Hello! So I was recently SLAMMED with two full weekends of out-of-town nonsense, one of which I plan to discuss in a Cafe Talk soon. It’s become tradition as of around 2014 to set aside Valentine’s Day weekend, safeguard myself in my room with snacks, and not come out until I had marathoned a classic anime (typically pre-2000s). Previous items on the menu include:
2013 ~ Steins;Gate
2014 ~ Ouran High School Host Club/Gosick (couldn’t remember which)
2015 ~ Neon Genesis Evangelion
2016 ~ The Rose of Versailles
and now
2017 ~ Ghost in the Shell
Yup! Exciting, right? In the spirit of the upcoming new live action movie (that I’m so psyched for) along with the recent bluray releases of the films and series, I’ll be taking a trip through this entire classic anime franchise that arguably helped shape science fiction as we know it.
Gosh how I love infographics. The crew over at FUNimation put together this one, and might I say how in-character it feels.
Ghost in the Shell is a very hazy area in terms release order and technical chronology, such that the franchise has been divided into 3 separate universes–YES, the just pulled a Zelda on us, haha! After a few hours of researching different interpretations as to the order everything falls under, I’ve settled on the list below that I recorded on my wipe board (cause I am a list-nut):
At this exact moment, I have already watched 1995, Innocence, and the first 6 episodes of Stand Alone Complex. Odds are that I’ll just skip 2.0 and Alternative Architecture since they are typically disregarded anyway.
I even tweeted my excitement by making a themed wallpaper for my iPhone based on the live action poster 🙂
So yeah, that’s what has been on my mind lately. Within this month, you can hopefully expect a Cafe Talk about my swimming career and Free!, a review of Blast of Tempest, an OWLS post about Yuri!!! On ICE, a review of some parts of the GitS franchise, and lastly a monthly update. I’ll be reading through comments and catching up on several of your guys’ posts (especially the rest of the OWLS blog tour–I STILL haven’t read some of them!). Any words of wisdom from your Ghost in the Shell experience? What entry was your favorite part? I’ll admit, the two movies set the bar pretty high since I’m a thinker, and S.A.C. has yet to rope me in completely. Let me know, oh, and happy belated V-day!
With love,
– Takuto, your host
Takuto's Anime Cafe 
Happy belated Valentines Day! I haven’t seen this anime or watched the classic film but after seeing the trailer for the new movie, I kind of curious about the anime. I was always confused on where did the story take place after the movie.
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You too, Matt! Hahaha this is soooo late my goodness! The whole franchise was a bit of a mess to sort out, but I love getting lost in the madness of vast franchises. 🙂
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Yeah I saw that and it’s interesting on how many stories they can make. This whole is franchise is strong in story.
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I have seen the classic movie two weeks or so ago, and still found it to be every bit as good as the first time I saw it. The stand alone complex series is very good as well, and honestly at times even better than the movie. Great post 😊
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Even after venturing throughout the entire franchise from every movie and OVA to each series, I still think that the 1995 film holds true as my favorite entry. Yeah, it’s got a few moments where it can be boring and the beginning setup is somewhat hard to follow, but it just offers so much psychological pondering about individuality and cyberization with Motoko’s character that I can’t simply pass it up. Thanks for stopping by!
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As beautiful as the classic is, I’m excited if a bit trepidatious about the new live-action. I cringed a bit when Major said “I will find him, and I will kill him” in the latest trailer. I think the hardest thing will be trying to separate Major from Motoko Kusanagi in my own mind. Even though they’ve made pretty clear that the two are entirely separate, I think I’ll still be wanting and expecting the character to be like Motoko. And that was such an un-Motoko thing to say, it’s almost funny.
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I can understand your concern–most people are hesitant about its overall set up from cast to scripting. Regardless, I still remain excited and hopeful for the upcoming film. What’s the worst we can get, a bad film? So what? We’ll laugh it off and then move on like we always have. But if this film scores, then perhaps it could be one of anime’s best live actions to come out in recent years. Finding the distinction between the two sides of her character will be a bit tricky, I totally agree. I hope Johansson doesn’t speak too emphatically or, in opposite effect, come across as too bland. It’s a tricky thing to balance.
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I like your printing! You write neater than me, hahaha. The wallpaper is cool and your Valentine’s Day tradition is cool. I should take notes.
Happy belated Valentine’s Day btw, Takuto. c:
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It has been years since I watched the original Ghost in the Shell or S.A.C. Perhaps I will mimic you and marathon the series next time I spend a Valentine alone. Even if real girls don’t like me I still have the Major.
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And you know, I feel like Major would resonate with you on your journey of self-exploration. Sometimes the things we love will bring us to the people we’ll learn to love. That and GitS is awesome, you should totally hit it up for the next V-day. 🙂
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