INNOCENCE

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE ActionGHOST IN THE SHELL: Koukaku Kidoutai
NOVEL DramaInnocence: After the Long Goodbye
MANGA ActionKoukaku Kidoutai

REVIEWS

• 

  siddhant26

  87/100
  (SPOILER FREE) A Thought provoking entry in the GITS Franchise which should be talked about a bit more.

  Lately I've not really been motivated to write reviews for some odd reason, but since this movie is my 100th finished anime, I thought I may as well make the effort of writing one, since I feel an urge to make people aware about this rather divisive and overlooked gem in the GiTS Rabbit Hole. So with that being said, here's my part-analytical, part-critical review of Innocence.

  Plot, Structure, Pacing - The Plot is rather barebone and, its structured like a neo-noir detective drama in the first half and then turns into a surrealistic, trippy action packed blockbuster in the second. Not a whole lot to say, besides the fact that Innocence is a movie which moves at its own leisure and takes its sweet time to pick up and also sets up its mood as with any Oshii Film. Another aspect which I find rather difficult to put into words is that, this movie doesn't really feel like a GITS property and feels like a blend of Hollywood thrillers and Experimental anime with complex themes. It's this rarely seen mashup, which to me makes this film even more interesting and special.

  Characters- When it comes to Sci-fi as a whole, characters aren't the most important aspect in its narrative, at least in comparison to worldbuilding or themes. But Innocence was the movie which made me connect to its leads on a much more deeper level. To put it simply, this anime does a great job of characterizing Batou and Togusa (as per Sci-fi standards at the minimum) and my appreciation for Batou increased after watching this movie. The antagonist while not interesting as the previous ones, served his job, and the same can apply to the other minor characters.

  Themes- Innocence as a whole gets a lot of criticism for being so vastly different from its predecessor and TV Counterpart and I can understand the criticism-this anime is full of quotations and an endearing amount of exposition and symbolism which I won't pretend to fully understand. The movie keeps on throwing dense exposition onto the audience without a moment of pause for them to comprehend it. This can certainly be an issue for a lot of people who are not used to experimental media and went into this movie expecting it to be like a standard GiTS installment, which is really intelligent but also packed with action and is a lot more subtle at tackling its themes. The reason behind this anime being the way it is because, this movie is Oshii's ideas being put to life. This anime is more of Oshii's Brainchild and he tries to tackle complex themes in a very explicit and direct way through the use of the GiTS universe. Now whether this whole ordeal will work out for you or not depends on you, but in my humble opinion, Innocence from a purely thematic standpoint is better than the 1995 movie. The movies explores a lot of complex ideas via its dialogue, which forces the viewers to think even more deeply because of their abstract nature. To get it straight this film not only expands upon the OG film's themes, but it also asks questions such as

  1.Are all sentient beings equal?
  2.When does the line between inanimate objects and humans start to blur? Can Having a soul in a manufactured body make any creature a human?
  3.Why does Humankind pursue A.I and why do we even make objects resembling us?
  4.Is there any Significance to Human life? Can we be reduced to mere mechanical terms or are we complex beings?
  The central idea behind both of the movies has been to explain the nature of sentient living beings as a whole and trying to answer the questions surrounding their existence. Questions like if unnatural lifeforms deserve to have their own will or if they can even said to be lifeforms, are some questions being put at the forefront and this movie in particular expands a lot on it
  Another noteworthy point I'd like to make is that Innocence is also centered around the concept of dealing with grief and loss, thus its thematic exploration feels even more intimate and personal. The quality of dialogue is out of the roof when complex ideas and theories are being discussed (Like the whole discussion with Haraway) but it drops a bit when the anime exploits the concept of making direct and explicit references to other literary/religious/scientific works. That said this anime does put a lot of faith in the viewer and expects them to come to their own conclusions. Personally I like this way of conveying themes and I really appreciate what the film did. And I can see myself re-watching the film over n over again, because it has a high re-watch value.

  Soundtrack, Art and Tone- OST is minimalistic but dang is it GOOD. The Ballade of Puppets suits this anime so much, the overall atmosphere is very moody and trippy depending on the act- and its just something I rarely see, add to that Oshii's masterful use of scenic shots. The mood kicks in. The Art is great. Sure the CGI looks a bit old, but I'd be lying to myself by saying that it doesn't look beautiful and pleasing. Even if PS3 level CGI has aged, it doesn't it looks bad. Easily Audiovisuals was the thing which carried this one for me. Not to say how fluid the animation was.

  Action- Awesome, feels believable and Come on its Batou.

  FINAL VERDICT
  watch it if you have an affinity for stuff like serial experiments lain and if you can tolerate loads of exposition.
  That being said, this show is easily 8.00+ on MAL IMO, yet it rests on 7.81 which is a shame really. So yeah it is underrated and overlooked, and if you can watch this gem.
  MY FINAL SCORE is
  87/100

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• 

  ZokuNeel

  100/100
  Cinematic masterpiece paired with brilliant visual storytelling and mind-blowing philosophies

  Ghost In The Shell: Innocence is the sequel film of the original 1995 Ghost in The Shell Movie, but at the same time, even a name as big as GITS, this installment is downplayed horribly. I have two reasons:

  1. People are not aware of the existence of the sequel movie even though they have watched the original 1995 movie

  2. Or if they have watched it, people complain about it because "too many quotations" or "pretentious" or "trying to make it look smart"

  The anime indeed uses many quotations from famous philosophical figures such as Plato, Confucius, Descartes, and even Buddha. Many people interpret those quotations as an information dump that makes the anime unbearable to watch. While I do get sometimes that wordy films can be hard to get through with and not for everyone, however, what I disagree with is that people treat them as if those quotations are just there for the sake of it to make the film looks 'intellectual'. I also do not understand how this film is the only one that gets more "pretentious" criticisms when even Stand Alone Complex has way more stuffs like that in quantity, it seemed like double standards. In fact, it is impressive for a film like Innocence to make good usage of direct quotations from famous figures and incorporate all of them to construct a brilliant philosophical film.

  Innocence contains similar themes to the original movie. The philosophical theme of transhumanism and soul is retained and even expanded further. And as mentioned previously, the film also makes good usage of the philosophy of various famous figures, ''Cyborg Manifesto'' or "Man a machine" for example, which talks about the boundary between humans and machines. The film presents another philosophy after another mostly relating to transhumanism and presents the viewer with moral questions and can make anyone deeply wonder about what life could've been in the future. It's impressive how this film presents us with "what the world could be" sometime in the future. It can also make any person wonder: Can a machine and a human stand as equal to each other? Can a machine develop a soul and a sense of individuality? Can you escape death by becoming one with cybertechs? It presents us with endless questions about life, as what I also loved about the GITS franchise as a whole. It is also impressive for the film to give the viewers a psychological attack as if this exact scene in the anime felt like you are one of the characters and experiencing this trippy scene

  This film directly picks up where the original GITS left off and expands what happened further, especially all about the "net". Innocence contributes to the lore further by showing the relation of the net to the GITS universe, Motoko was shown to have merged in the net and is wandering from another vessel to another, as well as the hacker Kim also had similar circumstances as his soul, a.k.a. him, is inside the "puppet". Giving us more insight into the worldbuilding of GITS is what really stood out in this film the most that were absent in the original film.

  The major difference between this film from the original movie is the absence of Motoko Kusanagi until the end of the film. Motoko's absence in the film impressively gave side characters such as Batou and Togusa much more spotlight, especially Batou. Batou's mental instability because of Motoko's disappearance was portrayed well and adds up to his characterization. It was actually impressive that Batou was portrayed as that. Motoko may not be present in the film until the end of it, but seeing the side characters lead the course of the film is very engaging as both of them are really good characters.

  The film is not also just all philosophical talk, of course, it also presents amazing action scenes paired with amazing sound designs and Kenji Kawai's OSTs that helped in setting up the mood.

  The film is undeniably PERFECT when it comes to visual storytelling. The whole noir and eerie mood are fantastic as it perfectly engross every viewer and make you feel the actual atmosphere thanks to the great direction. The cinematography is GREAT, the 3D art is blended well with 2D art, and I am a huge fan of it. Probably what stands out about the movie is the 3-4 minute parade scene, which by the way took a year to animate just for that scene alone. It perfectly captures the brilliance of religious motifs of a Taiwanese parade (which what inspired the scene in this movie). It is a visual masterpiece which still stands out up to this day as not many animation have reached to this level even now.

  What makes this film stand out compared to the previous GITS film is Motoko's absence which may affect a viewer's enjoyment especially if they are a fan of her. Although she may not be mostly present in the film, Batou and Togusa's duo is a really good compensation for her, and both are really engaging characters. The philosophical aspect has been present and is executed really well in both GITS 1995 and Innocence, only that Innocence just has more philosophical elements to it. GiTS Innocence feeds you philosophies and moral questions one after another, and transcends your mind and lets you rethink about life. Better be prepared for a trippy and mond-blogging ride!

  ]

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• 

  EuryDecie

  100/100
  Chasing a love long gone. Ruminations on the absence of our titans. A love story through and through that I love.

  Oshii’s personal nexus of memories and reminiscences, a work of artistic integrity so highly intimate and overtly sincere in its sadness and sense of emptiness, yet carrying a permeating sense of resilience, reflecting in the need for perseverance to carry on in daily life in spite of grievances and traumas.

  A polar opposite to the original 1995 film, Innocence is far less esoteric, choosing to sink itself in the detail of daily life. Togusa as the family man becomes ever so relatable, particularly with the desperation to come home to your wife and kid in the face of danger. Batou’s isolative nature with his dog as his sole companion in off-duty solitude, it becomes key to how we process the emotional center of Innocence, because Gabriel is a tangible tether to being happy, something it feels like everyone searches for within this film, whether in pleasure, festivals, or others. Whilst traversing the streets, they are far more bustling and often times more dingy, harsh oranges and feelings of sliminess are often on the mind. Yet they feel warmer, and more experienced and lived-in than the futurist nature of GITS’ architecture. Grocery shops, grimy alleyways, domestic spaces all fill in one half of the settings, breathing normalcy into the world of Batou, and when these spaces are violated and upended, it feels genuinely shaking. The opulence of the other places that Batou and Togusa take foot in, they’re breathtaking to no end. And still, the film is no less challenging than its previous sister film, but I always felt this one reverberating in my heart. The action is perhaps the least interesting part of Oshii’s films, but the transience towards feelings of the ephemeral as well as the gentle are always going to be what I cherish the most.

  More than anything, Innocence reminded me of spectres whom I once knew as people, whose time with me was limited, but they still feel interlinked with me on some spiritual level. Feeling the presences of ghosts and spirits consistently surround you, and aid you in the most important parts of your life. I used to never mention them, the people who I never really knew growing up, yet their impact is so integral to my life, even after the two decades without them. To silence myself on speaking of them is to choose not to remember, but I do. I do want to remember them forever.

  So, I know they'll be with me. Always and forever.

  I'll see you soon, Innocence. You'll be in my thoughts for a long, long time.

  
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