Anime! - a brief explanation
Reviews
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Neon Genesis Evangelion
Blue Gender
DVD Front Cover
Technology has advanced to the point that the human brain can be uploaded into cyber bodies – anyone sense sci-fi? Anyway, we have Major Motoko Kusanagi, the lead woman character in GITS. It's nice to have a female character with such a strong influence in the story, something that more Anime's should adopt
Screenshots - 5
Kusanagi, an elite officer in a secret service organization called Section 9, is one of these cyborgs herself. She's able to but mind to internet as easy as two plus two.
But there is a new criminal using the Net to hack into all sorts of high-security systems. He has been dubbed the Puppet Master because of his ability to hack into cybernetically enhanced minds and then programming them to do his own dirty work.
Our heroine must track down this infamous “puppet master,” but in doing so she unravels twisting plots revolving around this hacker. Eventually Motoke begins to search deeper in the pit of all reasoning until she reaches those queries that man has yet to answer, like; “ what is the meaning of life…who are we…where do we come from?” etc.
This Japanese Anime film is regarded as a classic for most Manga enthusiasts. It's been digitally re-mastered for its conversion to DVD, and the effort shows. The movie uses traditional cell animation combined with digitized compositing and computer animation.
The final result of the film is fantastic. Everything is beautifully drawn to great detail which is a definite must in animated films - the drawings compliment the story line perfectly. The movie can be seen in the 1:85:1 aspect ratio creating that theatre effect, although some viewers may find that detail is reduced somewhat due their TV sets which don’t have widescreen support - but this is no major problem.
The sound is also top-notch quality. Orchestra’s have been used to record the background sound and the lip-sync is as good as it gets from a Japanese animation which has been dubbed. The music and sound effects helps in creating that atmosphere which is so strong in the film. Dolby 5.1 is supported. Also, a quite interesting after-movie dessert of “Guide to Ghost in the Shell” finishes it all off nicely.
There are a good number of bonus materials on this DVD. There is a 30 minute "making of" feature that interviews some of the main casts. They speak in Japanese, so you need to read the translations on the screen, but it was interesting information. The movie trailer is included, as well as some commercials for other anime films.
You can watch the movie in dubbed-over English, or in its original Japanese production with the option of English subtitles. As with most Manga DVD’s which gives the viewer options as to which language they want to hear or read in, you can notice the differences in what is actually said in English and what the Japanese cast who originally recorded the film, have said. Both ways, it gives the Japanese audiences more flexibility.
Due to the complex story line, I would recommend watching the movie at least twice to get the full gist of what is going on. The 15 rating of the movie is adequate due to the hard-to-follow plot, gore and some nudity. There aren’t any sexual themes going on.
The average movie lover should consider watching it just to taste something different. Science-fiction fans should most definitely take a rent-out of it, whilst you Japanese Anime fans should place it in your collection right now!
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DVD Stats
MANGA
Aspect Ratios: Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital (English), Dolby Pro Logic (Japanese)
Subtitles: English
Support: Interactive Menus, Scene Access
Extras: Making of feature. Theatrical trailer. Magna video commercial. Movie production report. Key character art.
Rating: 15 (violence and some nudity-not for children)
Original Release: 1995
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Ratings
(Out of 5 Stars)
Ratings (Out of 5 Stars)
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DVD Supplements: * * *
Movie: * * * *
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Overall: * * * * TERRIFIC