So recently I saw the live-action Ghost in the Shell movie, and of course like the shitstorm
it stirred from accusations of whitewashing to bastardizing the original 1995 anime film,
naturally I have some thoughts on it as well.
Hopefully I’m not too late to the party but I just wanted to have some time to gather
my thoughts properly.
If you couldn’t tell by now, Ghost in the Shell is one of my favourite anime of all
time. It’s a mix of the intellectual depth found in arthouse films combined with the
blockbuster action that really had a profound impact on me and later my love for the cyberpunk
subgenre.
I don’t want to talk about the movie itself for too long, mostly because I could probably
fill a whole 20 minute video on it exclusively.
But not giving a quick overview would be a bit unfair so here’s my thoughts in summary:
As I thought it would be, it was a half decent-ish sci-fi film, but not having much of that Ghost
in the Shell vibe.
It met my expectations squarely though that’s not a compliment as my predictions for it were rather low.
On the good side the casting of Takeshi Kitano as Aramaki made for some of the best scenes
in the film, and as much as I am partial to the vocal performances of both Osamu Saka
and William Knight in the role, Takeshi’s take on it was a pleasure to see.
Now, my major (heh) complaints on the film would be the reliance on “tell don’t show”,
when historically Ghost in the Shell as a franchise that loves to leave things ambiguous
and open to interpretation.
Thank you, Mamoru Oshii.
The times when this film liked to shoehorn in almost shot for shot recreations felt forced
as the context behind these situations made little logical sense sometimes, and while
I appreciated parts of the Major’s story arc, I didn’t particularly like how she
was portrayed as a character, though as of yet I’m not willing to lay blame for that
solely at Scarjo’s feet as the material she was given wasn’t the best to begin with.
A big part of the film was that the Major emoted more, she was prone to anger at times
and I’m sure fans of previous iterations like myself would slightly feel alienated
as a result.
This is more from the influence of the manga and ARISE where she felt more human at times
than cyborg.
The cast took a step back and instead placed focus more on Batou and the Major, which could
go both ways for some people.
Fans of Togusa, Saito, and the gang of Section 9, you’ll be disappointed as they are little
more than mouthpieces to carry the narrative.
Of course, it’s impossible to mention Ghost in the Shell without touching upon the jaw-dropping
set pieces.
Hollywood budget aside, this was no different to other entries in its universe: Great attention
to detail, though I would have personally preferred if they went the Blade Runner route
for the sweeping city landscapes to make everything feel a bit more real rather than the CG produced
metropolis that we got.
A point of concern before the movie was released was its PG-13 rating compared to the mature
rating for the anime.
While I would have loved for it to be rated-R to really push its artistic limits and not
be tied down by the family-friendly shackles of Hollywood, it’s understandable why they
went for a safer PG-13.
Having the movie for ages 17+ is a huge risk for any company, and with a whopping budget
of $100+ million with an IP that at best is in cult status, that would even more restrict
its already limited scope.
Hollywood as it is already extending their neck out even more by restricting their demographic
reach, and using examples like Deadpool and Logan for their popularity, aren’t valid
comparisons in my opinion since those titles are already loved by mainstream crowds
that had years to accumulate a multi-generational fanbase with a lesser budget so the risk in
these would be minimal.
With the teaser clips shown throughout its promotional campaign, the staff interviews,
and exclusive behind the scenes footage, you could clearly tell the team was passionate
about the project.
They felt the pressure of not only on living up to the expectations of fans of the anime
and manga, but also to attract a new audience who will also enjoy their interpretation.
Capturing that sense of wonder is a win for any filmmaker, and you could tell that was
their source of inspiration when they first laid their eyes on the 1995 anime film like
many of us did.
However, I feel that it’s important to highlight that Rupert Sanders is not a writer.
Criticize his work all you want, but he knows how to make a production look good.
All that’s missing on his arsenal is a good writer on board, which unfortunately is what
most people will judge in a film, which leads to the writing.
I believe there is a solid concept beneath this Hollywood mask, but the script quality
suffered because they seemed to be trying to cram multiple interpretations and ideas
all at once: Kenji Kamiyama’s Stand Alone Complex and 2nd GIG, Mamoru Oshii’s original
and Innocence film, and even a bit of ARISE in there.
While I can understand this would’ve been an attempt to mitigate fans of the original,
the problem is they’re taking several universes that all differ from each other, including
the new live-action bits, and trying to make some coherent story out of it.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s quite the expansive universe to cover in just one movie.
What are you suggesting, Hollywood?
But this is huge for the anime industry because whether you like it or not, popularity of
the medium is only growing from here.
Sure, there’s going to be a looming corporate entity that’s going to hover over the hobby
we know and love, and it’s only natural to be defensive about it since we’re seeing
inklings of it happening right now.
The reason Crunchyroll, FUNimation, Sentai, Discotek, all those companies came this far
was because they keep their pulse with the fandom.
At the moment, anime has yet to really reach mainstream status with a tightly knit network of fans
and have yet to achieve that callous status normally associated from mainstream TV and film.
This is because for the most part, licensing companies in the west are very much run by
fans for fans.
However with Anime Strike from Amazon and Anchor Bay as well as Netflix, there are companies
that carry this corporate baggage, and they do not seem interested in getting in touch
with their viewership.
Crunchyroll recently hit their 1,000,000 paid subscriber milestone and their next goal is
to reach fans outside of their organic reach.
Large companies are the ideal candidates in broadening that scope, but the way those bigger
establishments go about in converting budding fans is… let’s say are counterintuitive
and laughable at times.
Looking at you, Netflix and Little Witch Academia...
But the key difference is that these companies unlike Crunchyroll have the ability to convert
watchers on a larger scale than the others could ever imagine with the piles of money
they can throw around.
Which brings me back to the live-action Ghost in the Shell film.
Yes, there’s an inherent layer of Hollywood watering down the original content.
Yes, maybe Scarlett Johansson might not have been the ideal candidate for the film, but
this is a step in the right direction for Hollywood in my opinion.
These guys aren’t going away anytime soon, and seem to have noticed the growing market
and have an interest on investing this venture further.
As much as some of us would prefer that Hollywood just left anime adaptations alone and never
bothered, they are going to continue adapting them regardless.
So we can hope that things will get better from here.
It’s certainly understandable the appeal anime becoming mainstream.
The possibility of openly discussing the medium in a public space in the same degree as comic
books or other widely accepted geekdom, it’s a tantalizing thought.
However, there is the predatory corporate identity that could threaten to trespass on
the tight-knit camaraderie anime fans have enjoyed for decades.
The quirkiness, the long 90-second opening and ending credits that we sing and dance
to, the token juvenile hanging out on the school roof, the 20-minute internal monologues,
and not to forget the trend of freakishly long light-novel names, these tropes that
we all come to know, love, and associate with anime are things that could be compromised
or even disappear in order to reach a wider audience.
Basically, the identity of the anime fan that we have enjoyed for years could drastically change.
But if you take into consideration the fact that the few anime adaptations that come to
mind are I don’t know, Dragonball: Evolution, think about the overall quality between that
and Ghost in the Shell.
Change occurs in baby steps, and if this film has to take one for the team towards the pathway
of creating a great Hollywood anime adaptation someday, I think we can handle a couple of blunders.
In the end, Ghost in the Shell 2017 was not the film I had hoped it would be.
It was largely a wonderfully decorated shell with the ghost not fully manifested within,
but it’s definitely present, flickering ever so slightly inside the dark…
But in the end, that’s just my opinion.
What do you guys think?
Do you think this will be the death knell of the niche corner of the anime fandom that
we carved out?
Let me know in the comments below.
and thank you to my patrons and a very special thanks to Joshua Garcia, Calhounboy, Victor Ekmark,
Siri Yamako, and Bing Theo for being supremely awesome.
And until next time ladies, gentlemen and others, Stay frosty.