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2007.

Smith, Toren. “Interview with Masamune Shirow.” Manga Mania 1 , no. 8, February, 1994.

Wong Kin Yuen. “On the Edge of Spaces: Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, and Hong Kong’s Cityscape.” Science Fiction Studies 27, no. 1 (March, 2000): 1-21.