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攻殻機動隊 The Ghost in the Shell #1.5
Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-error Processor
Deep into the 21st century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging technoscape, the covert-ops agents of Section 9 are charged to track and crack the most dangerous terrorists, cybercriminals, and ghost hackers the digital future has to offer. Whether dealing with remote-controlled corpses, lethally malfunctioning micromachines, or cop-killer cyborgs, Section 9 is determined to serve and protect . . . and reboot some cybercrook ass! Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor presents for the first time in America the "lost" Ghost in the Shell stories, created by Shirow Masamune after completing work on the original Ghost in the Shell manga and prior to his tour-de-force, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface, but never collected until now.
117 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 2003
74 people are currently reading
1101 people want to read
About the author
Masamune Shirow
425 books488 followersMasamune Shirow is an internationally renowned manga
Masanori Ota, better known by his pen name Masamune Shirow (Japanese: 士郎正宗), is a Japanese manga artist renowned for his influential contributions to the cyberpunk genre. Born in Kobe in 1961, he studied oil painting at Osaka University of Arts, where he developed an interest in manga. His early work Black Magic led to the critically acclaimed Appleseed, which won the 1986 Seiun Award for Best Manga. Shirow achieved global recognition with Ghost in the Shell, a groundbreaking manga that inspired multiple anime films and series, a live-action Hollywood adaptation, and numerous video games. His stories are known for blending action with philosophical inquiries into AI, post-human existence, and the ethics of technology. He has collaborated with Production I.G on projects like Ghost Hound and Real Drive. Shirow’s distinctive style and thought-provoking narratives have left a lasting impact on manga, anime, and science fiction worldwide, influencing creators including the Wachowskis of The Matrix fame.
Masanori Ota, better known by his pen name Masamune Shirow (Japanese: 士郎正宗), is a Japanese manga artist renowned for his influential contributions to the cyberpunk genre. Born in Kobe in 1961, he studied oil painting at Osaka University of Arts, where he developed an interest in manga. His early work Black Magic led to the critically acclaimed Appleseed, which won the 1986 Seiun Award for Best Manga. Shirow achieved global recognition with Ghost in the Shell, a groundbreaking manga that inspired multiple anime films and series, a live-action Hollywood adaptation, and numerous video games. His stories are known for blending action with philosophical inquiries into AI, post-human existence, and the ethics of technology. He has collaborated with Production I.G on projects like Ghost Hound and Real Drive. Shirow’s distinctive style and thought-provoking narratives have left a lasting impact on manga, anime, and science fiction worldwide, influencing creators including the Wachowskis of The Matrix fame.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
September 19, 2018
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
It’s hard to not acknowledge Ghost in the Shell as a critically-acclaimed franchise. The mere mention of its name has fans conniving against the naysayers. Although it all started with a manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow, it’s the anime adaptations that were later created that truly blew the minds of a whole generation. The revolution that came with that creation propelled this franchise into the hall of fame and forever left its mark in the cyberpunk genre, but also in the world of anime production. Ghost in the Shell however only knows three distinct volumes: The Ghost in the Shell (1991), The Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (2003) and The Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface (2001). My quest to explore this source material before finally seeing the anime that changed the lives of many continues here with volume 1.5. and things aren’t looking so great.
As Masamune Shirow mentions himself in a small paragraph of story commentary at the end of this volume, Human-Error Processor collects a bunch of different stories that essentially leaves you feeling like it’s all over the place. This intermediary volume has stories featuring different characters that are part of Public Security Section 9 (the counter-cyberterrorist organization) who have rarely had the opportunity to be on the front-lines in volume 1 and 2. These leftover stories that have never been intended to be originally published finally got collected in Human-Error Processor, but do not necessarily add anything in particular to the protagonist known as Major Motoko Kusanagi or the infamous villain of this series known as the Puppet Master. The featured stories include “Fat Cat”‚ “Drive Slave”‚ “Mines of Mind” and “Lost Past”.
One of my biggest surprises with the first volume was the lack of coherence in the structure of each story and the very absence of an identifiable overarching story. This time around, each story was a lot easier to follow and understand from A to Z but came at the price of any innovation and of the presence of Major Motoko Kusanagi. Could you imagine that? The protagonist that everyone loves to see in action only appears once throughout the whole volume and acts as a deus ex machina. The Puppet Master is also completely irrelevant for the most part and barely gets a quick mention to tease him as a potential culprit. Instead, each story clearly highlights the police procedural that Ghost in the Shell was meant to be and lets secondary characters take the spotlight. The clear advantage of this decision is a better understanding of these characters, especially Batou who still succeeds in being interesting although not as charismatic and bad-ass as Major.
The other unfortunate downside to these stories is the lack of ambitiousness seen in the first volume. If there’s one thing I’ll never forget about Masamune Shirow, it’s the ideas that he continuously conveyed throughout his plot in the previous volume. His ability to mix technology with consciousness made The Ghost in the Shell incredibly large and special in terms of conceptualization. In the stories collected in volume 1.5., that very ambitiousness is put aside to limit everything to a villain that controls cyborgs for evil purposes, but never goes beyond that. The only time Masamune Shirow actually utilizes the lore he created in Ghost in the Shell is when he has his characters sharing their fields of vision with one another, when cyborgs are manipulated to do things they would never do or when certain characters use their thermoptic camouflage. Besides these basic elements part of the universe, the stories never push any ideas into any creative direction.
While this volume might have been a lot better in terms of coherence and structure, the stories lacked the originality and ambitiousness of the ideas developed in the first volume. The quasi-absence of Major Motoko Kusanagi also restrained each story from the charisma that the character brought around with her. Then again, these short stories should be seen as extras for fans who have read both volumes 1 and 2.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
It’s hard to not acknowledge Ghost in the Shell as a critically-acclaimed franchise. The mere mention of its name has fans conniving against the naysayers. Although it all started with a manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow, it’s the anime adaptations that were later created that truly blew the minds of a whole generation. The revolution that came with that creation propelled this franchise into the hall of fame and forever left its mark in the cyberpunk genre, but also in the world of anime production. Ghost in the Shell however only knows three distinct volumes: The Ghost in the Shell (1991), The Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor (2003) and The Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface (2001). My quest to explore this source material before finally seeing the anime that changed the lives of many continues here with volume 1.5. and things aren’t looking so great.
As Masamune Shirow mentions himself in a small paragraph of story commentary at the end of this volume, Human-Error Processor collects a bunch of different stories that essentially leaves you feeling like it’s all over the place. This intermediary volume has stories featuring different characters that are part of Public Security Section 9 (the counter-cyberterrorist organization) who have rarely had the opportunity to be on the front-lines in volume 1 and 2. These leftover stories that have never been intended to be originally published finally got collected in Human-Error Processor, but do not necessarily add anything in particular to the protagonist known as Major Motoko Kusanagi or the infamous villain of this series known as the Puppet Master. The featured stories include “Fat Cat”‚ “Drive Slave”‚ “Mines of Mind” and “Lost Past”.
One of my biggest surprises with the first volume was the lack of coherence in the structure of each story and the very absence of an identifiable overarching story. This time around, each story was a lot easier to follow and understand from A to Z but came at the price of any innovation and of the presence of Major Motoko Kusanagi. Could you imagine that? The protagonist that everyone loves to see in action only appears once throughout the whole volume and acts as a deus ex machina. The Puppet Master is also completely irrelevant for the most part and barely gets a quick mention to tease him as a potential culprit. Instead, each story clearly highlights the police procedural that Ghost in the Shell was meant to be and lets secondary characters take the spotlight. The clear advantage of this decision is a better understanding of these characters, especially Batou who still succeeds in being interesting although not as charismatic and bad-ass as Major.
The other unfortunate downside to these stories is the lack of ambitiousness seen in the first volume. If there’s one thing I’ll never forget about Masamune Shirow, it’s the ideas that he continuously conveyed throughout his plot in the previous volume. His ability to mix technology with consciousness made The Ghost in the Shell incredibly large and special in terms of conceptualization. In the stories collected in volume 1.5., that very ambitiousness is put aside to limit everything to a villain that controls cyborgs for evil purposes, but never goes beyond that. The only time Masamune Shirow actually utilizes the lore he created in Ghost in the Shell is when he has his characters sharing their fields of vision with one another, when cyborgs are manipulated to do things they would never do or when certain characters use their thermoptic camouflage. Besides these basic elements part of the universe, the stories never push any ideas into any creative direction.
While this volume might have been a lot better in terms of coherence and structure, the stories lacked the originality and ambitiousness of the ideas developed in the first volume. The quasi-absence of Major Motoko Kusanagi also restrained each story from the charisma that the character brought around with her. Then again, these short stories should be seen as extras for fans who have read both volumes 1 and 2.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
August 5, 2017
Not as good as first volume, but I liked very much the fleshing and development of Batou, Togusa, Aramaki and all the Section 9 characters. They are just like old friends of me now.
November 17, 2024
6.5/10
The Ghost in the Shell was conceived by Masamune Shirow as a near future procedural police series, composed of stand alone episodes of around 40 pages each. (I reckon, an attempt to change pace after five years spent on Appleseed, his magma opera, a rare case of manga from the 80's directly published in book form, rather than serialised in magazines.) The first eight episodes - serialised from 1989 to 1991 and collected in the eponym book - see the iconic protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi as the leader of a special task force called Section 9. In between 1991 and 1996, Shirow released four additional episodes, taking place after the departure of the Major from Section 9. These four 'appendix episodes', so to speak, are collected in this little book.
With Major out of the picture, her former sidekicks Batou and Togusa become the main characters. They even get new sidekicks of their own, most notably the obnoxious, a bit dushbag, but overall good-hearted 'sniffing cyborg' Azuma. Other characters previously left in the background, such as chief Aramaki, sniper Saito and cyber detectives Boma and Ishikawa get a bit more space. (Just what happened to Paz, the silent squad member from the previous book? He is totally missing here.) Character-wise, this book is the blueprint for the depiction of Section 9 in the famous anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2001-2003).
Now, I am a bit torn about this setting. On one hand, I like the coral nature of these investigations, where we bounce from one crime scene to another to follow the various members of the squad doing their thing. But on the other hand, the absence of Major is felt heavily. After reading this, it is more evident than ever how her charisma was carrying the series. Indeed, possibly the best episode here is the one when she temporarily comes back on the scene, albeit with a different body. She is now even more morally questionable than before - and she was already quite the fascist bitch in the first place! -, and even more super competent than before. But I still enjoy her attitude.
Now, I have already talked at length about Shirow's dense and syncopate storytelling approach in my review of the main book. Same story here: a lot of condensed information in the panels, both visually and verbally. Mostly dialogue-heavy scenes. I must admit that this time I got more confused than usual. It could be that I was more engaged with the story of the Major, hence I was paying more attention while reading the previous book. Or, it could be that in these additional chapters Shirow pushed his luck a bit too much, with results beyond the abilities of my poor synapsis. I think that the author was somehow trying to reproduce the pace of realistic police investigations here: a lot of bouncing around from one crime scene to another; a lot of turning around clues; a lot of observations about side aspects that ultimately do not help in solving the mystery. Plus, most often than not, the conclusion of the case does not give the full picture. Very realistic, sure...but good material for procedural police fiction? Overall, I find a lack of pathos in these stories, and if I could forgive that in the main book, here it bothers me a bit more.
The art is outstanding as usual. Violently stricken 'sketchy' lines, that come together to compose articulated backgrounds and designs. Incredible action scenes. The coloured pages are fascinating as well. These stories were published before Shirow converted to the religion of heavy digital colouring. Which he also ended up mastering at a high technical degree, but whose results will be definitely more questionable. But that is a story for another time, when we review Ghost in the Shell 2...
The Ghost in the Shell was conceived by Masamune Shirow as a near future procedural police series, composed of stand alone episodes of around 40 pages each. (I reckon, an attempt to change pace after five years spent on Appleseed, his magma opera, a rare case of manga from the 80's directly published in book form, rather than serialised in magazines.) The first eight episodes - serialised from 1989 to 1991 and collected in the eponym book - see the iconic protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi as the leader of a special task force called Section 9. In between 1991 and 1996, Shirow released four additional episodes, taking place after the departure of the Major from Section 9. These four 'appendix episodes', so to speak, are collected in this little book.
With Major out of the picture, her former sidekicks Batou and Togusa become the main characters. They even get new sidekicks of their own, most notably the obnoxious, a bit dushbag, but overall good-hearted 'sniffing cyborg' Azuma. Other characters previously left in the background, such as chief Aramaki, sniper Saito and cyber detectives Boma and Ishikawa get a bit more space. (Just what happened to Paz, the silent squad member from the previous book? He is totally missing here.) Character-wise, this book is the blueprint for the depiction of Section 9 in the famous anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2001-2003).
Now, I am a bit torn about this setting. On one hand, I like the coral nature of these investigations, where we bounce from one crime scene to another to follow the various members of the squad doing their thing. But on the other hand, the absence of Major is felt heavily. After reading this, it is more evident than ever how her charisma was carrying the series. Indeed, possibly the best episode here is the one when she temporarily comes back on the scene, albeit with a different body. She is now even more morally questionable than before - and she was already quite the fascist bitch in the first place! -, and even more super competent than before. But I still enjoy her attitude.
Now, I have already talked at length about Shirow's dense and syncopate storytelling approach in my review of the main book. Same story here: a lot of condensed information in the panels, both visually and verbally. Mostly dialogue-heavy scenes. I must admit that this time I got more confused than usual. It could be that I was more engaged with the story of the Major, hence I was paying more attention while reading the previous book. Or, it could be that in these additional chapters Shirow pushed his luck a bit too much, with results beyond the abilities of my poor synapsis. I think that the author was somehow trying to reproduce the pace of realistic police investigations here: a lot of bouncing around from one crime scene to another; a lot of turning around clues; a lot of observations about side aspects that ultimately do not help in solving the mystery. Plus, most often than not, the conclusion of the case does not give the full picture. Very realistic, sure...but good material for procedural police fiction? Overall, I find a lack of pathos in these stories, and if I could forgive that in the main book, here it bothers me a bit more.
The art is outstanding as usual. Violently stricken 'sketchy' lines, that come together to compose articulated backgrounds and designs. Incredible action scenes. The coloured pages are fascinating as well. These stories were published before Shirow converted to the religion of heavy digital colouring. Which he also ended up mastering at a high technical degree, but whose results will be definitely more questionable. But that is a story for another time, when we review Ghost in the Shell 2...
March 12, 2019
Improved, more detailed artstyle, better dialogue and narrative, and filled with author notes ranging from silly useless details to very enlightening points about military tactics and politics. Loved it, much more enjoyable than the original, despite the lack of major and fuchikomas.
September 7, 2021
I did enjoy this, although it didn't completely blow me away. As in the first volume, the strength was in the ideas about the way humanity's sense of identity will change as technology advances, and the weakness was that it couldn't be bothered to take itself seriously.
Azuma was a particularly obnoxious character, and I'm glad he didn't make it into the rosters of the shows or films (as far as I can recall). I was actively annoyed at his presence, and I nearly lowered the rating because of him.
Not much to say, otherwise. If you're after some interesting futurism concepts then there's a lot to chew on here, but you'll need to turn a blind eye to its myriad problems.
Azuma was a particularly obnoxious character, and I'm glad he didn't make it into the rosters of the shows or films (as far as I can recall). I was actively annoyed at his presence, and I nearly lowered the rating because of him.
Not much to say, otherwise. If you're after some interesting futurism concepts then there's a lot to chew on here, but you'll need to turn a blind eye to its myriad problems.
November 30, 2014
Slightly better in art and plot coherence than the first volume. It suffers greatly from the almost complete absence of the Major (it's unclear why Masamune would make that choice?) and is still not at all comparable to the excellence of Stand Alone Complex and 2nd GIG. It lacks an overarching plot, which was a good choice given the flop that was in volume one. It's not very long, at least.
The footnotes ramped up seriously in this volume too, and they went from endearing to kind of pathetic and obnoxious. He'll frequently need to use them just to make it clear what is happening in the panels, and often writes a paragraph on the side of the page begging readers to forgive him for some "unrealistic" aspect of the scene or to explain that he didn't include certain elements just because he didn't want to draw them.
The footnotes ramped up seriously in this volume too, and they went from endearing to kind of pathetic and obnoxious. He'll frequently need to use them just to make it clear what is happening in the panels, and often writes a paragraph on the side of the page begging readers to forgive him for some "unrealistic" aspect of the scene or to explain that he didn't include certain elements just because he didn't want to draw them.
May 18, 2025
20250518 2nd read
再看一遍還是看不出Innocence用了本集那些哽
--
20171227 1st read
1.5是單元劇，對科技和哲學的探討少了很多
比較像警察戰車隊呈現九課的歡樂日常
是系列作最好啃的一本
有很長一段時間我只看過第一集
用第一集去對照漫畫的橋段用在TV和電影版那些地方
看了1.5發現更多原著就有的情結也是很有趣
看網路評論說Innocence用了很多1.5的哽
但我看不太出來，還得多看幾遍
再看一遍還是看不出Innocence用了本集那些哽
--
20171227 1st read
1.5是單元劇，對科技和哲學的探討少了很多
比較像警察戰車隊呈現九課的歡樂日常
是系列作最好啃的一本
有很長一段時間我只看過第一集
用第一集去對照漫畫的橋段用在TV和電影版那些地方
看了1.5發現更多原著就有的情結也是很有趣
看網路評論說Innocence用了很多1.5的哽
但我看不太出來，還得多看幾遍
May 1, 2024
(ATY-23): 42. A book related to a ghost, spirit, phantom, or specter
July 6, 2023
2,5/5
Hat für mich etwas besser funktioniert als der eigentliche Manga. Der Plot war besser nachzuvollziehen und zwischenzeitlich kam sogar sowas wie Atmosphäre auf.
Dass ich die (auch hier wieder leicht seltsamen) Fußnoten dieses mal besser ignorieren konnte hat sicherlich auch geholfen.
Hat für mich etwas besser funktioniert als der eigentliche Manga. Der Plot war besser nachzuvollziehen und zwischenzeitlich kam sogar sowas wie Atmosphäre auf.
Dass ich die (auch hier wieder leicht seltsamen) Fußnoten dieses mal besser ignorieren konnte hat sicherlich auch geholfen.
November 18, 2017
Following the events from the first book, Human Error Processer serves more as a compilation of unused stories for the first Ghost in the Shell, rather than a sequel, but Shirow Masamune stated that this could be taken as a prequel to the second book so, yeah, out of the confusion; let’s just consider this as a direct continuation. That being said, and considering how hard it would’ve been to overcome the first’s one success, this is a lighthearted and friendlier in tone, unlike its predecessor. No wonder why this is all footage left behind, since they’re chapters without the actual tone used in the first book. Here, Section 9 must follow a series of mysterious cases, involving a disappearance of an important politician figure and the use of cyborg-corpses in order to commit a series of murders across town. In favor of this book, the art is more detailed and fluid, which is something the first book struggle in certain pages. Maybe is some kind of balance, since now the story is overall simplistic and regular, but the art compensates. Also, the characters are the same but with a few improvements in regards of their development; also, in essence there are a few new ones, all in order to enrich this incredibly attractive neo-noir dystopia. Certainly, the absence of Mayor Motoko is noticeable, and something fans of the previous book will surely miss, but there is a friendly comeback halfway through the story, and some of the new characters are enjoyable enough, but particularly Bato suffered from an actual appealing improvement on his character, since now he’s more of an action hero struggling with the world around him, something missing in the first book, especially considering he’s not a 100% a cyborg, so his human side serves as an engine to enrich the story. In conclusion, this continuation is just a harmless collection of stories in order to fulfill this amazingly attractive world, with enough smart in the stories and eye-candy action for the casual Manga readers. I’d say if you aren’t into this particular reading style, but loved the first book, it won’t harm you to skip this, but if the first book caused that much of an impact, then this will most likely improve your depiction of this great franchise.
June 17, 2014
Not as good as the original but it's still very entertaining. The art work is considerably better, the plot is a bit more coherent, the whole work's more 'police procedure' than the original.
April 16, 2017
Human-Error Processer состоит из отдельных расследований Section 9 в отсутствие Кусанаги. Бато, Тогуса и Арамаки все так же хороши, хотя в их мужской компании можно приуныть - без Майора пропала искра, адреналин понизился до уровня полицейских боевиков (или повысился? меня лично это в сон вгоняет). Фучикомы с блеском появляются на нескольких страницах, и ооочень жаль, что их было так мало; все-таки эти ребята - основной источник юмора :3
еще раз: СЛИШКОМ МАЛО ФУЧИКОМ :[
Все идеи, мироустройство и важные философские вопросы остались в первом томе, где к тому же присутствовала более-менее явная сюжетная линия, тихонько подводившая всю историю к финалу с Puppeteer. В этом смысле 1.5 заведомо слабее. Еще виню в постоянном расфокусе длинные и неудобоваримые авторские сноски внизу страницы. Читать про то, под каким углом и почему автор в пятой панели нарисовал вхождение пули в лобовое стекло, когда тут экшн-сцена в разгаре >.> Информации много, и она малоинтересна
(читай: ПЛЕВАТЬ Я ХОТЕЛ НА УСТРОЙСТВО ЭТОЙ ШТУРМОВОЙ ВИНТОВКИ :D)
Весь том 1.5 опционален для чтения с уклоном в “можно было остановиться на 1”. Местами было настолько скучно, что я натурально засыпала на одной и той же странице. Я ужасный слабак, признаю. Но буду читать дальше, потому что первая книга чем-то бесповоротно зацепила, и даже суррогаты идут на ура.
lukk.svbtle
еще раз: СЛИШКОМ МАЛО ФУЧИКОМ :[
Все идеи, мироустройство и важные философские вопросы остались в первом томе, где к тому же присутствовала более-менее явная сюжетная линия, тихонько подводившая всю историю к финалу с Puppeteer. В этом смысле 1.5 заведомо слабее. Еще виню в постоянном расфокусе длинные и неудобоваримые авторские сноски внизу страницы. Читать про то, под каким углом и почему автор в пятой панели нарисовал вхождение пули в лобовое стекло, когда тут экшн-сцена в разгаре >.> Информации много, и она малоинтересна
(читай: ПЛЕВАТЬ Я ХОТЕЛ НА УСТРОЙСТВО ЭТОЙ ШТУРМОВОЙ ВИНТОВКИ :D)
Весь том 1.5 опционален для чтения с уклоном в “можно было остановиться на 1”. Местами было настолько скучно, что я натурально засыпала на одной и той же странице. Я ужасный слабак, признаю. Но буду читать дальше, потому что первая книга чем-то бесповоротно зацепила, и даже суррогаты идут на ура.
lukk.svbtle
October 11, 2020
Its got action and thrills but the sheer density of information Masamune puts in makes it really hard to digest. Doesn’t hit the philosophical bits of the first volume but it’s still got great action in it.
July 31, 2021
Super
October 22, 2021
Everything Masamune writes feels like he leaves out important parts of conversations.
November 16, 2019
(ESP/ENG)
Este volumen de Ghost in the Shell me ha gustado mucho. Como siempre, el trazo y el detalle de los dibujos es impecable, aunque algunas escenas de acción resultan confusas. Por otra parte, me encantan los comentarios del autor, que es muy propenso a explicar varios aspectos del universo de GitS con sus toques de humor. Este humor también impregna a los personajes, que siempre te sacan una sonrisa. Además, el hecho de que este volumen no se centre únicamente en Motoko da pie a conocer un poco mejor al resto de la Sección 9 y eso se agradece bastante.
I have really enjoyed this volume of GitS. As usual, both sketches and details regarding the illustration are priceless, although some action scenes can result confusing. Plus, I love the author's notes, since he is pron to explain different aspects of the Ghost in the Shell universe with his touch of humor. This humor also imbues the characters, who always make you smile. Furthermore, this volume doesn't focus solely on Motoko, which helps to know better the rest of Section 9, and this is always welcome.
Este volumen de Ghost in the Shell me ha gustado mucho. Como siempre, el trazo y el detalle de los dibujos es impecable, aunque algunas escenas de acción resultan confusas. Por otra parte, me encantan los comentarios del autor, que es muy propenso a explicar varios aspectos del universo de GitS con sus toques de humor. Este humor también impregna a los personajes, que siempre te sacan una sonrisa. Además, el hecho de que este volumen no se centre únicamente en Motoko da pie a conocer un poco mejor al resto de la Sección 9 y eso se agradece bastante.
I have really enjoyed this volume of GitS. As usual, both sketches and details regarding the illustration are priceless, although some action scenes can result confusing. Plus, I love the author's notes, since he is pron to explain different aspects of the Ghost in the Shell universe with his touch of humor. This humor also imbues the characters, who always make you smile. Furthermore, this volume doesn't focus solely on Motoko, which helps to know better the rest of Section 9, and this is always welcome.
January 19, 2022
Police procedurals are often more about vibes than actual content. The best The Ghost in the Shell manga by far, Human-Error Processor, understands this. The "investigations" really don't have a plot, and if they do, they are often extremely unsatisfying on their own terms. But there is so much specialized cyberpunk computer speak and nifty gadgets, it doesn't matter. These boys— Major Kusanagi makes a guest appearance only once—are doing an investigation, and somehow the roll call of "clues" that the protagonists are talking about relate to that. Plus, unlike the second volume where nearly every panel had some cyborg TNA, Shirow Masamune is considerably less horny in this volume.
January 1, 2013
It's nice to see how the boys of Section 9 operate sans Major Kusanagi, although she is not entirely absent from these stories. Some of the art was disappointing, although the way Shirow draws Batou's facial expressions is always a delight. I forgot that Fuchikomas were in the manga; their presence brought needed levity to some rather bloody situations. Makes me want to rewatch both seasons of Stand Alone Complex (except I sadly don't own it!).
September 10, 2018
It is not in the same league as the first and not even with the second book. The first few stories are pretty weak and embroiled in technicalities. The suspense in the last story was interesting and made up for the rest of the book. The generally appealing things about Shirow books are already there, the designs, idiosyncratic commentaries, a well-thought futuristic setting etc. It is just not as strong as the other installments.
October 6, 2018
As seem to be common practice for Ghost in the Shell this volume is familiar because of it influence on other versions of Ghost in the Shell. However it is also alittle confusing to fallow the diffrent story lines and how they interconnect. Also you don't get alot of the Major only one apperance in one story line. But I love Batou and enjoied those other characters interactions and interplay.
August 11, 2021
Serviceable bridge between the preceeding masterpiece and its sequel, but nothing mindblowing like the former. More character development for Batou, great art (INCLUDING THE ONE OF THE FEMALE BODY), badass cameo of Motoko Kusanagi under the Croma bodysuit, it's a required reading if you're a fan of the Stand Alone Complex anime.
July 1, 2016
Much closer to the first GiTS than the abysmal second one, nice technical drawings, interesting futuristic concepts. Almost no Major here, it's all Batou, Togusa and the rest of the crew battling through a few peripheral cases of similar style but smaller scope than the original story.
April 27, 2017
As good plot-wise as volume one. I did notice something that kept bugging me though. They keep referring to the guys they're trackng down as 'the bad guys,' which just sounds juvenile. I don't know if it was just a translation issue, but it bugged me.
Great story and great art though.
Great story and great art though.
January 13, 2018
Is an interesting book that allows us to see what happens with Division #9 after Motoko's forced retirement and a brief introduction to what the Mayor had become for Vol #2.
Interesting cases, but is not the same without Motoko.
Interesting cases, but is not the same without Motoko.
May 24, 2021
Excellent companion to the first Ghost in the Shell manga. If you want more from Section 9 and thier world of espionage you will not be dissapointed, however be aware that this is not a sequel or even a cohesive narrative.
July 30, 2011
So-so story (confusing! Somebody should tell Shirow Masamune to go easy on the footnotes), but stunning artwork.
January 17, 2022
A very fun cop-show narrative. A bit of a shift away from the larger themes of the first book, but still very enjoyable characters and story. Highly recommend!
August 31, 2023
This was a series of loosely-connected stories that take place between the first and second volumes of Ghost in the Shell, focusing mostly on secondary characters of Section 9 like Togusa, Azuma, and Saito. Unfortunately, this volume suffers largely from the same issues as the first book--overly convoluted stories featuring tedious technobabble that resolve themselves into vague, unsatisfying conclusions often involving shadowy, mysterious bad guys that we and the characters rarely learn anything about. Major Motoko Kusanagi (or Chroma as she's identifying now that she's merged with the Puppet Master) only makes one appearance in the story "Drive Slave", serving as something between ally and foil to Batou and the other Section 9 team as they attempt to protect a witness from hostile attackers.
Many pages in this book feature tedious footnotes that either seem to be apologizing for or explaining things that the reader likely didn't have any questions or concerns about (like why the bullet holes in one panel are slightly larger than author Masamune Shirow seems to think you'd expect, or why Batou and Kusanagi at one point are running down a hallway upright with their guns instead of hunched over). His constant commentary suggests either that he is plagued with fans that have nitpicked the tiniest details in his earlier work, or that he lacks confidence in his storytelling. On one page the footnote explains what actually occurred during a confusing piece of crucial action--and if you're having to explain what you just depicted in a footnote because you didn't convey it clearly through the dialog and art, one might conclude that you should have perhaps rethought how to portray the scene in question.
I'm glad to be reading these stories finally, but I have to admit that while I don't quite dislike them, I'm finding their convoluted nature and often confusing action sequences to be fairly disappointing. I'm going to finish out this series, but I'm glad to see that the other Ghost in the Shell material seems to have been farmed out to other creators after Shirow's next volume, because that means I'm more interested in reading them than I'd otherwise be.
Many pages in this book feature tedious footnotes that either seem to be apologizing for or explaining things that the reader likely didn't have any questions or concerns about (like why the bullet holes in one panel are slightly larger than author Masamune Shirow seems to think you'd expect, or why Batou and Kusanagi at one point are running down a hallway upright with their guns instead of hunched over). His constant commentary suggests either that he is plagued with fans that have nitpicked the tiniest details in his earlier work, or that he lacks confidence in his storytelling. On one page the footnote explains what actually occurred during a confusing piece of crucial action--and if you're having to explain what you just depicted in a footnote because you didn't convey it clearly through the dialog and art, one might conclude that you should have perhaps rethought how to portray the scene in question.
I'm glad to be reading these stories finally, but I have to admit that while I don't quite dislike them, I'm finding their convoluted nature and often confusing action sequences to be fairly disappointing. I'm going to finish out this series, but I'm glad to see that the other Ghost in the Shell material seems to have been farmed out to other creators after Shirow's next volume, because that means I'm more interested in reading them than I'd otherwise be.
August 14, 2018
GitS est sans aucun doute la meilleure histoire de cyberpunk que j’ai lu (mis à part l’oeuvre déterminante de Gibson). L’univers créé par Masamune Shirow est très complexe dans sa socio-politique et sa technologie. Cela fait que l’histoire est généralement assez difficile à suivre, surtout pour des novices, mais même aussi pour les fans de cyberpunk comme moi. Et le fait que son travail est chargé à rebord de détails (sur les arrière-plans ou les accessoires utilisés par les personnages — Shirow est définitivement fasciné par la technologie et particulièrement les armes et véhicules de combats auxquels il porte une attention particulière) ou de lignes de vitesse (speed-lines) ou d’explosions, en rend la lecture d’autant plus difficile mais Ô! Combien fascinante (si ce n’était de ce caveat, j’y donnerais bien quatre étoiles et demies)! Si vous êtes prêt à faire l’effort de cette lecture, c’est vraiment un manga superbe. Très recommandé.
Lire mon commentaire complet sur https://clodjee-blog.com/2018/08/13/t...
Lire mon commentaire complet sur https://clodjee-blog.com/2018/08/13/t...
February 22, 2024
I fully understand that the author wants to showcase the rest of the section 9 gang in this book due to the love of lore. However, the book just felt like a bunch of filler episodes. Now there were also filler episodes in book 1, but some episodes were actually progressing with the plot.
I was so excited to learn more about the amalgamation ending from book 1, just for it to be skipped over in this book. It seems like this book was sometime in the future from book 1, instead of a direct continuation.
The art style also changed, which put me off a bit. Why is every female character wearing just such revealing clothes? I could not finish the book and dropped it half way. That was the point I realized the plot isn’t going to continue in this book.
At the end of this book 1.5 the author does explain that Book 2 will be mostly focused on Major Kusanagi, so he created this piece to showcase the gang before their irrelevance. I’m excited to start Book 2 and finally learn what happens next!
I was so excited to learn more about the amalgamation ending from book 1, just for it to be skipped over in this book. It seems like this book was sometime in the future from book 1, instead of a direct continuation.
The art style also changed, which put me off a bit. Why is every female character wearing just such revealing clothes? I could not finish the book and dropped it half way. That was the point I realized the plot isn’t going to continue in this book.
At the end of this book 1.5 the author does explain that Book 2 will be mostly focused on Major Kusanagi, so he created this piece to showcase the gang before their irrelevance. I’m excited to start Book 2 and finally learn what happens next!
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