On DVD: Ghost In The Shell (1995)

Shirow's most famous masterpiece: GHOST IN THE SHELL. This is the one that put him on the map and the one that got many into Anime.

In a nutshell, in a future time inteligence will be put into machines. That's the ghost that gets placed into a shell. Okay?

I tried watching it once before but took it out of the machine before it barely got started. The Major has a special capability -- she can become invisible, but to do so she must be unclad. I kinda don't like to watch cartoon nudity, and my wife frowns on me seeing any nudity, so in fear of her wrath I popped the tape and never watched the rest of it.

Until recently.

Several friends highly recommended it, so I gave it another shot. The animation is good. The story is okay. The voices in my translated version, for the most part, were dull and listless, especially that of the Major. The ending is kinda open. But I guess that's the way they like to do it.

I'd call it okay, and if you like animation probably worth it to see what all the hubbub's all about. The newer incarnations are better though, like Stand Alone Complex.

You can actually find it on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113568/