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San Francisco, 3:12 PM
Sun Nov 8
11 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/29/09
Puts on "Making of Cyborg" #ghostintheshell
10/26/09
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10/24/09
The Hollywood adaption may not be faithful to the book but why should it be? Except for the ending, The Watchmen was a faithful adaptation and all people did was bitch. Besides, the Ghost in the Shell anime movie is not a faithful adaption of the manga series. The manga is a comedio-dramatic story set in New Port City, Japan, the hunt for the Puppeteer is a story arc running through the series but it frequently takes a back seat to several subplots involving the other cases investigated by Major Kusanagi and Section 9.
The anime movie, on the other hand, is a moody, atmospheric piece set in the New Port City district of Hong Kong. The hunt for the Puppet Master forms the only plot arc in the movie. The manga is full of jokes, comic bits, humorous vignettes about the Fuchikoma, and brief explanations about computers, robots, and other bits of technology featured in the story. The movie is deadly serious, only contains one or two jokes, contains very little in terms of "tech" explanations, and omits the Fuchikoma entirely.
While, the anime TV series returns the action to Japan, retains some of the humor, and restores the Fuchikoma (as Tachikoma) it ignores any plot elements from the comics in favor of the Laughing Man plot line in the first series and the Individual 11 storyline in the second series.
The Dreamworks film will be yet another variation on the theme established by Shirow in the original comics. It won't be a faithful adaption but none of the film and TV versions that already exist is a faithful version. #ghostintheshell
10/25/09
As a side note, I was rather surprised how comedic the manga was compared to the anime movie. #ghostintheshell
10/26/09
With this being said, I am all for it. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
Spider-Man could have sucked, and it didn't. Iron Man could have sucked, but it was great. The first two X-Men could have sucked, but they were enjoyable and had relevant messages.
GiTS isn't any more "hallowed" than these titles. It may be more difficult to follow in terms of technology and philosophy, and the anime series have labyrinthine plots, but just because I love GiTS doesn't mean I have to create unrealistic expectations for the movie (complete faithfulness to the source material). What matters more is that there's a meaningful purpose in the plot and theme, and that the characters are endearing enough that I care about how they perform within this framework.
I think one thing that will have to be faithfully preserved, however, is Motoko's professionalism and incredible feats of strength, curiosity, and intelligence. If the writers are at all uncomfortable with making the Major an unstoppable beast, they will have failed terribly. I'm hoping this will be hard to mess up.
And I don't really want to see a Motoko/Batou love connection. Professional affection or unrequited love on Batou's part are okay. Anything else is unnecessary. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
I'm still curious to see how it goes. There's precious little to pass judgement on so far, in any case.
And I find some the concerns that have been voiced somewhat shallow.
Concerned the adaptation won't have enough "violence"? Disregarding whether movie censors would find cybernetic violence "gory", I'm comfortable with the level of action seen in the anime movies, and that doesn't seem out of bounds for Hollywood.
"Nudity" ranks as a primary concern? Not to be insulting, but do we really need to see the Major's tits? I'm fine with nudity, fine without.
I'm most worried that the film's message will be "dumbed down", but perhaps that's a compromise a film has to make. There were certainly monologues in Innocence that I felt might have bored my less philosophically-inclined friends, though we loved it overall anyways. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
, right after DRAGONBALL and SPEED RACER both flopped (even PONYO's gross was seriously under-whelming), I wouldn't be surprised if this, AKIRA, and COWBOY BEBOP find themselves in turn-around pretty soon. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
They supposedly spent a whole bunch of money on it, yet the pilot looked super-cheap, like your average Saturday night SyFy Original.
So we're gonna have a bitchy, whiny, emo Major K with shitty dialogue and a stupid plot?
No thanks.
(Although, when the inevitable Tachikoma toys get inevitably marked down 75%, I'll probably buy one. Only if they're as cute as the originals.)
10/24/09
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10/24/09
I'm sure the other commenters are right--it will end up in development hell, and never get made. #ghostintheshell
10/25/09
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10/24/09
It's hardly fair to the Wachowski brothers to claim they "stole" from GitS. Not only are the plots, as others have pointed out, vastly different, but the Wachowski brothers have been very honest about their inspirations in interviews.
They outright claimed that GitS (the movie) was the original inspiration for the Matrix.
But that doesn't mean they're the same thing. After all, Mass Effect was inspired by 1980s sci-fi like Wrath of Khan, Star Wars, and Blade Runner, but the plot doesn't resemble any of those films. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
Ghost in The Shell is kind of a hallowed manga/movie/series(es) to me. I really hope this doesn't go down the tubes as a horrible idea. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
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10/26/09
...and now the depression sets in that he too won't be even asked or considered. #ghostintheshell
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10/24/09
I'm looking forward to Battle Angel Alita because of how much time he's sunk into it. I'll hold of judgment on this until later. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
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10/24/09
Okay - let me edit with more a level-head. I think the point of the video is that The Matrix was inspired in a number of ways by anime, and one of those animes was GiTS. It's far from claiming that The Matrix was essentially a live action GiTS - and anyone who's seen either would recognize that there are similarities but the plots are anything but the same.
I suppose I get defensive because I like both stories, but they're vastly different. VASTLY. Comparing elements of them that are similar like recurring themes and technologies and claiming they're duplicates is like saying Moby Dick and The Old Man and The Sea are the same because they both involve oceans and fish.
The actual opinions of the people discussing how similar The Matrix feels to anime carry some weight to me, but that's far from saying "oh yeah they're the same thing" like the OP did.
10/24/09
Now...
Breathe in deep - and imagine Ghost in the Shell being pitched to a Hollywood executive.
After that, contemplate on said executive's reaction to GITS trailer and perhaps few chosen scenes he/she will take the time to flip through and associations he/she would make after seeing all that.
After you are done with that - do the same with the proverbial Average American.
Now... based on the premises derived from those contemplations - try to visualize the movie said execs will order to be made for the above mentioned audience. #ghostintheshell
10/24/09
10/24/09
Puppet Master story aside, the series does a great deal to show a sort of sci-fi police series as opposed to the post-apocalyptic Hero's Journey that the Matrix is.
And if they DO pick the Puppet Master story to do, I am not going to be pleased. It is quite frankly the most boring out of the series and gets its point across via tiring infodumps. Concentrating on any of the other major cases Section 9 has taken on would still serve to address the philosophy contained within the Puppet Master arc minus the talking heads. #ghostintheshell