Tag: Ghost in the Shell

Review

The Two Faces of Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell is the kind of show that doesn’t need to be written about, partly because it speaks for itself and partly because it’s an obligatory gateway anime that must be watched to earn one’s Aniblogger Badge. Still, as I was watching the Laughing Man OVA the other day to refresh my memory of the franchise, my brain started spinning all over again. What is it about the show that makes it so good? In a nutshell, it’s everything – the technical details of animation and music are top notch, the characters are solid, and the story treads on the shades of gray within social and philosophical issues.

I’m sure most people who have seen the summary OVA would condemn it for cutting out important character and world-building details, but the opportunity to view the entire series compressed into a couple hours lends a broader perspective. For me, it brought to light the two sides of the story that make Ghost in the Shell what it is.

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Fandom

Anime is Deep, Right? …Right?

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If there’s one thing readers and writers alike quickly discover about the blogosphere, it’s that in a sea of casual reviewers and episodic summarizers, there are always a few people that feel the need to stand up and proclaim that anime is more than just ecchi and robots. For better or worse, this vocal minority – ranging in age, background, and upbringing, yet united under a single glorified goal – tends to force itself into the spotlight and steal the show using big words and plentiful paragraphs, fighting to the death for its belief that Japanese cartoons are not just Japanese cartoons.

But are they right? Are we right? Is the blogosphere truly fighting for a noble cause, to learn and to educate and to learn once more, or are we all simply delusional? We already know that anime isn’t creative, and TJ Han is always the voice of reason in the sphere, so what if this was all an elaborate lie? What if we’re all living in a dream world in which we’re the kings and queens of the universe, oblivious to the jeers of society?

Or worse yet, what if this is all part of The Internet‘s plan to seize control of the blogosphere using lolikitean cryptology?

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