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Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

animationobsessive.substack.com

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Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#221

Post by chiph »

pjc50 wrote: post #40
XorNot wrote: post #2

Ghost In The Shell suffers from really dragging in the middle. There's a bunch a bunch of sequences which go on just way too long for the total amount of plot in the film, and there's a lot of missing context for the main character's motivation: we just kind of get a couple big exposition dumps, but no real feel for who the Major is or why the core conceit of the plot matters to her. The Stand Alone Complex series, c…

Now this is a matter of taste, but I love the slow moments where the film just pans over city scenes with no dialogue. Just a little time to breathe and look at the art in the middle of the action. It's a film that posits a bunch of questions about human vs machine and then declines to answer them in favor of letting you think about them.

Those periods of "Ma"[0] really make the film for me, and their absence was a big part of of why I didn't like the 2017 Scarlett Johanssen version (I walked out of the theater I was so disappointed). They give you time to think & reflect on the implications of the scene that just ended, and how it will affect the forthcoming actions of the characters.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_(negative_space)

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#222

Post by bullfightonmars »

jwells89 wrote: post #128
bullfightonmars wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha. Stuff like this is entertaining but it is not what I would call good. It’s like the reality tv of anime. Cheap wish fulfillment fan service. There have been some legit good series recently that play with these fantasy genres, have solid writing and animation. * Friern: Beyond Journey’s End - an extremely sentimental coming of age tale that explorers children raising parents, loyalty, and platonic love. * Deliciou…

I’ll echo the titles you recommended, but given what the MC goes through in Re:Zero I’m not sure that it falls into the bucket of wish fulfillment nearly as much as most shows of its genre do. I can’t think of many people who’d want to be the MC.

I’m sorry! I totally mistook Re:Zero for another series!

It looks like it has good reviews. I’ll have to check it out.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#223

Post by kagakuninja »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #183
rekabis wrote: post #35

The author fails in their understanding of Animé’s history in North America. While certain series such as The White Lion, Astroboy, Space Battleship Yamato (marketed over here as Starblazors) and Captain Harlock did see airtime first, it was Robotech - the Harmony Gold Frankenstein of three completely unrelated Animé series - that kicked off the process in 1984. It was Robotech that threw rocket fuel onto the burning…

I too was surprised that Robotech didn't appear in the article. It played during my school summer vacation (U.S.), and I was rivetted. It's nearly [0] the first Japanese animation I ever saw, and I was absolutely rivetted. I have no idea what viewership numbers were like at the period, but I was certainly hooked. And I was entering my high-school years where I'd have spending money from part-time jobs, so I was defin…

There were several anime adaptations on TV around the same time as Robotech. I'm sure it was the one that blew your mind, so you are remembering that.

Of the top of my head: Voltron, Tranzor-Z, Starblazers. Speed Racer was being rebroadcast on MTV.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#224

Post by rrdharan »

I’m a fan of the ‘95 movie but one funny thing I always notice when rewatching it is how many different Human Computer interfaces exist in the movie’s world. There’re the robot secretaries, humans with extra mechanical fingers similar to the secretaries, three or four different neck and head and maybe eye(?) jacks, and others I can’t remember now. Makes for a fun drinking game.

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#225

Post by genuine_smiles »

throwaway17_17 wrote: post #210
downrightmike wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want a deeper look into the worlds of Anime at the time, I recommend: Anime Architecture : Imagined Worlds and Endless Megacities, Hardcover https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/anime-architecture-... Its a really cool book

In addition to being a bit of a digital hoarder, I have a decent collection of enlarged anime background paintings on the walls at my office. My tastes in subject matter are pretty wide ranging, but I don’t have a specific collection of the 80s anime film megacities paintings. This book seems to fill a gap I didn’t even think I had in what I display. I was super impressed by the price point of this book. All the revi…

> I have a decent collection of enlarged anime background paintings on the walls at my office.

Where do you get them from?

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#226

Post by imbnwa »

rrdharan wrote: post #224

I’m a fan of the ‘95 movie but one funny thing I always notice when rewatching it is how many different Human Computer interfaces exist in the movie’s world. There’re the robot secretaries, humans with extra mechanical fingers similar to the secretaries, three or four different neck and head and maybe eye(?) jacks, and others I can’t remember now. Makes for a fun drinking game.

I mean how many USB ports do we got right now?

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#227

Post by throwaway17_17 »

genuine_smiles wrote: post #225
throwaway17_17 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to being a bit of a digital hoarder, I have a decent collection of enlarged anime background paintings on the walls at my office. My tastes in subject matter are pretty wide ranging, but I don’t have a specific collection of the 80s anime film megacities paintings. This book seems to fill a gap I didn’t even think I had in what I display. I was super impressed by the price point of this book. All the revi…

> I have a decent collection of enlarged anime background paintings on the walls at my office. Where do you get them from?

My grandparents owned a print shop as their retirement plan, so when I was in my early 20s I got them to do some high quality, faux-canvas prints for about 15 of my favorite at that time (the early 2000’s). If I wanted to do some now I’d have to go suck up to the manager of my local phototek (and given the business my firm gives him I think I may be able to make it work).

Re: Selling 'Ghost in the Shell'

#228

Post by CoastalCoder »

kagakuninja wrote: post #223
CoastalCoder wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too was surprised that Robotech didn't appear in the article. It played during my school summer vacation (U.S.), and I was rivetted. It's nearly [0] the first Japanese animation I ever saw, and I was absolutely rivetted. I have no idea what viewership numbers were like at the period, but I was certainly hooked. And I was entering my high-school years where I'd have spending money from part-time jobs, so I was defin…

There were several anime adaptations on TV around the same time as Robotech. I'm sure it was the one that blew your mind, so you are remembering that. Of the top of my head: Voltron, Tranzor-Z, Starblazers. Speed Racer was being rebroadcast on MTV.

We don't talk about Tranzor-Z.

It has a female robot with boob rockets, IIRC.

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