Entertainment headlines have a new entry this week, and Ghost in the Shell ‒ Episode 6 is generating real conversation. Here is everything you need to know about the story that everyone is talking about.
The Story So Far
“Dumb Barter” is one of the original manga's better chapters, and this installment does an incredible job of adapting it with brutal efficiency for the major screen. I'd argue this is a superior version – unlike with the manga, I had no difficulties following the narrative, despite the density of information and complex inter-agency double-crossing happening in the background.
It's another mostly stand-alone installment, though I'm pretty sure Section 1's monstrous “think tank” was the one that a Fuchikoma briefly linked with at the beginning of last week's installment. We also meet the weird purple doctor again, as he performs icky-sounding micromachine brain surgery on revenge-motivated antagonist Tohru Soma.
Once again, Amazon's subtitled version completely fails to even attempt to translate the voluminous on-major screen text, although the dub manages well enough. You need to read fast to keep up, at least without judicious use of a freeze-frame. The micro-machine technology described still sounds plausible today, which is remarkable, almost forty years on from the manga's original publication date.
Most importantly, though: Kusanagi's changed not only her hairstyle, but her hair color too! I think I preferred her previous blue look, but her fresh more muted palette and severely angled style still looks cool as hell. At multiple points this week, she doesn't only appear businesslike, but icy cold.
Her look of utter disdain as she unloads multiple bullets into her enemy's skull gave me chills. This Kusanagi is absolutely not to be messed with. Not even her boyfriend escapes from harm, as he receives a knife from her into his shoulder.
As her colleagues lament with her, it's a shame she's not dating a civilian. Kusanagi's unnamed boyfriend (of seven months so far, a fresh record, according to Batou, who receives a mug targeted at his forehead for the observation) is a similarly highly-ranked officer in Public Security Section 1, though unfortunately for him, his boss is an idiot.
It's his fault that terrorist Soma can endanger both Kusanagi's and Togusa's lives, and Chief Aramaki is justifiably incandescent with rage. Stay after the ending credits for a darkly humorous joke about Section 1's chief perishing in a successful-and-run incident, just as Borma pulls up, with obvious damage to the front of his car… Soma's hatred of Kusanagi is justifiable, at least from his point of view.
Four years previously, in retaliation for torturing and killing two of her men, Kusanagi killed six of his, and contrived for him to shoot his own sixteen-year-old son through a closed door. The world these characters inhabit is dangerous and often horrific, and failing to ensure the death of one's enemies is likely to cause problems later.
Kusanagi's an effective, decisive leader, but she's cold, calculating, and unafraid to take lives in the most brutal ways. It can be hard to square this with her seemingly idyllic domestic life. Previously, we met her …
For now, fans have plenty to discuss, and the industry has plenty to analyse. TeraMovies will be tracking every twist in this story as it unfolds, bringing you the full picture from the world of entertainment.
