If Dolls Could Speak – Ghost in the Shell: Innocence

Ghost in the Shell (GITS for short), the acclaimed manga by Shirow Masamune, portrays a future Japan after a third and fourth world war that has advanced prosthesis to the point that full-body cyborgs exist. The series has existed in animated form ever since the classic from 1995 by Mamoru Oshii and each new entry has taken a different approach to utilize this world to talk about philosophy and ethics through the lens of a post-singularity world. There is one entry, however, that has been glossed over in the past, but which I believe to be criminally underrated.

This is my unedited essay on Ghost in the Shell: Innocence. This will contain spoilers for the film, so read at your own peril. If you would like the SPOILER-FREE review, click here.

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A Review of Darker Than Black, Season One

Do you ever try to find out why you love a show and then are dissatisfied with the reasons you come up with? Not because the reasons themselves aren’t sufficient, but because it doesn’t feel like those reasons are what typically justify praise when it comes to narrative mediums.

One popular school of thought places the narrative and writing at the forefront of what makes a story good. For me though, it is only the most common reason that people universally agree upon the quality of a story. Visual mediums are the most meaningful to me when the end result is a culmination of effective writing, visuals and especially music.

So what happens when I’m confronted with a show that flaunts a strong visual presence and great music but falls short in consistent writing and narrative. More importantly, why do I love 2007’s Darker Than Black, despite it falling into that category? Continue reading