Reviews

The Ghost in the Shell 1 by Shirow Masamune

gswizzel's review against another edition

4.0

First experience reading manga.
I thank God I was interested in the premise, because it was a pretty hard format to adapt to.

I love this world (though I can't fully understand it yet). I love these characters ESPECIALLY The Major and Batou! The action sequences were awesome! If you enjoyed the movie, I do recommend you read the manga for more. It doesn't look like there will be a sequel movie due to box office bombing with the first anyway, so if the movie left you wanting more, here you go - read this!

I did find the stories choppy at times, but I liked it for the most part!

waterfear's review against another edition

2.0

I wanted to like this, after watching the live action version, plus the cult classic 1995 version. So many of the panels are poorly drawn, like the artist was in a rush. The story isn't cohesive, not just because of how they were originally released, but because the plot line was hurried. The drawings suddenly turn to trashy porn AI women after presenting Major, especially, as a strong, tough, tomboyish figure. Then we're back to clothes and mech suits with muscle tone for the same characters. Make up your mind already. Took me several tries to get back to finishing this. Disappointing.

noelleamk's review against another edition

1.0

Its insane to think of of the best, beautiful, and most thought provoking anime's had this as the source material. Almost 400 pages of bloated insanity that is so overwhelming yet says nothing. Vain attempts at trying to be funny that don't work and boring plot threads and disposable characters.You could removed 70% of this story and nothing would change. Contributions to this insanely overdone yet totally empty narrative are dense technical notes from the author in every white space. Because holy shit this narrative is so hard to understand and awfully paced. Yet instead of clarifying, these notes only serve to bored and further confuse

Also super male-gaze oriented. Besides the major all female characters are background ones with no words, no development, huge boobs and are framed in sexy Sapphic poses with one another. Not in a subversive or meaningful way, in a incel maturation way. Yawn.

reddp's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

5.0

yarnandcameras's review against another edition

I'm having the worst time following what's going on. It's been awhile since I've read a manga so maybe I'm just rusty? Or maybe it's a combination of lots of implications/reader-is-supposed-to-make-intuitive-jumps and that the artwork is flipped (argh!)... anyways.

So I'm gonna watch the anime. And probably not get around to seeing the new movie with ScarJo for a very long time because that's me and movies.

lovegriefandgender's review against another edition

3.0

Some fun conceits regarding identity and liberty but the failure to include more than one female body shape where men are diversely represented, and the use of "autistic" repeatedly as a disparaging comment leave a sour taste in my mouth.

ananay's review against another edition

3.0

La red es inmensa.

[Translation to English below]


Este libro ha sido prácticamente mi introducción a las novelas gráficas (Hace muchos años leía algún que otro tebeo que, por casualidad, caía en mis manos, y los cómics de Winx Club) y mi primer contacto con la novela gráfica para adultos y el manga japonés, y quizá no haya sido una sabia decisión iniciarme en el género con una historia tan complicada.
El formato me ha hecho sufrir: no he entendido la mayoría de las escenas de acción y tenía problemas para identificar quién estaba hablando en cada momento. Problemas de novata, supongo; pero esos problemas de novata han sido los que me han impedido realmente disfrutar de esta lectura, lo cual me entristece, ya que estoy convencida de que, de haber sido una novela convencional, este libro me habría entusiasmado.
Es cierto que para explicar algunas cuestiones, el autor es excesivamente técnico y exhaustivo. Para muchas personas eso será un pro, pero para mí era, sin duda, un contra, especialmente si tomamos en consideración que, pese a tener una base científica real (Masamune hizo los deberes antes de escribir esto), son procedimientos y situaciones ficticias. A modo de ejemplo podría mencionar el capítulo 5, "Megatech Machine II: Así se hace un cíborg", que está dedicado enteramente a explicar cómo se crea un cíborg en este futuro imaginario, abordando incluso cómo se conectan las micromáquinas al sistema nervioso. Habrá a quien le encante leer sobre este proceso, pero a mí me pareció muy tedioso (dentro de la brevedad inherente a la novela gráfica).
Lo mejor del libro, para mí, lo bien desarrollados que están los personajes y cómo percibe el lector perfectamente sus personalidades, pese a tener lugar la mayoría de sus conversaciones en el contexto de persecuciones y tiroteos. El autor ha conseguido que los personajes me gusten y me importen (sobre todo Batou y Togusa), y esto es el punto fuerte del libro, lo más destacable; no me lo esperaba y ha sido muy agradable.
La calidad de las ilustraciones, además, es una maravilla, sobre todo las que están a color. Merece la pena leer el libro sólo por eso.
Lo recomendaría a personas ya versadas en la novela gráfica y el manga, que disfruten de esas detalladas descripciones técnicas de las que hablaba antes y, naturalmente, de la ciencia ficción, pues ésta es una obra de ciencia ficción en su sentido más puro.


[English:]
This book was basically my introduction to graphic novels (A long time ago, I used to read a comic book every now and then and the Winx Club comics) and my first contact with adult graphic novel and Japanese manga, and maybe it was not the wisest decision to get started in the genre with such a complex story.
I struggled with the format: I didn't understand most of the action scenes and I had trouble identifying who was speaking at each time. Noob problems, I suppose, but those noob problems stopped me from fully enjoying this read, which is sad, because I'm certain I would have loved this book had it been a conventional novel.
It's true that sometimes the author was excessively technical and thorough. For many, that will be a pro, but to me it was definitely a con, especially considering that, even though the procedures and matters have a real scientific base (Masamune did his research), they are still fictitious, made up. For example, the author dedicates a full chapter to explaining how cyborgs are made in this imaginary future -he even goes through how the micro-machines connect to the nervous system!-. Some people may love to read about this process, but it felt a little boring for me.
The highlight of the book, in my opinion, is how wonderfully the characters in the book are built and how the reader can perceive their personalities perfectly, despite most of the conversations taking place during car chases and shootings. The author got me to love and care about the characters (Batou and Togusa in particular). I did not expect this and it was very appreciated.
The quality of the illustrations, too, is awesome, especially the ones in colour. The book is worth reading just to get a chance to look at the great art.
I would recommend this book to people experienced in graphic novel and manga who enjoy those detailed technical descriptions that I mentioned earlier, and naturally, to sci-fi lovers, for this is a pure sci-fi work.

gaxtyau's review against another edition

2.0

Awesome sci fiction future, but I couldn’t follow any of the stories, very disjointed.

gilababa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

pjmurphy3's review

4.0

I always watched the anime of this book so I felt that I knew a lot of what was going to happen. I know a lot of the storyline however some of the art and some of the characterization threw me off. I felt that it wasn't what I was expecting, of course that came in with the understanding that the manga and anime may be different but it still was unsettling. Overall I did like the manga I think it gave good insight into the story lines and how the characters become what they are. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the anime and human mechanization storylines.