Innocence (2004/I)

Director:

Mamoru Oshii

Writers:

Masamune Shirow (comic "Koukaku-Kidoutai")
Mamoru Oshii (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 March 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Animation | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Fantasy

Tagline:

Sore wa inotchi innosensu ('Innocence is Life')

Plot:

In the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot--one created solely for sexual pleasure--who slaughtered her owner.

Plot Keywords:

Cyborg | City | Sequel | Cyberpunk | Battleship

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Akio Ôtsuka	...	Batô (voice)
Atsuko Tanaka	...	Major Motoko Kusanagi (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Togusa (voice)
Tamio Ôki	...	Section 9 Department Chief Aramaki (voice)
Yutaka Nakano	...	Ishikawa (voice)
Naoto Takenaka	...	Kim (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gou Aoba	...	(voice) (as Go Aoba)
Eisuke Asakura	...	(voice)
Robert Axelrod	...	Koga / Lin (voice: English version)
Richard Cansino	...	Man / Security 1 / Wakabayashi / Yakuza 1 (voice: English version)
Joey D'Auria	...	Kim (voice: English version)
Erik Davies	...	Azuma (voice: English version)
Peter Emshwiller	...	Guard / Terrorist (voice)
Richard Epcar	...	Batou (voice: English version)
Crispin Freeman	...	Togusa (voice: English version)
Yuzuru Fujimoto	...	(voice)
Emiko Fuku	...	(voice)
Masao Harada	...	(voice)
Minoru Hirano	...	(voice)
Hiroaki Hirata	...	Koga (voice)
Katsunosuke Hori	...	(voice)
Sukekiyo Kameyama	...	(voice)
Eriko Kigawa	...	(voice)
Hiroyuki Kinosha	...	(voice) (as Hiroyuki Kinoshita)
Shuji Kishida	...	(voice)
William Knight	...	Aramaki (voice: English version) (as William Frederick Knight)
Steve Kramer	...	Detective / Security 4 / Security 5 (voice: English version)
Sherry Lynn	...	Gynoid / Rescued Girl (voice: English version)
Michael McCarty	...	Ishikawa (voice: English version)
Michael McConnohie	...	Forensics Man / Forensics Staff / Section 9 Member / Security 3 (voice: English version)
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn	...	Motoko Kusanagi (voice: English version)
Kenichi Mochizuki	...	(voice)
Sumi Mutoh	...	On'na no ko (voice)
Ryûji Nakagi	...	(voice)
Yasushi Niko	...	(voice)
Bob Papenbrook	...	Crab Man / Cyborg Dr. / Underwater Cyborg / Yakuza 2 (voice: English version)
Yoshiko Sakakibara	...	Haraway (voice)
Stephanie Sheh	...	Dispatcher / Girl (voice: English version)
Ellyn Stern	...	Haraway (voice: English version)
Terrence Stone	...	Forensics Chief / Pilot / Security 2 / Shop Owner / Yakuza 3 (voice: English version)
Yu Sugimoto	...	(voice)
Fumihiko Tachiki	...	(voice)
Masaki Terasoma	...	Azuma (voice)
Akino Watanabe	...	(voice)
Mr. X	...	Yakuza 4 (voice: English version)
Makoto Yasumura	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (USA)
Innocence - Inosensu (Japan) (poster title)
Innocence: Ghost in the Shell (International: English title)
Kôkaku kidôtai 2 (Japan) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

UK:15 | Denmark:15 | Norway:15 | Ireland:15A | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Japan:U | France:U | Finland:K-11 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | New Zealand:M | South Korea:12 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40831)

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

Moral code 3 (Maintain existence without inflicting injury on humans) , mentioned when Batou and Togusa go to the police lab , is a take on Asimov's third law of robotics.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the forensics examination, one of the computer screens misspells "research" as "RESAERCH".

Quotes:

[first title cards]: In a future time when most human thought has been accelerated by artificial intelligence and external memory can be shared on a universal matrix, Batou, an agent of the elite Section 9 Security Force and a being so artificially modified as to be essentially cyborg, is assigned, along with his mostly human partner, Togusa, to investigate a series of gruesome murders.

Movie Connections:

References First Blood (1982)

Soundtrack:

River of Crystals

Impressive sequel to an anime cyberpunk classic

A new Japanese cyberpunk masterpiece that makes the original GiTS look primitive by comparison. Mamoru Oshii and his crew did a masterful job creating a worthy successor to their 1995 adaptation of Masamune Shirow's original manga.

As in the original movie – as well as in that other quintessential proto-cyberpunk movie, Blade Runner – the movie explores human nature in a world that is becoming more technological all the time, to a point where people ARE technology, the boundaries are rapidly fading away. What does it mean to be human? If we join with technology, would we become something else? Should we welcome it, or fear it? Will humanity lose or gain from the changes?

After the events of the first movie, Major Motoko Kusanagi has seemingly disappeared; focus of the second movie has shifted to Bateau, who is still working for the secret government "Section 9". This is by no means a bad thing, since Bateau is at least as interesting a character as Kusanagi ever was. Going beyond your basic cyberpunk cyborg tough guy with attitude, he is very intelligent, and has some nice human touches (like the dog he loves taking care of). At various points he and other characters routinely indulge in philosophical debate, often quoting literature, from Milton to biblical psalm verses. Just to say this isn't your typical sci-fi action movie, although there is some action, and when it comes, it's fast, brutal & violent.

The actual plot involves an incident with a sophisticated robotic "pleasure model", if you will, gone berserk. The investigation leads us through the darker parts of near-future Japanese society, including yakuza, companies with questionable ethics, and mysterious hackers.

Visually, the movie is stunningly beautiful, using a combination of traditional cell animation and state of the art CGI. Many of the movie's backgrounds are gorgeous to just look at; even dark and dirty back alleys are shown so rich in color and detail, you could gaze at them all day. Like in the first movie, Oshii lets the movie halt at times, immersing the viewer in the richly detailed world he created. Many of the computer screen readouts resemble those seen in Oshii's "Avalon" a lot – which again is not a bad thing, as they look both high-tech and yet elegant & artistic.

Last but not least, the music by Kenji Kawai is hauntingly beautiful, adding more layers to the sophisticated richness of it all.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. Anyone who likes science fiction, anyone who was blown away by movies such as Blade Runner and of course the first "Ghost in the Shell" (which you should see before watching this one) will enjoy this.