Ghost in the Shell (1995) - 🤯📼First Time Film Club📼🤯 - First Time Watching/Movie Reaction & Review

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Music credit:
Show Your Moves by Kevin MacLeod
Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
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Voice Over Under by Kevin MacLeod
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Elevator Music by: bensound.com
Aries Beats - Kids (STRANGER THINGS MUSIC inspired 80s Synthwave Soundtrack)
Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats / @ariesbeats
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[@IH8YH]

damn that first chime sound of the title sequence ALWAYS gives me chills and the opening theme is one of the best ever.

[@sopcannon]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4Wzf5SLqM-eqa8 ost

[@cllandestine5603]

And then the song hits....chills without fail.

[@Qlyphy]

watching Emily's brain melt in real-time was great fun.... such an interesting film, very much an extension of the cyberpunk themes wrapped in wonderful Japanese animation 🙂

[@louiegarcia2500]

I KNEW Emily was going to say, “TIDDIES!” 😆

[@fwfs]

One of my favorite anime films. The director, Mamoru Oshii, is known for including lots of philosophical and biblical references in his works (he originally studied for the seminary). Just about all of his anime films have trademark scenes of just montages of the environments with only Kenji Kawai's music and no dialogue. They're very melancholic and contemplative films. I'd also recommend the Patlabor anime movies, again directed by Oshii.

[@shaggybaggums]

I was just checking to see if anyone had recommended Patlabor already, good call. I think I prefer the first one.

[@Dalthorsan]

The face you had at the end Emily describes exactly my first reaction. You say you didn't react much but i say that i think most of us felt like that watching the first time. I've seen it plenty of times now and im STILL not fully onboard with the philosophical bits but it fascinates me to no end.

[@mnomadvfx]

Same, but rewatching it in Japanese with the subtitles helps. Honestly I don't think dubs are ever the right way to go - the emotional content just isn't there at all with the dialogue.

[@robertjackson2700]

I love his face when she says "I think this inspired a bunch of stuff..." 🤣

[@stuffyouotterlistento1461]

The first time I watched this the sudden and non-flashy ending threw me, and I came out of it with a somewhat mixed opinion of the movie. When I rewatched it, I obviously knew what to expect, and came out loving it. It helped that the rewatch allowed me to follow the nuances of their quick dialogues in a way I couldn't the first time through. The music makes me cry. I'm not even really sure why, but it obviously touches me on some deep emotional level.

[@commanderkruge]

I know exactly what you mean. Kenjii Kawaii's combination of traditional Bulgarian women's choir harmonics with the Japanese language works so well... It totally gives me goosebumps or makes my eyes pee too. :D Funny enough there's one other artist who hits me right in the feels not just with one track, but with a whole bunch of her work, one of hem being the soundtrack for the GITS TV shows: Yoko Kanno. I can put together a Yoko Kanno playlist that's quaranteed to leave me crying snot bubbles in the end. I've been thingking "WHY?" for some time. And I believe it's I'm overwhelmed how beautiful the music she writes can be, it makes me cry with happiness for getting to listen to it? :D

[@ceruleanblu3184]

Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 is good too, but it gets *really* philosophical.

[@codesent2125]

It's on the list

[@Nergalsama01]

And it messes with your perception of time and reality, so that's another hurdle.

[@adambrown3918]

Hi Emmy! The reason why a lot of these characters are "cyberized" is because they are veterans of WW4( non-nuclear ). Here's my essential watch list to help you dive deeper into that world( in proper order ): 1.Ghost in the Shell (movie) 2. Stand Alone Complex: 1st GIG (animated series) 3. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (movie) 4.Stand Alone Complex: 2nd GIG (animated series) 5. Solid State Society (movie) Please avoid the live action movie. It does a disservice to these characters. There was a reboot of the show called Arise. I don't like but others might. Anways, hoping you get a chance to watch more GITS! It's an amazing experience. 😊👍

[@Foxcheese]

I love the music during the musuem fight with the tank. Not at all what you'd expect from an action scene like that in another film.

[@binkle76]

I haven't seen this movie in almost 20 years. This was a great trip down the memory hole.

[@Splurr]

The moments of tranquillity in this movie, i love them!

[@Nergalsama01]

What I perhaps love most about this and Oshii's other movies is his fascination with cities. Ghost in the Shell, the Patlabor movies, they all have these long, almost meditative montages of cities with different moods or contexts. Those, combined with Kenji Kawai's music, are among my favorite anime memories. :)

[@johankaewberg8162]

The song during the “Shelling” sequence is a traditional Bulgarian wedding song about union, transferred into the Asian pentatonic scale, and sung by a Japanese girl quire… Shivers.

[@martinbraun1211]

Please watch the original Star Trek movies.

[@wojecire]

Live long and prosper

[@lampad4549]

Why would post this in a ghost in the shell reaction? Seems desperate

[@Yora21]

Some of them are actually great! : D

[@commanderkruge]

And I was not kidding - this is not just one of my all time favourite animees or all time favourite scifi movies, but one of my all around all time favourite movies period. The atmosphere ("The whole movie is a mood" describes it so damned well! :D), the visual art and the music and the story and the whole world it plays in - it's all done with so much care. It's definitely one of the relatively rare movies that value their empty spaces, long silences, sometimes even next to no animation at all (Like when the Major wakes up at the beginning and just sits in front of her window for a while - that's a picture, not an animation). For me it's an absolute masterwork. There's one animated movie I hold in a similar high regard - it's also beautifully done, asks some big questions and has great music - that's Mononoke Hime / Princess Mononoke by Studio Gibli. Saw that in the cinema on the big screen, expected a nice fantasy movie and got my mind blown with a really complex story that's asking some deep moral questions as well.

[@alexkaen1701]

It's amazing how Emily works her way through such high concept idea, when she's sitting on the couch by herself with her cat

[@pappajudas9267]

I grew up with this on a bootleg cassette along with Ninja Scroll, Battle Angel 1&2, Fatal Fury and Macross Plus the movie. If you really want to mess with your head, there are a few things from macross plus that are reality now.

[@pappajudas9267]

@@DoremiFasolatido1979they had computer generated algorithm. Create music in the 2010s and recently we've had holographic concerts, mostly with deceased artists. And it's Sharon Apple! I thought it was Fiona Apple which was even weirder because that's an actual recording artist in reality.

[@nicodalusong149]

@@DoremiFasolatido1979 Neuro-sama is somewhat close to Sharon. She sings on her streams and her programmer has to step in every once in a while.

[@michaelminch5490]

Oooohhh, yess! Ninja Scroll! Love that one!

[@DementedDistraction]

I remember seeing this for the first time during my freshman year of high school and not 'getting it' at all, but being enthralled with the animation and the style of the movie. This was back when I didn't have a computer and the internet was in its infancy, and the only anime I could get was limited to whatever the video rental store would get in stock, so I had to rent it quite a few times before the story really sunk into my head. That's really the barrier to entry for a lot of people that I showed this movie to over the years - it's a very self-serious, heady theme delivered in a matter-of-fact, no-nonsense, dry manner that doesn't hold your hand, and that can make it difficult for someone to take in without getting lost and losing interest in the film.

[@LordVolkov]

I do prefer the manga (Masamune Shirow's artwork is gorgeous), but the movie is still fantastic and the lingering shots of the city are my favorite part. The soundtrack alone is worth the watch.

[@shaggybaggums]

I'd love to see them react to the original Dominion Tank Police films. There's one part in particular I'd enjoy their reaction to. I'll just call them red, yellow, and blue landmines and leave it there.

[@frydguy2331]

Agreed. The manga is a must read. I enjoyed the Graphic Novelized Collection (found at Barnes and Nobles) with explanations and sourced material background information for philosophical concepts. Then imagine the growth one has after reading the manga... 25 years ago

[@EbefrenRevo]

I can only say that Shirow gets a greater deal with the movie adaptation than Kishiro and the poor Alita movie. And im talking about this one not the Johanson abomination.

[@kennieminski7080]

Pippin "I snore therefore I am."

[@MarkHWillson]

You did great Emily! The correct "reaction" to this is exactly that dumbfounded look you described and it is great to see someone's gears turning when watching for the first time. It's a real mind bender and great fun to see someone really trying to process it rather than force a "react" to it. Glad you more or less enjoyed it!

[@daniellanctot6548]

*_When a movie overloads Emily’s CPU:_* *Emily:* _”... Huh?... Huh?... Oh!... Wha’?... Huh?... Oh!... Oh!... Why? ... What-wha-Whata-What?... Huh?... Uh-Oh!... Oh-Oh-OHHH!!.... WHAAAAT??”_ 🤣🤣🤣👍👍

[@douglascampbell9809]

Just think Emily, there is a Ghost in The Shell series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. ‎10 hours and 50 minutes. It's just as beautiful and mind bending.

[@Iymarra]

Plus the second season, and 2045

[@shaggybaggums]

I would recommend the full series for each and not the butchered feature length versions, although I admit that might make it harder to react to.

[@MacAisling]

The series is, in my opinion, the best adaptation of the manga which, while is still has the philosophical element, is more focused on the police procedural/spy thriller storylines. The writers/directors of the live action adaptation with Scarlett Johansson did their research, pulling deep cuts from the manga and every other adaptation out there, the good, the bad, and the Bassett hound, but the studio went and forced a robocop/woman overcomes victimization storyline on top of it that is not true to the character of the manga. I did not like what the OVA did with the character of Motoko, so I haven’t seen the film(s) based on that, but I think I have everything else that made it to the US. Anime adaptations of some of the manga author’s other works also exist.

[@3DJapan]

Unpopular opinion. I hated the series. Love the movies and the manga though.

[@Leo-sd3jt]

And Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. and Ghost in the Shell: Arise and Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie (not the live action film)

[@cmiguel1321]

👍 thank you for watching This movie made me think of bigger questions when I was a child, I feel fortunate to have watched in then. Awesome and happy to have watched you both and the conversation after.

[@Johannicus]

The soundtrack and the movie are in my top favorites.

[@manuelrodriguez2637]

I'm in the UK... It's past 1am... & this movie just started on FILM4 channel & your channel just popped up on my recommended 😮

[@My-Name-Isnt-Important]

Oh shit! My favorite Anime of all time. This was revolutionary, and brought in tons of western viewers to anime. It's pretty much the definitive cyberpunk film too.

[@Nightroadtube]

I don't disagree with you, but I also have major nostalgia for Armitage III which was right around the same time.

[@yokonakajima75]

No that would be Akira which had more of an influence on helping bring cyberpunk anime and anime in general to the forefront and mainstreaming it to the west. GITS certainly did help though.

[@TOKYOTOYBANZAI]

One of the best. The animated TV series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (which is set in a separate universe, but with same characters, and more influenced by the original manga... but same production team), is also a masterpiece.... BOTH seasons.

[@Thewingkongexchange]

I remember seeing a clip from 7:50 on some late night show back in the day. It was out of context, but that cloaking effect in the water was enough to inspire me to draw a ton of comics like that. Amazing.

[@Cabatar00001]

When you started talking about realistic movements on guns it made me think of Gun Smith Cats, where they took the animators to Chicago to do the same thing.

[@davidbotts8581]

Gun Smith Cats is my favorite manga! They did a 3 episode anime that is very realistic for being non-CGI. The cars and weapons are incredibly accurate in looks and sounds (they sampled the sounds of the real-world guns and also the Shelby GT500KR driven by one of the main characters). Ghost in the Shell is the movie that said to me that anime had arrived as a serious art form.

[@devastator006]

You guys would love the anime adaptation Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. It is its own continuity with a really good overarching plot but also has great stand alone (pun intended) episodes. It’s got great world building, a more assembled cast of differing characters with their own character developments. It also maintains the “sense of self” themes though not nearly as heavy as in the film. I highly recommend it regardless of whether you do reactions to it.

[@han_pritcher]

I think you'd enjoy the Patlabor movies. Similarly great animation, but more characters with approachable personalities.

[@shaggybaggums]

I agree, when i first saw the first one especially it struck me as mecha done right. But as with Ghost in the Shell it's not something that you can just turn your brain off and watch the spectacle.

[@TombunnyHunter]

I came to the comments to recommend Patlabor. It is my favorite anime franchise, ova, tv, movies.

[@3DJapan]

Funny I was just looking at Patlabor last night.

[@graht1]

"(Pippen) what do you think, are you alive?" To which Pippen replied, "I sleep, there for I am." ;)

[@mariogarv]

1995.... what a great year it was, and this movie is part of what made that year awesome, Ghost in the shell, one of the anime´s master pieces from where the wachowsky brothers stole lots of ideas for their "matrix" lol

[@Telrathian]

Many years ago, this movie was my introduction to Anime. It is still my favorite anime that I have seen.

[@commanderkruge]

OHMYGOD - one of my ALL TIME FOREVER FAVOURITE MOVIES! I wanted to do some housework, but I'll have to watch this instead IMMEDIATELY! This is ... Art.

[@sem1conscious]

The mystery and atmosphere the music and singing make really sticks in my mind.

[@GonkThePowerDroid]

"Emily has encountered a critical problem and will restart"

[@knytestorme]

"I thought she was with the pooo-lease" - Em got real country real quick for some reason lol

[@tiaxanderson9725]

Randomly came across these videos because of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (the OG student film The Gamers is also worth a watch, but I dunno of it's video worthy). Then I noticed a ton of my favourites like They Live, Moon, Paul, Contact, Arrival, Ghost in the Shell, and The Blues Brothers to name a few. If I, as a random commenter, may be so bold as to add some suggestions I couldn't find in your list of published videos; 1983 WarGames 1995 Hackers (guilty pleasure) 1995 The Net (I like computers) 1949 Nora Inu (Stray Dog, extremely slow paced movie you'd be hard pressed to find these days) (Warning, more black and white movies) 1950 Rashomon (Interesting way of storytelling) 1954 Shichinin no Samurai (Seven Samurai) 1961 Yojimbo 1962 Sanjuro (pseudo sequel, has the same lead) 1962 Seppuku (Harakiri, honour at the end of the samurai age) (End of the black and white 'jidaigeki') 2002 Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai) (Lastly) 2014 Uzumasa Limelight (About the actors who play the guys who get cut down in 'period dramas' or jidaigeki)

[@machfront]

I’ve said it before…but, yeah, seriously…Pippin is just rating his naps! 😁

[@JackOiswatching]

"What do you think, Pippin, are you alive?" "I don't think at all!"

[@robertanderson6929]

Now Emily has seen GitS she's primed for Cowboy Bebop.

[@dmwalker24]

Major Kusanagi is really an archetype as a single character. She embodies all of these existential questions, but also has a deep understanding of them as well. For the audience it's a vision of the potential of the tech in the right hands. This kind of future may be inevitable, but if so, then the costs that go along with it are also going to be inevitable.

[@alexflores7652]

Seeing you guys react to this classic made me so happy. I have been watching this movie since 1998 when I was in the USAF. And I am still learning new things with each and every watching. If my memory serves me correctly this and the second one was all traditional cell shaded animation. The redone one that came out later was a mix of traditional and CGI. When you really sit down and think about the subject matter it strikes of Philip K. Dick stories, like Blade Runner and Minority Report and the like. The colors were so vibrant even in the grimy areas of the city. Where as in the live action one they weren't they tried to dazzle you with the 3D holograms it just fell so flat to me in my opinion. Oh the facial expressions are very indicative of Japanese culture there is no real expression. During the creation of one of the Starship Trooper animated movies. The Japanese animators had a really hard time adding facial expressions to the American voice actors because we are so much more expressive than they are in that regard.

[@Yggdrasil42]

Thanks for reacting! By the way, Ghost in the Shell 2 is well worth watching.

[@newfate26]

Yeah, Innocence is pretty great. The time loop in particular is incredible

[@leroylowe5921]

if you have a bachelor's degree in philosophy

[@Yggdrasil42]

@@leroylowe5921 It did take me two watches to understand... 😅

[@ibr-2doe323]

Great idea! 10:34

[@arcticbanana66]

If I recall correctly, the Ghost in the Shell dub is one of the better dubs from the mid-1990s. Maybe not exceptional by _modern_ standards, but for its time it was great. The series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, isn't any less heavy on the philosophy, but it's less dense on average since it's spread across two seasons. A friend of mine used to work at a video store, and he has stories about parents buying Ninja Scroll for their kids, he'd warn them multiple times that it's not for children, they'd reply something like "it's just a cartoon about ninjas", and then come back the next day furious that "you sold my child porn".

[@Mugthraka]

"This movie is gonna give me an existential crisis" Thats..., thats the point. In the 80's and 90's Anime was not only trying to give cool stories with pretty moving pictures, it was trying to provoke some thougths. Specially the Cyberpunk genre, since it was a genre that sprung in an era where technological advancement was going leaps and bounds compared to the decades before. The Questions about "Transhumanism" and "Can Machines feel and Think?" and if so, whats makes them different from humans?, where on quite some people's minds. Movies like Blade Runner and a LOT of the 80's Japanese animation pondered those questions.

[@mesebak]

“ Ghost in the shell “ was the Anime that got me into becoming an illustrator it’s a personal favourite I was 12 at the time waaaay back 1996 Maaan time flies

[@samhor33]

This is a masterpiece, the 2nd one innocence is awesome too!

[@chaost4544]

I never really gave anime a chance when I was younger and always thought it was nothing but a genre of just power-ups, power of friendship, and tentacles. One of my friends said give "Ghost in the Shell" a try and ever since I've been a fan of anime. What stuck out most to me in my first watch was how clean and beautiful the art/animation was. It looked completely different and way more realistic than what I experienced with Western cartoons.

[@cesarvidelac]

I forgot she was named Kusanagi. That's a double edge sword that is one of Japan's Emperor's crown treasures.

[@botheringthewildlife9641]

Starting my second watch of this and had a few thoughts: 1) Where did you get the Kagome! shirt? 2) I was so excited to see this reaction the first time, because I knew that it would present some fun ideas about existence and that it would make you say "Tiddies" lol 3) I can confirm that this movie is a heavier experience while inebriated and whole ass journey while tripping.

[@vcancer]

I saw this at the theater on the big screen. I have the CD soundtrack somewhere in one of my boxes. It is a great movie.

[@3DJapan]

I will add, I have a lot of the manga that I collected in the 90s, loved this movie, but I also like the live action Gregson of this with Scarlett Johansson.

[@mr.sigmax7271]

omg omg you did not just do Ghost in the Shell! hell yah!

[@booth9666]

rewatch while high ...cannabis is the way...cheers love ya alls reactions

[@dovahgrape8139]

Love “The Last Dragon” t-shirt!

[@commanderkruge]

The soundtrack is fantastic - Kenjii Kawai, it's composer, took traditional Bulgarian women's choir harmonics and added old Japanese lyrics and it works quite well, doesn't it? :) The music is pretty much guaranteed to give me goosebumps each time I listen to it. :D The world, in my headcanon, is the very same that the Bladerunner movies play in - only in the US (Bladerunner) they went the genetic way to create new life and in Japan they choose electronics. Both movies have the same theme and treat it in a similar way too - "What is life?" - "If we happen to MAKE life - what will be it's rights?" - "Where does a HUMAN start - or end? How much of us can be replaced with us still remaining human?" - "Do we even have a RIGHT to create self conscious life (no matter if organic or electronic)" - all these classic themes that originate in what is considered by many to be the very first SciFi novel ever: "Frankenstein". Not the movie, the original book - it indeed examines those very same themes and questions already. And other Science Fiction will also do, again and again. It's one of SciFi's favourite themes, pretty much. :) Here: Star Trek - the episode where there's a court case about whether Mr. Data "belongs" to Starfleet. And Voyager revisits the same theme with the Doctor, who's "just" a Holodeck-program, but becomes self aware and his own person after being left on for too long. Westworld? Same theme for the whole series, pretty much. Obviously the Matrix (D'uh!). And many more. The Bicentennial Man? Check. I Robot? Check. and there's many, many more. If you like this, then I HIIIIIIIGHLY recommend "Ghost in The Shell Standalone Complex" and "Ghost in The Shell 2nd Gig" - the two seasons of TV show. It's more cases for Section 9 and the Major. VERRRRY good, some of the best "hard sci fi" out there. This was meant to make you think. The series also has an exceptional soundtrack, in this case by Yoko Kanno, a powerhouse artist all by herself. Here an example for the main influence of the music in the movie: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4uXfXabn7aabtE

[@WolfHreda]

This is definitely one of the shining examples of animation as true art. Alright, Host in the Shell, it's time to hit her with Perfect Blue. 😂

[@Imidentifiednow]

As an american, that is the most american accent ive ever heard

[@michaelminch5490]

"This movie's gonna give me an existential crisis." Yes. Yes it is. Buckle up.

[@kaiceeholloway8830]

Great t-shirts 👍🏾

[@devastator006]

One of the many reasons I love your guy’s reactions: Batou: Next time use the back door. Emily: giggle Mathew: Noooo Emily: louder giggle

[@p.s6742]

The Matrix is child's play compered to Ghost in the Shell. 🤯

[@railfan711]

This was my first anime.

[@Tyarrk]

Nice reaction. It´s always cool to see new watchers discussing the mind fuck that is this movie. 😯🤨🤔😵‍💫

[@jessegardener5696]

I saw this in the theater when it came out in the village in Manhattan tired when I saw this but what I saw at the second time I had to be wide awake because you miss a lot of stuff in this movie if you don't pay attention😊

[@jerrygross8073]

This move inspired "The Matrix" movie.

[@aeneasfate]

A good subgenre to try out might be 'Children's Cartoons That Fucked Up A Generation,' featuring the trilogy of Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, and Felidae.

[@userxl41drn301]

Emily: That kind of talk ust freaks me out.... Mamoru Oshii: Welp. My work here is done!

[@MasticinaAkicta]

It is interesting isn't it. The marriage between a program that became its own, lacking a body, and a person in a body with a human ghost that yearned to be more. The childer of which is... beyond both. Oh, the music... that is a MARRIAGE song!

[@marius4390]

one that I recommend is ad police spin off bubblegum crisis and that touches on the cyberpunk theme

[@jamesnoland7821]

I'm only 30 seconds into your video, but I MUST HAVE that t-shirt Mathew's wearing!! I had to stop the video and try to buy one, but I can't find that particular design. :-[ I saw a pretty cool "Kiss my converse!" shirt that may have to be my consolation purchase.

[@JustSUMMReactions]

It was a gift from a viewer, so I'm not sure where they got it, but the kiss my converse one sounds dope!

[@robertjacques4117]

I love films made like this where they dont spell everything out and we the audience have to figure it out, it can be a bit difficult but films like that are more remembered and keep you talking as opposed to one and done forgettable films Trust me, on your second watch, youll love it it, I tell that to everyone, if you dont love the first, the second you will, Blade Runner was similar for me, watched the theatrical cut and liked it but I watched the final cut on second and I fell in love with it, if you havent seen that I also highly recommend that too

[@floppsymoppsy5969]

So I came across this by complete accident. IFC (that's right, the Independent Film Channel) was running all the anime that won awards that year for like a week at midnight. I was instantly enthralled!

[@timelink3315]

I use to love watching IFC, that channel is how I got into watching old samurai movies!

[@floppsymoppsy5969]

@@timelink3315 IKNOWRIGHT....otherwise I wouldn't be half the "cultured lady" I am today

[@timelink3315]

@@floppsymoppsy5969 Same for me, but "cultured guy" instead.

[@yokelabductee]

I knew it would happen eventually.... yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@GonkThePowerDroid]

My first time watching this (VHS, circa 2000) I definitely got it, but I would not have been able to explain it to somebody else

[@INSEIKYU01]

Well this is a pleasant surprise 😮😃

[@AutomanicJack]

i watched most of the Ghost in the shells movies and series and have the first two comic books from masamune Shirow and i think Motoko Kusanagi is one of my favorite comic heroines ever

[@codesent2125]

"Why are we here? Because we're here". "Why does it happen? Because it happens". -Rush, Roll The Bones 1991

[@Mansplainer2099-jy8ps]

At risk of sounding snooty but that's typical thinking of people who have yet to understand what the "why" question actually is.

[@Ansioneus]

gracias gracias😊😊

[@centurycountess4949]

I hope you get a chance to watch the sequel " Ghost in the Shell 2 : innocence " it was made in the year 2004 I heard they not only brought back the original japanese voice actors but also the original english ones also. and explains what Matoko and Balto (may have butched his name) has been up to Also I recommend the film" Zeiram " 1991

[@YouHaventSeenMeRight]

While I like the movie a lot, I'm a bigger fan of the Stand Alone Complex sequence.

[@mrnice81]

This. Maybe it's because i saw the Stand Alone Complex first, but none of the movies resonate with me as much as SAC.

[@DaiIto-mo5fp]

This is a movie that should be watched alone and immersed without worrying about reactions. During the end credits, you will be in a dazed state.

[@Chasmodius]

The music reminded me a lot of _Akira._ I liked this film enough, but I think they made the later TV show for those of us who really liked the Police procedural parts of _Ghost in the Shell_ rather than the philosophical sci-fi existentialism concepts, though eventually that became an important part of the show as well.

[@spaceistheplace8376]

i love the appreciation for this piece on the guy's face .he knows whats up .kudos : )

[@PetraDarklander]

I might be alone in this but the movie with Scarlet Johansen as Major is def worth a watch.

[@bobg8378]

You are not alone in that thought. The movie was great, I'm not watching the cartoon

[@johnniequinn3215]

@@bobg8378 why not?

[@joshchu]

Thank god, it's the 95' version.

[@dachannien]

I saw this back in the late 90s with the original dub (which wasn't as good as the re-dubbed version you watched - the re-dub is most of the voice actors from the dub of the TV series, GITS: Stand Alone Complex). It was the second Really Good Anime I watched, after Akira, which I saw back in high school in the early 90s. (There were some other questionable movies in there, including Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend, a tentacle hentai with high quality animation and lots of misogynistic violence - probably not something for you to watch for your channel, hehe...) There are a few levels you can watch this one at. I think you nailed the two most important levels: the insanely high quality animation and attention to detail, and the existential crisis-inducing "what is me?" philosophizing. The other major level is the political intrigue, and unfortunately, it was difficult for them to fit the background into a movie as short as this, so they didn't really try. If you are interested in the political intrigue, I think GITS: SAC, season 1, gives this a much better go, and I highly recommend watching season 1. (It includes its own approach at philosophical topics, not nearly as panic-inducing as the film, but still great for twisting your brain.) A couple of tidbits you may or may not have picked up on during your first watch: * During the slow montage of Kusanagi traveling around the city, she looks up to a walkway and sees someone else with the same face as hers. This immediately raises questions, such as, is that person another cyborg? Altered face? Or was she the original whose face was used for Kusanagi's appearance? It indicates that anybody out there could look just like you, if they wanted to. Or maybe that woman was actually Kusanagi, and the Kusanagi in the cyborg body was just a copy, each blissfully unaware that the other existed. * The music during the closing credits was by "Passengers", which was actually a U2/Brian Eno project where they recorded songs for movie soundtracks. It's one of my favorite songs to zone out to for a few minutes. Anyway, I'm really glad you guys watched this one, because it's a must-see along with Akira. Those two movies, along with some Studio Ghibli masterpieces, were probably the biggest reasons that anime exploded in popularity in the US, paving the way for so many incredible films and series to make their way over here.

[@SchrodingersTransCat]

Are you sure they watched a re-dub? It sounded like the original dub to me. The Major's voice actress was the same as the one who played Shayla Shayla the redhead in El-Hazard.

[@ibnteos]

Have you considered the anime film "Sword of the Stranger" (2007)? it has some pretty good action sequences. For other sci-fi films with minds-in-robots, check out "Surrogates" (2009) with Bruce Willis, and "Replicas" (2018) with Keanu Reeves. :D

[@kinagrill]

Ghost Hacking a person sounds like a type of violation even worse than just 'physical' violation... because it literally ruins the person's mind and personality. Especially so when done poorly.

[@darksaint0124]

This is not a full representation of the story. In the 90's Japanese animation studios put out a number of ova's meant to push the boundaries of what could be done in animation. In some of those cases they took a popular story and condensed it into what is essentially an animation showcase. There is a manga with the entire story and I believe the stand alone complex series fleshes out the story more, including the events that occur in this movie. These ova's were meant to get new eyes on anime and for the most part they did. While I had watched anime before I saw this back when it came out during the mid 90s, this movie, the Ninja Scrolls ova and the Battle Angel ova is what really got me into the genre as more than a passing fad.

[@arklytte]

This movie, Akira, Ninja Scroll, and Fist of the North Star were my introduction to anime. Old school anime like this is incredible. I like to call it 'thinking man's anime'. So much modern stuff is either cutesy, hyperviolent for no reason, or slice of life stuff with no overarching story. These old stories truly made you *THINK* when you watched them. Even now, watching just the bits from your reaction, I still find new tidbits of awesomeness to take away from this masterpiece.

[@fredfredburger5150]

You forgot Wicked City.

[@arklytte]

@@fredfredburger5150 Another awesome anime, but one I didn't see until a few years after my initial intro into the genre.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

Hee. The video game for this film was pretty unrecognizable. One or two players could team up to pilot spider-tanks, and go climbing and skittering and skating through all kinds of cityscapes, shooting tiny human-shaped targets. It was fun and highly frenetic but had nothing do do with the film... Oh, except you'd get a new tiny cutscene with one of our Section 9 team after completing several levels.

[@Renegade2786]

*I'm entitled to diplomatic immunity...* 3:41 - 3:44 It just be revoked!

[@Damiana_Dimock]

Everything Ghost In The Shell, except for the ScarJo live-action film, is 1,000% worth checking out. I especially love the two-season series, as I rewatched episodes over and over again throughout most of the ‘00s & early ‘10s. Vampire Hunter D! Hell yeah, doesn’t get enough love. I will say, much like the Host In The Shell, I grew up on this kind of anime, so when Gen-Zers are like, “do you like anime?” I always have to preface that although I do, I like this kind of stuff. I will say, I personally think that though the “ghost” is often equated to “soul,” I believe it’s slightly different than that-like the difference between sex & gender, for instance-because, the word “soul” is used as a distinctly separate concept at least once in the film. I feel like it’s maybe the difference between BIOS & an OS. I cannot remember what anime films we watched first but I do remember that a friend of mine in middle school & high school, (whose parents would let us have parties at their homes a lot,) specifically pulled out the VHS and said to me, “I think you’d like this.” He was a big anime person, and he was correct about his assessment.

[@DavidRomigJr]

I love this movie and the related TV series. I actually don’t find what they are literally saying too hard to follow, but I like that they generally don’t have real answers regarding the philosophical. It gets you to think about the self and proposes thoughts about it, but, like us, has no clear answers. It’s interesting.