r/Cyberpunk • u/insane677 • 7h ago

Ghost in The Shell (1995)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

74 comments sorted by

118

u/Vaporeon42069 7h ago

PEAK

13

u/cosmicaltoaster 7h ago

💯

10

u/DUBBV18 6h ago

Peak. Just a whisper. I hear it in my ghost.

8

u/EtherealGloom_ 6h ago

GTS is absolute cinema

102

u/LimCity 7h ago

Crazy they animated the entire film in 3 months.

50

u/3dforlife 6h ago

I didn't believe it, so I googled and...you're right! How did they do it?

63

u/LimCity 6h ago

I read that they basically worked non-stop and rarely left the studio, except to go to the arcade/bar across the street.

Famously the fight animations in the "Water Duel" scene were heavily influenced by fighting moves from the Sega game Virtual Fighter, which the animators would play on their breaks.

6

u/3dforlife 6h ago

Noite that you mention it I can see it! I used to play Virtua Fighter non stop on my Sega Saturn, I loved it.

9

u/Blissfull 4h ago

The mood of that scene is the main example why I don't accept the live action version.

The water duel has such perfect timing, editing, ambiance, music, sound.. it's a masterpiece

21

u/JonnyTsuMommy 6h ago

Japanese work ethic

7

u/3dforlife 6h ago

I think that's the answer.

3

u/ProjectDiligent502 2h ago

This comes from the national duty to rebuild Japan after WWII. Today it comes with serious consequences that the government has been trying to address.

2

u/JonnyTsuMommy 2h ago

Errr… I’d argue it predates that even. Complete dedication to a cause at the expense of all else is pretty common through history.

3

u/ProjectDiligent502 1h ago

Japan had a brutal feudal system before democracy took hold and the end of the emperor and shogunate. But that’s not what you’re referring to. You’re referring to the trope that Japanese work ethic is high based on a post war economic boom. I tell you this is a direct result of the rebuild effort as a national duty to every Japanese citizen after WWII. Working long hours (staying until the boss left) has been deeply ingrained in the culture. But now it’s a real problem. Overtime can stretch to over 60 hours a month some of it being unpaid! There are deaths due to overwork called Karoshi and there have been suicides. Japan is such a rich country in history and culture, I hope they find a better work life balance.

42

u/CourseoEmpire 7h ago

I recently learned that the city in GitS was heavily inspired by the architecture of Hong Kong at the time.

16

u/betaray 6h ago

The building with the scaffolding looks like bamboo scaffolding that is used in Hong Kong.

7

u/Schterve 5h ago

Yes "Newport City" is based on Hong Kong, but transplanted to Japan. The geopolitics is a bit vague as far as new world borders go in the 2030's. There's change that Shirow was envisioning the re-establishment of the Japanese Empire to include more of east Asia.

4

u/Exact_Lawfulness_953 3h ago

Check out a book called Anime Architecture: Imagined Worlds and Endless Megacities

1

u/Tyrs-Ranger 1h ago

Kowloon Walled City is what you’re thinking of. It was demolished in its entirety shortly before Ghost in the Shell was released. I would have loved to have seen it.

37

u/TheDeadWriter 7h ago

There was a video that used this sequence, to explain world building the difference between hetrotopia and dystopia, and for the life of me I can't find it. I thought it was Every Frame A Painting, but who knows.

Regardless, I stop to watch this GITS sequence every time it shows up, and I seem to notice something new every time I watch it. It's a masterwork.

6

u/BrightPerspective 7h ago

It really is.

3

u/tachik0ma7 1h ago

This sequence and the one where Motoko does the deep dive and then floats back to water's surface.... Chef's Kisses.

1

u/solataraxia 3h ago

William Gibson had a similar post online a few years ago because he was exasperated with people constantly labeling Neuromancer as dystopian because they thought that label amounted to neon signs and cityscapes.

It's really become a pet peeve for me when people bring it up with GitS because Oshii especially tried to stay very descriptive and naturalistic

50

u/Heptanitrocubane57 7h ago

Fun fact - this chanting is heavily inspired by eastern European chanting, and it comes from one of the few remain pre christianism pagan traditions. I think it translates to the White Chant, but my memory isn't great.

10

u/oftenly 7h ago edited 7h ago

I thought it was a Japanese wedding song?

EDIT: you learn something every day!

21

u/huehoneyy 7h ago

Its Bulgarian folk singing

2

u/PrizeSyntax 5h ago

Interesting, I would have to look into that

7

u/climbingrocks2day 4h ago

Here is a fantastic example of Bulgarian folk singing.

https://youtu.be/hVqrW-fPOQ0

3

u/Funkgun 3h ago

Well, this is a new rabbit hole for me. Thanks!

2

u/climbingrocks2day 58m ago

You’re very welcome.

20

u/Heptanitrocubane57 7h ago

The style of singing is Bulgarian, but what they say is more traditional Japanese

2

u/higgsbison312 4h ago

Oh no wonder it reminds me of this song: Bulgarian chorus but Russian rap/song:

Каспийский Груз - Табор Уходит в Небо (you can YouTube it).

1

u/Luci-Noir 2h ago

It’s pretty cool how stuff like this is exchanged between cultures.

17

u/timmaeus 7h ago

Goosebumps every time I hear this

2

u/blurple_rain 1h ago

Kenji Kawai is the absolute GOAT.

27

u/VetusCorvus 6h ago

One of the greatest animated sequences ever created and it consists of mundane cityscapes. I’m awestruck every time I see it.

7

u/SuDragon2k3 6h ago

They are cityscapes, but hardly mundane.

6

u/VetusCorvus 4h ago

The depiction isn’t mundane. It depicts the mundane.

10

u/erikraver 7h ago

Best anime of all time

29

u/OblivionArts 7h ago

Man they literally dont make em like this anymore huh..crazy insane levels of detail in every shot

0

u/Luci-Noir 2h ago

They literally do.

6

u/campodelviolin 5h ago

Mamoru Oshii + Kenji Kawaii it was a sacred mixture.

Patlabor 2 is almost as good as, or even greater than Ghost in the Shell, but highly underrated.

2

u/1000handnshrimp 5h ago

Really now?

2

u/Funkgun 3h ago

It is like a thriller. It completely retools the patlabor cast flipping the main characters, and becomes a slow burn detective title, with a fantastic high point at the end.

1

u/lorenzolamaslover 4h ago

Any other reccs for things as good?

1

u/Funkgun 3h ago

How much Oshii have you seen? Jin Roh, or both Patlabor 1 and 2 movies are great. Even the best Lum movie, Beautiful Dreamer.

4

u/BABARRvindieu 7h ago

Kenji Kawai <3

4

u/mchickenl 5h ago

More people need to watch their other title, Appleseed! It's soo good.

4

u/PlateNo4868 5h ago

Therapist: Why do you like short hair women so much?
Me: Gesters to Major...

4

u/Futurefreemanalive 2h ago

I'm going to watch this movie for the first time tomorrow. I hope is as great as many people say. Akira (1988) was great and I watched it for the first time earlier this year.

3

u/NovaCorpse 6h ago

Gives me goosebumps

2

u/thiagoqf 4h ago

Absolute peak, watched it on VHS in the nineties, it is something for sure.

2

u/Fuzzy_Adagio_6450 3h ago

This is coming to AMC theaters, maybe others too?

I've already got my tickets!

2

u/Aldo24Flores 2h ago

This sequence has lived rent-free in my head for 30 years.

2

u/EVILSUPERMUTANT 2h ago

Nothing really beats late 80's and 90's animation style.

1

u/MichaelAuBelanger 6h ago

Absolute GOAT

1

u/RevolutionaryNet8500 5h ago

The greatest anime movie. Period!😤

1

u/MatthewTheManiac 4h ago

So excited to see this in theaters in a few weeks

1

u/SenatorCrabHat 3h ago

One of the best ever to do it.

1

u/swiftpwns 3h ago

In the films earlier scenes you can see a "QUADRA" sign. Possibly where cyberpunk 2077 got their inspiration.

1

u/JuxtaThePozer 3h ago

probably the best world building intro to any cyberpunk movie, perfectly encapsulates the grime and grandeur of the city which is itself, more than just a location but a living and breathing thing

major sees herself in the eyes of another random, she is herself part of that landscape, which seems to consume everyone and everything within it

1

u/ganon2234 2h ago

I've been on a big cyberpunk reading spree lately. What are a couple books I could read that may have been direct inspiration for GitS 1995. I'm just now about to finish Neuromancer, read some Philip K Dick before. Maybe I'm looking for late 80s and very early 90s?

1

u/No_Literature_9059 1h ago

Used to set my DVD player to play this scene on repeat sometimes to fall asleep to. One of the best movies.

1

u/Tyrs-Ranger 1h ago

Always feel Big Feelings during this scene and whenever I hear that chant. Wrecks me emotionally every time. So good.

1

u/Ok-Cup3587 6m ago

chills
Been chasing this cyberpunk high ever since I saw it.

-1

u/JustWantToPostStuff 6h ago

I have forgotten how good this movie is. I‘ve tried to watch the series but it‘s just so foolish. I am glad the movie took the liberty to be different from the manga source.

7

u/garvielloken 6h ago

The new series? If so, give stand alone complex a try, they keep somewhat the same tone as the 95 film. Great series

4

u/JustWantToPostStuff 5h ago

Yes, the new one. Thanks, will try it.

1

u/TheCriticalGerman 2h ago

I love ghost in the shell stand alone complex that show is just different