Tsao- Ghost in the Shell

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“Ghost in the Shell” was a film that proposed questions on self-identity, like in Perfect Blue. Unlike it though, it also touched on government corruption and the element of “mecha” in Japanese anime.

The story revolves around Major Motoko Kusanagi and the Puppet Master. Kusanagi is the leader of a government branch called Section 9, and her objective is to find and capture a chain hacker- the Puppet Master. They first track him down to a garbage man, but then they realize that this garbage man has been hacked by the Puppet Master so that he thinks he is looking for his daughter, and that his wife is cheating on him. While conducting further investigation, they find a female robot that has no cells (she is full robot), but for some reason, seems to still have a ghost. Kusanagi then chooses to go inside and talk to the ghost.

The Puppet Master raises a question about what being a human is. He is aware that he is intelligent and is an individual soul, but he wants to be able to reproduce to pass on a part of him to the next generation, and be able to die; he thinks this is what makes him human. Kusanagi decides to join souls with him to make a new life form, for I think she also wants to know how it feels to reproduce and die. However, I do not agree that being able to reproduce and die makes one a human. Being able to reproduce and die indicates sign of life, but not necessarily in human form. What makes humans distinguishable from other animals is our ability to reason and function based on our creativity and ideas. Kusanagi has always wondered who she was and whether she is considered human or not; she would go deep sea diving as a machine just to feel scared, lonely, etc. – feelings that she considers to be humanlike.

The government plays a role throughout the film through the two branches- section 9 and section 6. The Puppet Master was created by Section 6, but because it became so aware and was not able to be controlled by it anymore, they wanted to get rid of it. Section 9 did not know they were investigating something of Section 6 until they come together later on.

Finally, being machine in Japanese Anime helps the females within anime to gain more power. When in their mecha-suits, they have powers that are equal to men; there is little gender roles being played because they are machines. As robots, they have powers that take away the undermining of females, but are still able to maintain a feminine feel through the style of the suits (they are mostly body suits that show off their bodies). Overall, this was a good film with a good ending that is open for interpretations.