Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell (Kōkaku Kidōtai) was released in 1995 much to the delight of the masses. This popular manga has become known as the sci-fi anime to watch. It is a story that has many twists and turns, and the action-packed scenes keep the viewer both entertained and thinking about the future.

Synopsis

Ghost in the Shell follows a group of cybernized humans called Section 9. They are a clean-up team, of sorts, that are sent in to solve political problems in a very different way. The main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, has a completely computerized body, or shell, and all that is left of her original, human body is her soul, also called a ghost. Major Kusanagi is called on to find out who the mysterious person known as the Puppet Master is. Following Kusanagi is her newest partner, Togusa. He is only partially robotic, and Kusanagi has chosen him for just that reason.

Late one evening, a cybernetic body is created at a huge manufacturing plant. It runs straight into the street and gets hit by a truck. Section 9 gets a hold of the body and discovers that there was no sanction to create the body. They discover that there are no brain cells apparent in the body, which is strange, but stranger still is the findings that there is a ghost, or soul, trapped within the body. The ghost eventually takes control of the center and talks to the group, explaining that it has been entirely created by the computer systems. A ghost that has been created and gained intelligence, and awareness, had never occurred before, and the ramifications are too large for the group to understand.

The Puppet Master tells them that it came about because of a secret project known as Project 2051. It was supposed to hack into various data banks to get information on all of the ghosts that have been created, and during this, the Puppet Master was created. It singles out Kusanagi and says that it has been looking for her, that they are one in the same person.

The Puppet Master tells Kusanagi that it wants to link up with her directly in order to merge together. Kusanagi is reluctant to do so, worried that she will lose what little bit of herself she still has. The Puppet Master does not understand, and explains that the merging of the two of them will result in a higher plain of consciousness. Kusanagi agrees to the merge right as they are being attacked from a group of people that do not want the merge to occur. Kusanagi’s head gets separated from her body, but he mind remains intact.

When she awakens she is in a child-sized cyborg body, and tells the group that she is neither Kusanagi nor The Puppet Master, but has truly become a combination of the two. The story ends, ripe for a sequel, with Kusanagi pondering what she should do now that the future is upon her and she is whole.