As far as I can tell, there is no logical accounting for what becomes widely popular from Japanese animation (known simply as Anime), and what remains in relative obscurity.  I say “relative obscurity” because there are plenty of those out there, on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, that could identify titles that barely made it off the rendering table.  Further, I have never considered myself more than a passive observer of the genre.  There are a few titles I enjoy, like Cowboy Bebop (1997-1998), but that, too, underscores the point at which I am driving.  Somebody at Netflix decided to make a live-action series out of the Japanese serial, one that American audiences began to consume in earnest in the early 2000s with the debut of Adult Swim on Cartoon Network.  It is one of a few examples of Anime that have made the jump to some kind of American reproduction, and the result rarely satisfies anyone.  Today’s film is one such instance.  However, before I do the remake, I am giving you the movie that inspired it, Ghost in the Shell (1995).  A word of clarification before I continue.  I will be using the English-speaking voice actors that did the dubbing.  I am one of the few who prefer the dubbed versions to reading sub-titles.

Set in the future, Ghost in the Shell refers to the process of putting what can roughly be called a human soul into a cyborg.  The main robotic/human person on which we focus is Major Motoko Kusanagi (voiced by Mimi Woods).  She works for a police organization called Section 9.  When first we meet her, she displays her fancy technology (which, unfortunately, seems to also involve her getting naked) in order to prevent a programmer from defecting.  The plot is a little convoluted in how it unfolds, so it bears mentioning here that this person had been working on a secret endeavor of the foreign ministry, known as Section 6, labeled “Project 2051.”  What they do not know at the moment is that this undertaking is behind the rise of an entity calling itself the Puppet Master (voiced by Tom Wyner).  For now, this being (henceforth “he” for the sake of syntax) is hacking into the cybernetic brains of important people looking for something.  He has accomplices out around town setting up different places where he can gain access to what I will refer to as the internet, even though it is never referred to as such.  A major goal of the leader of Section 9, Chief Aramaki (voiced by William Frederick Knight), is to put a stop to these, for lack of a better term, brain attacks, especially when they seem to be targeting high level government officials.  To do so, he gives the mission to Major Kusanagi and her partner, Batou (voiced by Richard Epcar).  They zero in on a team of garbage collectors, who are really a front for another technologically enhanced individual who is doing the Puppet Master’s deeds.  Before I go too much further, I should point out that most people in this world have some kind of computerized upgrade in them.  Major Kusanagi has more than most, making her unique and more than a match for this latest perpetrator.  Later that day, her and Batou are philosophizing about the meaning of life (truly) while on a boat in the mega-city’s bay when they hear a voice saying that at present they see each other dimly, but soon it will be face-to-face.  It is quoting 1 Corinthians 13:12, by the way, and yes, I will delve into this in greater detail in the next paragraph.  For now, our duo does not quite know what to make of this message, though Major Kusanagi has some inkling given what she refers to ascthe “whispers” she has been getting lately from her ghost.  The following day, Section 9 receives a visitor in the form of an unidentified cyborg.  “Visitor” is perhaps the wrong word for this being, who had wandered into traffic in its birthday suit and been hit by a truck.  When Major Kusanagi arrives at the station, she is intrigued by this shell (see what I did there?) and wants to link with it to learn its secrets.  Meanwhile, Section 9 is visited by officials from Section 6, who claim jurisdiction over this mysterious machinery and seek to take it with them.  Before this can be accomplished, it comes to life and reveals himself to be the Puppet Master.  Its explanation of its existence is cut short when an intruder sets off explosives and makes off with what remains of the Puppet Master’s body.  Batou and Major Kusanagi go in pursuit, and it is the latter that arrives to where it has barricaded itself under the protection of a spider tank.  I do not know what else to call this thing, but it almost destroys Major Kusanagi before Batou gets to the scene.  Once there, he finds the Puppet Master’s torso in the back seat.  Batou then helps Major Kusanagi to link with the Puppet Master.  I am not sure I can adequately convey the conversation that takes place between the Major Kusanagi and the Puppet Master.  It has something to do with existence and wanting to be more than just a computer program, I suppose.  The Puppet Master sees in Major Kusanagi a peer, which she had herself sensed, but had never acknowledged until this point.  It then comes to the purpose of this meeting: that Major Kusanagi allow herself to be merged with the Puppet Master.  She is worried about her existence being wiped away, but she accepts just before Section 6 snipers hovering in helicopters overhead destroy both cyborg bodies.  Batou is able to smuggle out Major Kusanagi’s head, though, and she comes to in one of his safe houses.  However, she is now a new entity, and after a friendly exchange with her old friend, she walks out a free person into the world.

The running discussion in Ghost in the Shell as to what it means to be human is an intriguing one for a Catholic film reviewer.  It becomes even more so when it starts quoting from the Bible.  Japanese culture is not known for its ties to Christianity.  Indeed, early Catholic missionaries to the country were virtually all martyred, and the Faith spent many centuries in the fringes and shadows of society.  Nonetheless, the film is suffused with a Christian sub-text.  Even without mentioning its reference of 1 Corinthians, there is the notion of robotic people having souls.  The movie seems to take pains to posit the importance of having one, which, unfortunately, is referred to as a “ghost.”  I slightly wonder if this is a problem of translation, though not enough to do any serious research on the matter.  Either way, not only does it treat this so-called “ghost” like a soul, but Major Kusanagi seems to feel like hers is the key to her identity.  Without it, she is not human, despite the fact that she is treated like any other person.  This is also where it becomes problematic from the Catholic perspective.  While it is true that our souls are intrinsic to who we are, my understanding of how these come to be in the film is that they are artificial creations.  That which is artificial is, by definition, not created by God.  The book definition of “artificial” uses the curious word “natural,” as in something upon which humans have no say in the making.  Swinging back to the movie, though, we see that even machines have a desire to experience something natural, which I see as being related to God.  There is a certain something that only He can give us, and this is underscored when the Puppet Master quotes the earlier passage from 1 Corinthians 13:11.  Getting in touch with that Higher Power involves creation, something the Church views as happening in the union of husband and wife.  It is presented in a strange way, but this is essentially what is happening between Major Kusanagi and the Puppet Master.

That is not the only weird image you will see in Ghost in the Shell.  For whatever reason, they decided to show Major Kusanagi, not to mention the Puppet Master, in the buff as often as possible.  This is a knock against an otherwise fairly interesting film.  Stay tuned to see how the more modern live-action remake compares.