Reviews

Ghost in the shell by Shirou Masamune

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offworldcolony's review against another edition

5.0

Being a fan of the films and the TV series' 1st and 2nd Gigs (less so the TV movies), I was pleasantly surprised to find that the manga is a very different beast but no less entertaining. It's less self-serious (but no less heady), it's richly drawn and detailed and full of character and humour.

mxunsmiley's review against another edition

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3.0

Mixed bag. It is quite compelling in a few places, with a lot of head-scratchers, and some interesting political/philosophical commentary, but I think it's inundated with too many half/fully-naked ladies (you wanted some booty and nipple shots? Look no further), some crass humor, and convoluted plot points. Having watched the animated film first, it was extremely surprising to see such a different characterization of Major Kusanagi; she becomes more akin to her animated counterpart in the very last issue with the Puppeteer.

kcrouth's review against another edition

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3.0

With the upcoming release of the live action film version of this story, i decided to read this manga beforehand. Ghost in the Shell is an interesting tale, somewhat hard to follow, and a little dated. But it does explore some interesting concepts of existence and reality, individuality and society. Some cool stuff to think about, for sure. Next, i'm going to watch the 1995 animated version of the story to see how closely the two story lines align. Good stuff.

nolansmock's review against another edition

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4.0

I took around a year to read this since it's so short. Often feels more like an encyclopedia of cyberpunk than a comic and because of that isn't totally great at being either. Still, essentially textbook for the genre if you're into that, but I wish it was more punk, less cop.

jennyalexandra's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny informative fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

cordiaelly's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

supersuccessfulauthor's review against another edition

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informative mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

rolenl's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

songwind's review against another edition

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4.0

Ghost in the Shell is a classic of manga. It contains stylized art, political maneuvering, action, and metaphysics. As is typical of the genre, the metaphysics frequently don't make sense objectively, but the internal consistency is superb.

cthulhu_calamari's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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