Ghost in the Shell - cyberpunk watched for the first time

Long time no post!

I decided to remove the Sci&Tech tab for a while, since I'm not posting anything in it (well, the whole blog hasn't been edited for a while now anyway...).

With the little time I have (obviously an excuse - sure, I have little time but I kinda waste it x) ), many of my hobbies have been postponed, but maybe it's time to write about something I've always enjoyed: manga and anime.

I have only recently watched an anime film referred to as a masterpiece - Ghost in the Shell.

I had NEVER watched cyberpunk stuff. Also, my experience with seinen stuff (for an older audience, as opposed to shonen which is more mainstream), so you could say my opinion is pretty unbiased.

Short plot summary:
in the future, humans are part human and part robot - technologic advances allow people to upgrade parts in themselves, and all these upgrades are referred to in a manipulative and dark scenario, with lots of political interests and conspiracy in the mix.

The main character is a policewoman who is physically upgraded with cutting edge technology parts, but doesn't quite know where she belongs. Her mind if filled with existential questions regarding her ghost - her soul.

However, a certain shell (body w/ upgraded parts or full synthetic body) developed an unusual behaviour, since it has seemed to develop a ghost of it's own - project 2501 is the number behind this mysterious creature which defies all logic of boundary between humans and robots.

I won't say anything further about the film, I hope this was enough to get the curiosity of those who haven't watched it. But do it at Why? Because while the film had one of the sharpest themes, dark background and depicted the future of a dirty cyberpunk lifestyle - the soundtrack was disturbingly creepy. The whole film oscillates between mind blowing (or head-blowing, with shotguns and all) to stopped, frozen staring moments accompanied by an almost terrifying accapela song (and both of these just don't do it for me).

The idea behind the film? Perfect. I wouldn't expect a body-enhancement future leading to something other than this, given the amount of corruption and poverty on Earth. It deviates from an idealistic point of view, but still keeps it interesting to the point where you ask yourself how you'd survive in such a world.

So, overall, I think it's a good film, the effects are very good, specially given that it's made in 1995, but the frozen moments with disturbing soundtrack spoiled some of my inner peace for a while.

Maybe watching it a second time will change my opinion, but I preferred to write this post in a naive perspective about cyberpunk.

I hope more any-related stuff will come. Cya!