Amazon.co.jp: GHOST IN THE SHELL 2 INNOCENCE INTERNATIONAL VER. [DVD] : 大塚明夫, 田中敦子, 山寺宏一, 押井守: DVD (original) (raw)

If you liked the first Ghost in the shell movie, then you will love this one! The animation is some of the best I have ever seen in a anime movie. It perfectly combined 2D and computer animation making for a beautiful looking movie. I usually prefer all 2D animated films over computer animated ones, but this film does such a good job blending the two that half the time, I couldn't even tell if some of the characters were 2D or computer animated! The story focuses on the character "Batou" from the first movie and how he is dealing with the departure of his partner "The Major". It starts off as sort of a detective film with Batou trying to figure out why certain service androids are going crazy and killing their owners, but by the end delves into some seriously deep philosophical questions on life. Now if you don't care for deep philosophical arguments that require you to really think hard, then stay away from this movie at all costs. This movie has so many different metaphors and deep symbolism that it makes the first movie look symplistic by comparison. That said, the story is still very entertaining. The characters were interesting and all animated very well(extremely well actually), the art direction in it is just freakin beautiful to watch. If you don't believe me, just watch the trailer to this movie on line. Every scene in this film just looks beautiful! A downside for some people is that the character from the first movie "The Major" is not in this one all that much except for the very end. We do get a lot more character development on Batous character though which is nice to see(turns out, Batou was a pretty likable character). The action sequences sprinkled throughout were all done very well, and the world in which this movie takes place in was breathtakingly gorgeous in its design and art direction(think of the city from blade runner). Over all, this is a great Science fiction anime with some of the best visual animation I have ever seen. The story can be a bit hard to follow at times and defiantly takes multiple viewings to understand everything, but that's what makes it so great. While I didn't agree with all of the movies moral standpoints on humans vs robots, the story itself was still interesting and thought provoking. If you like good deep science fiction like the first movie or if you just want to watch some great animation, than defiantly get this!