Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Anime Movie Review

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Inosensu
Dreamworks
Movie - 100 minutes - 1 disc
$39.98 (2009) Blu-Ray
$29.98 (2009) w/book
$19.98 (2009)
$26.98 (2005) w/Millennium Actress
$29.99 (2004)
ISBN 678149175721
Japanese Audio - English Subtitles
English Audio (Blu-Ray only)
Director - Mamoru Oshii
Studio - Production I.G/Studio Ghibli

Synopsis: The future of humankind in the year 2032 is the progression of technology and its affect on organic life.  Scientific advances have allowed complete transference of human consciousness into prosthetic, cyborg bodies.  More commonplace is the addition of cybernetic enhancements to natural bodies.  Society has leaped forward with access to boundless information over the net and crime has followed.  Special units have been developed by the governments in an attempt to control the infinitely devious forms of cyber-crime.  Can you hack a person's soul?

Your standard black market sex doll dressed up as a geisha

Public Security Section 9 investigates the most serious cyber-crimes and has access to the most advanced technology.  They were once led by Major Motoko Kusanagi, a full-body cyborg, but she went rogue after merging with a completely artificial intelligence called The Puppet Master.  The rest of the group remains intact and continues to operate.  Batou was the Major's second in command and was very close to her when she disappeared.  He's a stoic tough-guy with a soft side as seen only by his pet basset hound.  Batou continues to search for clues to the Major's activities.

Let's just say you don't want to buy a malfunctioning sex doll

Batou's is now partnered with Togusa, the most human member of Section 9 (least artificial enhancements), who is a family man and was recruited from the police force.  The two investigate a series of gruesome murders perpetrated by life-like sex dolls.  It seems the dolls have malfunctioned and killed their masters.  Now the two Section 9 detectives must unravel the mystery behind the killer dolls.  Is it possible the artificial intelligence programmed into the dolls has gained a life of its own?  Could the Major somehow be behind the evolution of the dolls?  When a faint ghost is discovered in the most recent killer doll's body all bets are off!

Batou and partner Togusa are called in to investigate the grisly murders

Pros: Great animation, exhaustively detailed CG for the time period, lush backgrounds, focuses on Batou who was a favorite of mine from the first film and the manga, more Section 9 characters show up, presents an interesting detective case in the form of the dolls' artificial sentience, a lot for action than the first film, return of the Major (sorta)

The case runs deeper as Batou and Togusa investigate the sex dolls

Cons: Original DVD versions didn't include an English dub, English subtitles include sound effects ("helicopter approaching"), CG effects don't mesh well with regular animation and are too stiff (reminded me of a 3D video game background), Batou is a less compelling main character than the Major from the first film, too many quotes in the dialogue, action for action's sake, indulgent for the director (too much basset hound)

Batou is a complete hardass until he comes home to pamper his basset hound

Mike Tells It Straight: The first Ghost in the Shell was a classic, iconic film which helped define anime for a generation.  Oshii created a cutting edge masterpiece with international appeal and cemented himself as a major director.  The movie was so good it influenced the creators of The Matrix franchise.  Although it deviated from the original manga by a great degree GitS the movie was a standalone experience with its own philosophical and haunting voice.  A sequel was welcome news for fans everywhere and especially with Oshii at the helm again.

These sex dolls bear a striking resemblance to a certain Major

Animation technology had advanced considerably by the time the sequel was in production.  Computer graphics evolved in leaps and bounds with entire backgrounds being rendered digitally.  Even figures could be rendered, but the technology still lacked an organic feel to the human eye.  Oshii went with a combination of the two processes by digitally rendering the backgrounds with seemingly hand-drawn characters.  Western animators would fully embrace the all-digital process (Toy Story, Shrek), but Japanese animators were slower to adopt all digital and make a point to keep character renderings 2D in appearance (which I personally agree).

Batou has a difficult time buying dog food at his usual store

This film is an intense mash-up of incredibly rendered digital backgrounds with traditional ('organic') characters.  The attention to detail is ridiculous and works fairly well until we get to scenes with actual movement (like cars driving down a city street) where the differences become fairly obvious.  The combination works particularly well during the scene where Batou has a shoot out in a convenience store.  The first film was on the cutting edge of animation technology and Oshii continues this trend in the sequel.  Despite the lush backgrounds I felt the CG elements awkwardly interacted with the 2D elements at times and distracted me from the story.  In a few scenes I felt like I was watching a video game with the 2D characters moving through a poorly rendered background.

The CG work in this film is incredible.  This particular parade scene is crazy!

Oshii makes a real case for animation as high level art with this film.  The story is an obvious progression of his viewpoint on society and technology's potential for change, but I felt his execution and particularly the script was a bit too much.  It's a long movie and has quite a few drawn out scenes.  The dialogue was rife with literary quotes which stifled any natural feel to the character interactions.  Try talking in quotes all day and see how long people take you seriously.

Batou and Togusa follow up a lead with an unsavory hacker

With the Major out of the way at the end of the first film, Oshii would shift focus to fan-favorite character Batou and explore deeper into the consequences of limitless advances to technology.  The stage was set for a repeat performance of the first film's success.  Even the composer returned for the sequel.  It was a no brainer, right?

Oshii has mastered the fish eye lens

Batou's personality in the movies is much different than in the manga and Standalone Complex television series where he's a bit of a clown, but Oshii makes him a stoic hardass.  He's just not as compelling or deep of an individual as the Major.  The DVD released by Dreamworks had no English dub which cut it off from a majority of fans of the first film.  Unless you're into foreign films with subtitles then the pre-2009 Innocence releases were not aimed at you.  Thank goodness someone finally added a dub to the Blu-Ray release.

Batou has commando training and he gets to use it!

Dreamworks even pissed off the hardcore anime fans who hate dubs by making the subtitles closed captioned = including sound effects.  My favorite is the very first subtitle in the movie - ("helicopter approaching").  Despite its flaws I thought GitS 2 was a beautifully rendered movie and the story was mildly compelling.  It dragged on forever with those damn quotes, but I got what Oshii was trying to say. Check out this movie if you liked the first film and want to see where Oshii's vision goes.  Definitely get the Blu-Ray version with English dub and crisper visuals.  Standalone Complex is much more interesting and I recommend watching both television series if you haven't already (they were both run on Cartoon Network several times).

Is that the Major?  Is she behind the malfunctioning sex dolls?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Ghost in the Shell Anime Movie Review

Ghost in the Shell
Gosuto in za Sheru and Kokaku Kidotai
Manga Entertainment
Movie - 82 minutes - 1 disc
$14.98 (2010) 2.0
$19.97 (2009) 2.0 Blu-Ray
$19.97 (2007)
$34.98 (2005) Special Edition
$19.98 (1998)
ISBN 780063552929
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Mamoru Oshii
Studio - Production I.G

Synopsis: Human technology has been steadily advancing to the point where in the year 2029 cyborgs are commonplace and the net is a vast landscape of information.  The line between human and machine continues to blur.  Cyborg enhancements enable great strength, dexterity, information processing, and direct communication through data links (similar to telepathy).  Entirely artificial prosthetic bodies are available with the human's soul residing as a 'ghost' in the machine.  Crime and espionage have reached a new level and governments have set up special groups to deal with the elevated threat.

The Major repels down a building after completing a mission

The Japanese government's Public Security Section 9 is a sanctioned group which deals with the highest level of cyber-crimes.  They use the most advanced technology and their field commander is Major Motoko Kusanagi, a full-body cyborg.  She's an expert at hand-to-hand, urban combat, and tactics.  Her right hand is Batou who possesses enhancements to his eyes and upper torso.  He's a tough customer, but still bows to the Major's authority.  Section 9 is led by Chief Aramaki, a man with intense morals and attachment to his team.

A diplomat's aide gets her cyberbrain hacked and Section 9 is called in

Section 9 investigates a hack into the cyberbrain of an aide to a government official.  Soon they're embroiled in a chase to find the powerful hacker known as the 'Puppet Master'.  This hacker is able to enter the cyberbrains of individuals and make them perform involuntary tasks.  It's called 'ghost-hacking' and one of the frightening drawbacks of cyberization.  When their investigation draws attention from Section 6 it becomes a political power-play to find the Puppet Master.

Batou is the Major's second-in-command and a real hard-ass

Who is the elusive Puppet Master and who is really trying to find him?  Are Sections 6 and 9 being to carry out another government's kill order?  The Major and almost every member of her team have been cyberized - are they easy targets for the Puppet Master?  The intrigue thickens as Section 9 gets closer to finding the answers to these questions.  What is Project 2501?  Where does the line between humanity and machine intelligence begin to lose coherence?

The creation of the Major's cyborg body - here we see the
final formation of the artificial skin

Pros: Visually stunning and CG layering was revolutionary for its time (released in the mid-nineties), haunting soundtrack, compelling story which still resonates today with the nature of computers and humans, great action sequences, amazing technology (thermo-optical camouflage)

The backgrounds in a chase scene literally look like photos

Cons: Very little action and a lot of theorizing about electronic souls, movie does not end with a frenetic crescendo instead more theorizing, absolutely no humor (which deviates from the original manga), dry and existential movie - Oshii's specialty

Who is this mysterious prosthetic body which just walked
off the assembly-line and ran into the streets

Mike Tells It Straight: Ghost in the Shell (aka GitS) can easily be considered one of the top anime films of the 1990s and has been considered the decade's Akira.  It was a revolution in film making with highly detailed backgrounds, advanced use of computer graphics in tandem with traditional animation, and compelling exposition on the nature of humanity/technology.  The film is often considered director Mamoru Oshii's (The Sky Crawlers, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade) masterpiece and has garnered much international attention.  It's originally based on the manga by Masamune Shirow, a prolific artist with many works translated into anime (Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police) although none quite so popular as GitS.

One of the creepier cybernetic enhancements portrayed these
prosthetic hands expands out for lightning fast typing.  I think
this would instantly de-sexy any hot receptionist

In stark contrast to Oshii's film, Shirow's manga includes many humorous moments.  It's intricately detailed and paramilitary focused, but Shirow clearly enjoys contrasting the serious subject matter with comedy.  The character of Batou particularly has an amusing, awkward side in the manga, but is portrayed as a complete hard-ass in the film.  GitS the film spawned (thankfully) several sequels including another film (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence) also by Oshii, two television series (Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex 2nd Gig), and more recently a prequel OVA series (Ghost in the Shell: Arise).

The Major takes on a Think Tank (multi-legged tanks) by herself

One of the biggest issues with the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of GitS are the various changes with each release.  I sometimes find this maddening (as in the case of Akira on DVD where the dub was replaced from the VHS version) and GitS has not escaped changes over the years.  What is the best version of the Ghost in the Shell movies?  Due to the critical popularity of GitS many fans have cried foul on the various releases.  The original Manga release seems to be fairly decent while the Special Edition gets lambasted for poor transfer quality and different closing song.  The 2.0 versions make many changes such as using amber hues for all of the formerly green CG elements and replacing several scenes with pure CG.

Original version thermo-optical camouflage effect from opening scene

CG enhanced/replaced version - major differences!

These changes were overseen by Oshii to make his first film more consistent with his second film.  The 2.0 release also includes an HD version of the 1.0 film, but surprisingly it's a transfer from the laserdisc.  It's tough to say which is the best version because we always cherish the one we were exposed to first (especially if we actually like the movie).  I suggest picking up the older and newer versions to make your own decision (if you're completely new to the film).  If you've already seen the film then try out the 2.0 Blu-Ray, but hang onto your older versions in case you end up disliking the changes.  You should be able to pick up a current copy for relatively cheap (unless you want the penultimate version = Japanese 1.0 Blu-Ray which is a bit more expensive and includes English dub/sub).

This scene looks much better in Blu-Ray HD

I believe GitS is an iconic film which caught international attention at just the right time to cement itself in anime history.  Despite being an anime classic it's quite dry and relatively straightforward (i.e. explains itself pretty directly through the dialogue of its characters).  It can be hard watching a film that's been built up so heavily by critics yet is almost two decades old and still come away with the intended experience of its director.  Technology has changed, but GitS remains the same.  I was pleasantly surprised to observe the future technology and feel of GitS has held up really well since it's release.  It's easily one of the cornerstones of anime cyberpunk history and worth at least one watch.  I don't really get the urge to re-watch the film aside from wanting to check out new versions (same thing with Akira).  It doesn't stop me from having it in my collection though!  I'm looking forward to checking out the sequel film by Oshii and the two television series.  Stay tuned!

The Major dives into the Jane Doe prosthetic body!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Appleseed Anime Movie Review

Appleseed
Appurushido
Geneon (Pioneer)
Movie - 105 mins. - 1 disc
$39.98 (2010) Blu-Ray
$19.98 (2009)
$19.98 (2005)
$29.98 (2005) Limited Edition (2 disc)
$49.98 (2005) Limited Edition (2 disc) w/figure
$19.98 (2005) UMD (PSP)
ISBN 013023252790
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Shinji Aramaki
Studio - Micott & Basara/Digital Frontier

Synopsis: The world has been broken apart by consecutive World Wars and the majority of land is lawless.  Warring factions battle for turf supremacy only to have other factions show up to challenge them.  Humanity is on the brink of self-annihilation, but hope exists in the form of Olympus, a seemingly utopian city where peace and prosperity reign.  Technology has advanced considerably with perfected bio-engineering and cyborg enhancement processes.  The secret to Olympus' success is a population comprising mostly bioriods - bio-engineered humans who govern the city without the influence of strong emotions like love and hate.  The bioroids' mission is to protect and nurture humanity from it's own destructive nature.  Aiding and guiding them is the supercomputer Gaia.

The post-apocalyptic utopian city of Olympus

Deunan Knute is a young soldier who has survived the global wars only to be abducted to Olympus.  She awakens and is educated about Olympus society by a girl named Hitomi, who happens to be a bioroid.  Deunan is reunited with her friend Briareos who she thought was killed during the wars.  The two were more than just friends, but now Briareos is 75% cyborg with a mechanical visage.  Deunan reels from the startling revelation and new life in Olympus.

Deunan has an awkward moment with Briareos

She joins the ESWAT (enhanced SWAT) team which combats urban terrorism primarily from dissenting military factions bent on removing the bioroids from political power.  They want to return power to the humans and do away with Gaia.  Deunan gets a crash-course in operating a landmate and put to the test in a real firefight.  She's an incredibly skilled warrior and learned from her father, a renowned military leader during the global wars.

Hitomi talks with Briareos about Deunan

What secrets do Olympus and the bioroids hide?  Gaia seems like the ultimate benefactor, but it predicts humans will annihilate themselves within three generations.  What lengths will be taken to save humanity from themselves?  How does Deunan fit into the grand scheme of Olympus and what is the Appleseed?

Deunan and Hitomi bond over drinks

Pros: An impressive amount of CGI (computer graphic images) work, great techno musical score (including Paul Oakenfold and Basement Jaxx), fairly decent science fiction plot, lots of intense action, cool mecha designs based on Masamune Shirow's work, okay character developments

A bunch of creepy old guys help run Olympus from behind the scenes

Cons: CG character movements look unnatural, character acting is very stiff and bland (facial expressions and body language), the film is missing the comedy aspects of the original manga, Briareos' optic sensors are red which make him look antagonistic (guess that's somewhat intentional)

Briareos battles a cybernetic assassin

Mike Tells It Straight: Not just a simple remake of the original 1988 film (reviewed here), this newer version is a complete re-visioning of Masamune Shirow's (known for Ghost in the Shell, Dominion Tank Police) manga series.  Several major plot points are changed such as Briareos coming to Olympus before Deunan and her thinking he was dead.  Hitomi's character is much smarter and less ditzy in the new version.  I really liked the changes and explanations of the bioroids - they finally made sense.

Deunan and Briareos suit up to face a terrorist crisis

This movie is 100% CG and has practically none of the traditional animation feel to it.  I didn't really like the visuals as much and felt the backgrounds looked too blatantly artificial.  Kind of felt like a souped-up video game CG clip.  The character acting and body language were incredibly stiff and unbelievable.  I'm still not convinced of full-CG acting yet and this movie is a prime example (Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is another).

Deunan and Briareos are confronted by military dissidents

I'll admit the action and sheer visual accomplishment kind of distracted me to the poor CG acting.  There is a lot of action and this film finally does Shirow's source material justice vs. the poor and simplistic 1988 feature.  Shinji Aramaki is a  legendary director and mechanical designer (Genesis Climber Mospeada, Gasaraki) who presents an interesting science fiction tale.

Briareos needs some repairs.  Ouchie :(

If you like Shirow's work and are curious about CG then this film will be very interesting to check out.  I certainly don't think full-CG is going to replace traditional-looking (i.e. hand-drawn in appearance) animation any time soon.  This film spawned a sequel, Appleseed Ex Machina, and a series, Appleseed XIII.  I'll review those in the future and look forward to seeing how the CG animation evolves.  Stay tuned!

An image from the original manga by Masamune Shirow

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Gundress Anime Movie Review

Gundress
Anime Works-Media Blasters
Movie - 80 mins. - 1 disc
$29.95 (2002)
ISBN 631595021875
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Katsuyoshi Yatabe
Studio - ORCA (I think)

Synopsis: The year is 2100 and Bayside City employs a private security group called Angel Arms to handle high-level threats.  The group is made up of five beautiful women who pilot five distinct mecha suits.  The team leader is Alissa and she's a true badass who doesn't take orders from anyone.  The Angels take down an arms dealer named Hassan and his group of henchmen on a cargo ship at the docks.

Hassan is protected by a cyborg

They manage to capture Hassan, but now the true mission unfolds.  Looks like some shady government officials want Hassan dead before he can point any fingers.  Now the Angels must protect Hassan before a group of killers manage to put out his lights.  Alissa meets one of the killers face-to-face and recognizes him from her past.  Seems like she has a questionable origin which may come back to haunt her.

The Angels in action

The bad guys have a set of powerful landmates which put the Angels to the test.  Can they protect Hassan against the deadly killers?  What will Alissa find out when she confronts her former lover?  Will the Angels' boss, Takako, manage to reign in Alissa before she goes too far?  Get ready for an action-packed showdown!

Alissa comes face-to-face with her past!

Pros: Masamune Shirow provides character and mecha designs, opening/ending songs are okay, a little comedy, lots of action, two extended nude scenes

The rest of the Angels - don't worry, you won't need to know about them

Cons: Terrible animation, weak dub, Shirow's character designs are completely butchered, Shirow's mecha designs are severely butchered as well, plot is not good, ending is confusing, characters are one-dimensional with no development, takes a bunch of concepts from other Shirow works

The enemy mecha investigate...a teddy bear?

Mike Tells It Straight: Where to even start on how crappy Gundress is?  It sucks on many levels, but I'll start with the horrible animation.  It's inconsistent, simple, choppy, and completely murders the original drawings by Shirow (well known for Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, and Dominion Tank Police).  I'm sure he regrets lending his talent to this poor feature.  He apparently designed the looks of the characters and mecha, but the animation team couldn't match the level of detail.  It's interesting to note the animation studio is not listed in the credits and I can't any information on who is responsible.  It's a bad sign when no one wants to step forward and claim credit.

Alissa rides a little mechanical Tachikoma, er, droid thingie

The story and characters are lame as well.  All of the characters are one-dimensional with practically no backstory.  Alissa and the main bad guy are the only ones who get origins while the other characters get barely any screen time.  Angel Arms boasts five distinct members, but we never really get to see anyone besides Alissa do anything.  A bunch of Shirow concepts are plugged into this movie - thermal-optic camouflage (invisibility), landmates (mecha suits with little arms for the driver to control the bigger arms), full-body cyborgs, the Tachikomas, and virtual reality.

Alissa naked and in cyberspace?

It seems like Shirow was hard up on money and signed away his rights to have his ideas raped to make this awful movie.  It's hugely mediocre and was originally released unfinished in Japanese theaters to fund the completion of the animation.  Epic fail on whatever the writers were trying to accomplish.  I don't recommend watching this movie at all.  Low entertainment value and a monumental disservice to Shirow's talent.  

The Angels run around in their mecha suits!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Black Magic M-66 Anime Movie Review

Black Magic M-66
Burakku Majikku Mario Shikkusuti Shikkusu

Manga Entertainment

Movie - 48 mins. - 1 disc

$19.98 (2013) Sub only

$19.95 (2001)

ISBN 660200408022

Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles

Director - Hiroyuki Kitakubo/Masamune Shirow

Studio - Bandai Visual

Synopsis: A secret cargo transport carrying two military test androids crash lands in a forest.  The military sends an elite squad of soldiers led by the hard-nosed Major.  He's known for getting the job done and never failing a mission.  This time might be different as the two androids are cutting edge killing machines meant for anti-personnel attacks.  The Major and his men investigate the crash site for clues to find the androids.

The Major and one of the scientists at the crash site

Meanwhile a plucky journalist named Sybel intercepts a transmission about the crash and brings a colleague along to investigate.  They observe a brutal firefight between the military squad and the two deadly androids. Sybel and her friend get caught in the middle of the action.  The androids are programmed to assassinate an innocent girl and Sybel rushes to save her.

Sybel gets interrupted while taking a shower

Does she have any hope against a killer android with immense strength, durability, and laser beams?  The original developers of the androids get involved, but can they offer a secret shut off switch to save the day?  Sybel and the hapless girl are harried by a murderous android.  Will the military be able to save them both or is Sybel only delaying their gruesome deaths?

Sybel brings along a journalist buddy and they scope out the crash site

Pros: Lots of relentless cyborg violence, ambitious camera angles and animation for the time, good character designs by Shirow, cyborg movements were adequately creepy along with attack gimmicks

The military try to stop one of the androids, but it's tough!

Cons: Too short!, very basic plot, music is bland, dub has a few rough patches, falls into typical 'monster-slowly-chases-main-characters-and-is-always-one-step-behind' formula, no character development, animation is dated (from 1987) and not as slick as the original manga, aircraft destroys the scientist's roof for no apparent reason

The androids are equipped with powerful lasers

Mike Tells It Straight: Black Magic M-66 is based on a work by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police).  He wrote and co-directed the anime and it was one of the first adaptations of his work.  It was released as an OVA (original video animation) and came in at a short 48 minutes.  Section 23 is releasing a new edition in Summer 2013, but it's supposed to only have subtitles instead of an English dub.  

Sybel tries to protect an innocent girl from a deadly android

Due to the short length of the feature the characters are relatively one-note and the action is the driving force of the plot.  There's some brief nudity in the beginning with Sybel jumping out of the shower to answer a call.  It's pretty tame and not gratuitous.  I thought the fights between the military and the androids was pretty awesome for the time.  The camera angles and choreography were pretty entertaining.

Can Sybel count on these guys to save her bacon!?

Sybel was a likable heroine and the androids were perfect 'monsters' chasing the damsels in distress.  The plot is incredibly simple and the show was very short.  It's a quick watch with dated animation, but I somehow liked it more than Appleseed.  If you like old school '80s anime and a quick science fiction story with a bunch of violence then check this out.  It's always nice to see more work based on Shirow's incredible art even though it usually gets butchered by these older shows (before the animation technology caught up enough to capture the amazing details).  

You know that part of the movie when you think the monster has been
killed and it's safe?  Yeah, I wouldn't touch that android if I were you!

TO BUY and Recommendations: