Ghost in the Shell: Manga Vol 1 + 1.5 + 2 (1991-01)

Ghost in the Shell: Vol 1 (1991)

Author + Illustrator: Masamune Shirow | Page Count: 368

"…[T]here was an 'SOS' literally written in blood on the cyberbrain unit…"

The serialised manga that started the Ghost in the Shell phenomenon is both a product of its time (weird noses and comedy/chibi style reactions) and light-years ahead conceptually and philosophically of where most western comic writers were at the time.

Shirow locates the work in a similar futuristic world to what he'd created for his previous works as a foundation, such as Appleseed (1985) and Dominion (1986), but by introducing GitS-specific concepts he effectively crafts something totally unique.

The blurb on the back makes it sound like what you're getting is the same story that was featured in Mamoru Oshii's much-loved 1995 anime adaptation. That's not strictly true. You do get that story, but it's only a small part of the entire book and it doesn't appear until late in the day. If all you wanted was the movie in manga form, then you'll perhaps be slightly disappointed. Admittedly, Oshii took the best of what the collection has to offer, but on the plus side you get a lot more content herein than was featured in the film, so it's actually better this way.

NOTE: There’s more than one version of the book currently available, depending on where in the world you live. There’s the censored Kodansha edition, the Dark Horse edition, and the Titan Books edition. The version I own, which is the one used for review, is the UK Dark Horse edition (2004) that had all originally removed pages fully reinstated.

Ghost in the Shell: Vol 1.5: Human-Error Processor (2003)

Author + Illustrator: Masamune Shirow | Page Count: 176

"I took this job partly because I wanted some cool new high-tech toys…"

A slim volume that was released after Vol 2: M-MI (2001), but the "lost" stories that it contains were written prior to that, in 1991, '92, '95 and '96, which explains the 1.5 in the title and my slotting it in here instead of at the end of this post, which is where it would be if I was to list them via actual release date.

I didn't enjoy it as much as what came before, but only because it lacks one of the major players, meaning the original team dynamic was disrupted. Instead, it introduces a new regular character in what feels like a move made simply to make up the numbers.

Togusa and the new team member get most of the action. They bicker and bond like a typical buddy cop pairing. It's actually a beneficial pairing for Togusa because he gets to stop being the rookie, but the new addition isn't really all that interesting.

The Fuchikomas get quite a bit to do, which pleased me. However, when illuminated with the cold light of truth, about 50% of the book felt like filler, and with only 176 pages in total that's a problem. It deserves credit for the other 50%, though. (Some parts of the stories that work well were later plundered for the SAC TV Series, and we all know how good that was.)

My biggest gripe is that Shirow goes overboard with the marginal explanations: some pages have more text squeezed onto the bottom or up the side than there is dialogue in the panels. You're free to ignore it, of course, but I'm incapable of doing that because my brain won't let me.

Ghost in the Shell: Vol 2: Man-Machine Interface (2001)

Author + Illustrator: Masamune Shirow | Page Count: 312

"If you can prove you're not an illusion coughed up by my subconscious, I might pay attention to you."

"Ouch, that's a tough one."

If you've read either of the previous books in the series, then the first thing you'll notice about M-MI is the difference in art style. The technology needed to fully visualise the future world as Shirow imagined it had finally caught up with his vision. His obsession with depicting the future as detailed and as sexy as possible took him approximately four years and five months to achieve. It's the most perfect blend of traditional manga and digital colouring that I've ever seen. I don't generally like the technique, but it's almost impossible not to be awed by the result.

It’s set in 2035, five years after the events of the first book, but it's not a direct continuation. Section 9 feature occasionally, but mostly it follows the Major, who's now the chief security officer for a huge conglomerate. She protects their business interests while also financing some of her own.

As ridiculous as it may sound, your enjoyment of the book will be partly dependent on your reading speed. If you're a slow reader, the rigid, tech-talk will appear to reduce everything else to a stuttering pace. But read at a steady and moderate speed and you'll be able to better balance the action that's happening around the information overload. Yes, Ghost in the Shell is about lofty concepts, but it's also about action and about moving from problem to solution in the quickest possible time. Unfortunately, Shirow throws constant interruptions at you in the form of lengthy and atmosphere-breaking footnotes, further impeding the all-important flow.

It's a feast for the eyes, there's no doubt, a lot shinier and more vibrant than the picture above came out when scanned, but the plot is much too complicated for its own good, so expect to be overwhelmed and possibly even completely lost on your first read through. For me, the deeper understanding that came with repeated readings was accompanied by a realisation that a sizeable part of the first half could've been cut with no great impact to the resolution.

A panel (Vol 1) that inspired a scene in Mamoru Oshii's anime adaptation.