A rain-soaked cyberpunk dirge, this film plunges you into a melancholic questioning of the self, where identity dissolves like a reflection in a neon puddle.

Ghost in the Shell

GHOST IN THE SHELL

"It found a voice... Now it needs a body."

18 November 1995 Japan 83 min ⭐ 7.9 (3,651)

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Cast: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Koichi Yamadera, Yutaka Nakano

Animation Action Science Fiction

Identity and Selfhood Humanity vs. Technology Evolution and Transcendence Memory and Reality

Budget: $3,000,000

Box Office: $10,000,000

Ghost in the Shell - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details

Easter Eggs

Director Mamoru Oshii's signature Basset Hound makes a brief appearance.

The Basset Hound is a personal motif for Oshii, appearing in nearly all of his films. It is often interpreted as a symbol of humanity and melancholy reality amidst the chaos of his futuristic or fantasy settings. Its sudden appearance provides a moment of quiet, almost surreal, normalcy.

A conversation between Kusanagi and Batou references the biblical passage 1 Corinthians 13:12.

Kusanagi mentions seeing "through a glass, darkly." At the end of the film, after merging with the Puppet Master and gaining a new perspective, she quotes from the same passage again: "When I was a child, I spake as a child... but when I became a man, I put away childish things." This religious and philosophical reference frames her transformation as a form of enlightenment or maturation, moving from a state of clouded understanding to a new, clearer perception of reality.

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