Major Motoko Kusanagi of Public Security Section 9 investigates the Puppet Master, a hacker wanted internationally. In a world where networks reach into human brains, the suspect can manipulate memories and behaviour. Tracking a criminal becomes difficult when the evidence may include a person’s own sense of identity.
The name Puppet Master describes a method rather than a known individual. Kusanagi’s team can investigate incidents without yet knowing who is behind them. Their work takes place in a connected world that still has national and ethnic boundaries, so technological access has not removed political divisions.
Kusanagi’s body makes the film’s question tangible before any account of the investigation. Promotional artwork shows exposed mechanisms and a mass of cables attached to a recognisably human figure. The hardware is visible, but an assembly diagram cannot settle the identity of the person using it. That tension accompanies a case in which memories themselves can be made unreliable.
More from Ghost in the Shell
- Film · 1995 · You are hereGhost in the Shell (1995 film)Mamoru Oshii film adapting the manga.
Series · 2002 · Separate continuityGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone ComplexTV continuity separate from the films, with its own sequels.
Series · 2013 · Separate continuityGhost in the Shell: AriseReboot telling a new origin story for Section 9.
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