Perfect World

What is a system? What place do people have within systems? And can people escape the systems they find themselves part of? The answer to that, according to PSYCHO-PASS, is "no."

The Chicken or the Egg?

The first time I saw Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, I didn't know what to think. Saying that I hated it seems too strong, but that's the best word I can summon. I thought it was another example of Mamoru Oshii being dense, slow and boring. Now that I'm several years wiser, I'm of the exact opposite opinion: Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is an insanely pleasurable movie. Yes, pleasurable, as in I fell madly in love with it and had inappropriate thoughts about fornicating with the myriad gynoids. Innocence requires an entirely different set of sensibilities than most anime demands, and Oshii's uncompromisingly brutal methodology ensures that those who actually sit through the film will either adore or despise him. Trying to please everyone is impossible; Oshii doesn't even try. 

MARDOCK SCRAMBLE: THE FIRST COMPRESSION, or "Cyborg Prostitute: The Anime Legacy of Molly Millions"

Rune Ballot is a fifteen year old prostitute who gets blown up by Shell, a client who turns his victims into blue diamonds (I don't know why he does this, maybe the next two films will explain that). Her body is repaired by Dr. Easter, who runs medical experiments under government order using top-secret body modifications. Ballot wakes to find herself with a mix of wireless computer hacking skills and electromagnetic manipulation, abilities she must use to help apprehend Shell. As with any good cyberpunk story, there's some healthy corporate warfare going on between Dr. Easter's financial backers and Shell's financiers, the October Corporation.

Mardock Scramble: The First Compression. Go Hands.