Ghost in the shell a sci-fi cyberpunk anime movie directed by Mamrou Oshi who was also the director of Angel's Egg.
The main voice cast is Mimi Woods, Richard Epcar and Tom Wyner.
Voice acting then was quite different than it was today. But I have to say it makes the characters quite believable.
The film is an adaptation of the manga series of the same name.
The film's story is complicated and deep. The film takes place in 2029 in Nihama city. The world is futuristic and technology has advanced greatly. Mokoto Kusangi and her team section 9 must hunt down the Puppet Master a A.I and highly dangerous cybercriminal.
The team comprises of Batou,Togsua,Mokoto, and the head of the team Daiskue Armaki the head of section 9.
The cyborg members are very human like Mokoto Kusangi especially. Her past is unknown her human side is her "ghost" and she has a curiosity towards her human side. They are highly deadly cyborgs and are skilled hackers the members of Section 9. Mokoto Kusangi's body isnt her real body. It's actually a cyborg body her mind or ghost is her human personality. Togsua is the most human member of the team being with a minimal amount of cybernetic enhancements
The philosophical concepts of Ghost in the Shell are what really stands out there is no definitive answers to any questions such as what does it mean to be human and the connection they have with technology. It's quite complicated to understand and you really have to sit and think about the concepts as it's not meant for a "mainstream" kind of audience. I as a otaku am interested in the philosophy of ghost in the shell and I'll admit I did found myself lost in the philosophical side of the story and it requires a lot of thinking to it. It's subtle but it's highly impactful.
The animation it's really great. It’s a combination between cel shaded animation and cgi called "Digitally generated animation" it's realistic and accurate in the effects. It's still excellent to this day.
The film has slower art scenes showing the world of Nihama city. Yet it also has realistic and intricate action scenes which are highly impressive. Each part of Nihama city looks like Hong Kong.
One notable thing about the film is its art style. The art style is quite complex its not only impressive but when you look at it in a deeper level it's highly detailed and in one scene where Mokoto uses her cloaking technology to take out a bad guy. It's one of the most advanced animated scenes at that time. They made her fully invisible yet she was still there as a character.
The audio and sound of this film is quite sharp and the sound effects are quite interesting to hear.
Its blu ray version also has some extra feature to look at like character and creator biographies and being able to switch to the Japanese dub or English Dub at any time.
The film gets 5 stars .
It's a deep anime film and it's quite great to watch check it out on blu ray or on dvd