| Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mamoru Oshii |
| Screenplay by | Mamoru Oshii |
| Based on | Ghost in the Shell byMasamune Shirow |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Miki Sakuma |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Kenji Kawai |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Toho |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | $20 million[1] |
| Box office | $10.1 million[2] |
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, known in Japan as justInnocence (Japanese:イノセンス,Hepburn:Inosensu), is a 2004 Japaneseanimatedcyberpunk film written and directed byMamoru Oshii. The film serves as astandalone sequel toGhost in the Shell (1995) and is loosely based on the 1989–91 mangaThe Ghost in the Shell byMasamune Shirow.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence was released in Japan on March 6, 2004, byToho. The film received the 2004Nihon SF Taisho Award. It was also in competition at the2004 Cannes Film Festival, making it the first and only anime in history to compete for thePalme d'Or. The soundtrack for the film was released under the nameInnocence O.S.T. and a related novel calledGhost in the Shell: Innocence - After the Long Goodbye was released on February 29, 2004.
The story is loosely based onGhost in the Shell manga chapter "Robot Rondo" (with elements of "Phantom Fund"). Opening in 2032,Public Security Section 9cybernetic operativeBatou is teamed withTogusa, an agent with very few cybernetic upgrades, following the events ofGhost in the Shell.
After a series of deaths due to malfunctioninggynoids (doll-like sex robots), Section 9 is asked to investigate. Since the gynoids all malfunctioned without clear cause, the deaths are believed to be premeditated murders; Batou and Togusa are sent to investigate possible terrorist or political motives. Additionally, the most recent gynoid's remains show they all contained an illegal "ghost". Section 9 concludes human sentience is being artificially duplicated onto the dolls illegally, making the robots more lifelike, and possibly acting as a motive in the murders.
Called to a homicide scene, information warfare/technology specialist Ishikawa explains the victim is Jack Walkson, a consignment officer at gynoid company LOCUS SOLUS, who may have been killed by theyakuza. A previous yakuza boss was recently killed by a gynoid, so Ishikawa concludes Walkson was held responsible and killed in an act of revenge. Batou and Togusa enter a yakuza bar to question the current boss, only to be threatened by the bar occupants. Batou opens fire, killing and wounding numerous gang members, including the cyborg that murdered Walkson. The current boss then admits his predecessor was somehow involved in LOCUS SOLUS, but insists he doesn't know how.
Entering a store on his way home, Batou is then seemingly warned bythe Major and shot in the arm by an unseen assailant. Caught in afirefight, Batou nearly kills the store owner in confusion, but is subdued when Ishikawa appears. While having his damaged arm replaced, Batou is informed by Ishikawa that hise-brain was hacked, causing him to shoot himself and attack the store occupants. Ishikawa explains that Batou was hacked in order to cause further scandal following his yakuza assault in an attempt to stop the Section 9 investigation.
Batou and Togusa then head for the mansion of Kim, a soldier-turned-hacker with an obsession with dolls. Seemingly dead, Kim soon reveals he "lives" inside the shell of a human-sizedmarionette, and discusses philosophy with his visitors. Kim admits ties to LOCUS SOLUS, divulging that the company has secret headquarters ininternational waters. Warned again by the Major, Batou realizes that Kim has secretly hacked into his and Togusa's e-brains, and is currently trapping them in a false reality. Resetting Togusa's brain, Batou subdues Kim, stating he knows Kim hacked his brain in the store.
Resolved to gather material evidence, Batou infiltrates the LOCUS SOLUS headquarters ship while Togusa remotely hacks its security systems using an unaware Kim as aproxy. The ship's security becomes aware of the hacking and retaliates with a virus that fries Kim's cyberbrain. Simultaneously, a hidden virus loads a combat program into the production-line gynoids, causing them to attack everyone aboard, easily slaughtering the poorly armed and panicked security force. As Batou fights to the ship's center, the Major then appears by controlling a gynoid remotely, helping Batou fight the gynoids and hack the ship's security.
Taking control of the ship, the Major reveals to Batou the truth about the gynoids. Hiring the yakuza totraffic young girls, LOCUS SOLUS duplicated their consciousnesses into the gynoids, giving them human "ghosts" to make them more realistic. Batou rescues a young girl from a "ghost dubbing" machine, and she explains that Jack Walkson, having learned the truth about LOCUS SOLUS, promised to save the girls by tampering with the ghosting process. This caused the gynoids to murder their owners, allowing Walkson to attract police attention and indirectly kill the yakuza boss. Despite Walkson's actions saving the girls, Batou objects that he also victimized the gynoids as well, causing them severe distress by giving them damaged ghosts. Having solved the case, Batou asks the Major if she's happy now. She responds that she'll always be beside him on the network, then disconnects from the gynoid.
| Character | Japanese | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epcar/Manga/Madman (2005) | Animaze/Bandai (2009) | ||
| Batou | Akio Ōtsuka | Richard Epcar | |
| Motoko Kusanagi | Atsuko Tanaka | Mary Elizabeth McGlynn | |
| Togusa | Kōichi Yamadera | Crispin Freeman | |
| Daisuke Aramaki | Tamio Ōki | William Frederick Knight | |
| Ishikawa | Yutaka Nakano | Michael McCarty | |
| Azuma | Masaki Terasoma | Erik Davies | |
| Kim | Naoto Takenaka | Joey D'Auria | Travis Willingham |
| Haraway | Yoshiko Sakakibara | Ellyn Stern | Barbara Goodson |
| Koga | Hiroaki Hirata | Robert Axelrod | Fred Sanders |
| Forensics Chief | Katsunosuke Hori | Terrence Stone | Loy Edge |
| Lin | Unknown | Robert Axelrod | Doug Stone |
| Rescued Girl | Hisami Muto | Sherry Lynn | Laura Bailey |
| Katsunari Wakabayashi | Unknown | Richard Cansino | Steve Kramer |
Innocence contains many references tofantasy,philosophy andZen, and addresses aesthetic and moral questions. For example, the film begins with a quotation fromAuguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam'sTomorrow's Eve from 1886: "If our Gods and our hopes are nothing but scientific phenomena, then let us admit it must be said that our love is scientific as well." Other numerous quotations in the film come fromBuddha,Confucius,Descartes, theOld Testament,Meiji-era criticSaitō Ryokuu,Richard Dawkins,Max Weber,Jacob Grimm,Plato,John Milton, 14th-century playwrightZeami Motokiyo, theTridentine Mass, andJulien Offray de La Mettrie, French Enlightenment philosopher and author ofMan a Machine.
The characters and their names contain many allusions to other older works. For example, the "Hadaly" model robots refer to a human-like robot named Hadaly featured inTomorrow's Eve, also the book that popularized the wordandroid. The company LOCUS SOLUS is named for the1914 novel byRaymond Roussel, which also shares certain thematic elements with the film, such as a mansion containingtableaux vivants. The police forensic specialist, Haraway, is most likely named forDonna Haraway, feminist author ofA Cyborg Manifesto. Haraway's character is likely based onSusan Calvin from Asimov'sRobot series.[citation needed] TheRobot series is also referenced in the film's androids as they comply with a modified version of Asimov'sThird Law of Robotics.
Dolls are also an important motif inInnocence; many have "spirits" of some sort, but at the same time are not quite human. They are based on the art ofHans Bellmer, a dollmaker famous for his disturbing, erotic ball-jointed female dolls.[3]
The parade sequence is based on a religious procession and a temple in Taiwan.[4]
In the 2009 English dub, the murdered consignment inspector is called Jacques Vaucanson. His namesake was an 18th-century French inventor who created automata in the image of man and of animals.
Innocence had a production budget of approximately$20 million (approximately 2 billionyen).[1] To raise the sum, Production I.G studio's president, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, askedStudio Ghibli's president,Toshio Suzuki, to co-produce.Polygon Pictures produced the3DCG in the film.
On the origins of the movie, directorMamoru Oshii says he didn't envision it solely as a sequel toGhost in the Shell. He said, "I had a dozen ideas, linked to my views on life, my philosophy, that I wanted to include in this film ... I attackedInnocence as a technical challenge; I wanted to go beyond typical animation limits, answer personal questions and at the same time appeal to filmgoers."[citation needed] During production, the first decision Oshii made was to not makeMotoko Kusanagi the main character and instead make it a story about someone searching for her. Oshii chose to make the movie have a different tone and feel from the original.[5]
Oshii traveled the world in order to find inspirations for the film. Oshii based the appearance on the dolls created byHans Bellmer he saw at theInternational Center of Photography in New York.[6] He creditedJean-Luc Godard for the idea of including quotes by other authors: "[The texts] ... give a certain richness to cinema because the visual is not all there is. Thanks to Godard, the spectator can concoct his own interpretation ... The image associated with the text is a unifying act that aims at renewing cinema, that let's [sic] it take to new dimensions."[citation needed]
Oshii noted his attention to detail might be particularly Japanese: "I get absorbed in the finer points – like what the back of a bottle label looks like when you see it through the glass [demonstrates with a bottle of mineral water]. That's very Japanese, I suppose. I want people to go back to the film again and again to pick up things they missed the first time." Describing the overall look, the director said, "The film is set in the future, but it's looking at present-day society. And as I said, there's an autobiographical element as well. I'm looking back at some of the things I liked as a child — the 1950s cars and so on. Basically, I wanted to create a different world — not a future world."
The dog Gabriel, looking once more like the only "real" being, makes a key appearance, as in many of Oshii's movies. A scene with Batou feeding his dog is echoed in Ash inAvalon (2001). He explained the reason why all his films feature abasset hound—his companion in real life: "This body you see before you is an empty shell. The dog represents my body. Human beings can be free only if they free themselves from their bodies. When I am playing around with my dog, I forget that I am a human being, and it's only then that I feel free."
As for the state of art andanimation, Oshii had this to say:
I think that Hollywood is relying more and more on3D imaging like that ofShrek. The strength behind Japanese animation is based in the designer's pencil. Even if he mixes2D, 3D, and computer graphics, the foundation is still 2D. Only doing 3D does not interest me.
On the overall message of the film, the director said "This movie ... concludes that all forms of life – humans, animals and robots – are equal. In this day and age when everything is uncertain, we should all think about what to value in life and how to coexist with others." On his narrative intentions Oshii comments: "I had a bigger budget than forGhost in the Shell. I also had more time to prepare it. Yet despite the economic leeway, abundant details and orientations, it was still important to tell an intimate story."[citation needed]
In order to better market the film outside Japan, theGhost in the Shell 2 moniker was added to the title of the film, withInnocence becoming the subtitle. Some fans saw this as conflicting with Oshii's statements that the film wasn't, in actuality, a standard Hollywood-esque sequel, and was able to, and intended to, stand on its own.
WhenGo Fish Pictures releasedInnocence, they released it subtitled, without English dubbing, a controversial choice since everyGhost in the Shell anime released byManga Entertainment outside of Japan had been dubbed.Anime News Network announced Manga Entertainment UK's co-production of an English dub withMadman Entertainment, their Australian distributor and longtime partner,[7] andRichard Epcar's (the voice of Batou) Epcar Entertainment studio for the dubbing. This was the first dub Manga UK had produced sinceX in 1999 and the first dub Madman produced. This dub was released in the UK by Manga and in Australia by Madman Entertainment (using the Go Fish Pictures transfer). Bandai Entertainment under license from Paramount and DreamWorks created a second dub for the North American market using most of the voice actors from the Manga/Madman version making some changes to the cast and production team and usingAnimaze's studio.
| Innocence O.S.T. | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | 2004-03-03 2005-09-13 (UPC 669198251900)[8] |
| Genre | New-age,ambient |
| Length | 47 |
| Label | Bandai Entertainment |
| Producer | Kenji Kawai |
The soundtrack was composed byKenji Kawai, who also didGhost in the Shell soundtrack.[9] As he expressed in theliner notes, he agreed with Mamoru Oshii that the soundtrack pattern itself somewhat after and "would follow the music from the original film." Additionally, Oshii made specific requests for "a huge music box," a "jazzy theme," and a "reprise of the song 'Follow Me'".
The music box, heard in the "Doll House" tracks, was procured from Sankyo Shoji. Wanting it to sound as if played in a huge space, Kenji Kawai had the music box recorded in studio, and then played back in the underground quarry ofOhya with four speakers and twosubwoofers, where it was recorded with eight microphones.
Theminyoh singers chorus, heard in the "Chants" in the first movie, and in the "Ballade of Puppets" inInnocence, was expanded to include 75 performers, which proved challenging to record. The session lasted for 14 straight hours.
"Follow Me" is a reprise of a song originally interpreted byDemis Roussos in 1982 and covered byKimiko Itoh. The music is based onJoaquín Rodrigo'sConcierto de Aranjuez, with lyrics byHerbert Kretzmer andHal Shaper.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dungeon" | 1:22 |
| 2. | "The Ballade of Puppets: Flowers Grieve and Fall" | 3:38 |
| 3. | "Type 2052 "Hadaly"" | 4:05 |
| 4. | "River of Crystals" | 5:47 |
| 5. | "Attack the Wakabayashi" | 3:29 |
| 6. | "Etorofu" | 3:53 |
| 7. | "The Ballade of Puppets: In a New World Gods Will Descend" | 5:09 |
| 8. | "The Doll House I" | 1:31 |
| 9. | "The Doll House II" | 2:54 |
| 10. | "The Ballade of Puppets: The Ghost Awaits in the World Beyond" | 9:44 |
| 11. | "Toh Kami Emi Tame" | 0:31 |
| 12. | "Follow Me¹" | 5:01 |
| Total length: | 47:04 | |
¹ - covered byKimiko Itoh
A novel byMasaki Yamada calledInnocence: After the Long Goodbye (イノセンス After the Long Goodbye) serves as a prequel, taking place just before the film and told fromBatou's perspective as he searches for his dog Gabriel (Gabu). It was published byTokuma Shoten on February 29, 2004,[10] and the English-language version was published byViz Media in the US in October 2005.[11] Viz media later released a four-volume Ani-manga boxset in April 2005.[12]
It consists of music videos from Production I.G.[13]
Review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reported that 65% of critics have given a positive review based on 99 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The consensus states: "The animation is lovely, but the plot is complex to the point of inscrutability, leavingGhost in the Shell 2: Innocence both original and numbing."[14] OnMetacritic, it has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15]
The film was praised byManohla Dargis of theNew York Times, who wrote "Innocence doesn't just reveal a wealth of visual enchantments; it restates the case that there can and should be more to feature-length animations than cheap jokes, pathos and pandering."[16] In contrast, criticism rests upon a number of factors, often cited to be overly heavy on philosophical dialogue and thus hard to follow,[17] and its ending has been described as weak and unmeaningful in the arc of character development.[18]Helen McCarthy in500 Essential Anime Movies praises the quality script and direction, stating that "it's a challenging film, but it's one of the best anime ever".[19]
Honored best sci-fi film at the 2004 Nihon SF Taisho Awards,[20]Innocence competed at the2004 Cannes Film Festival,[21] only the sixth animated film to be featured at Cannes ever.[22] Along withPersepolis, it was the only animated feature to be screened in the official selection, competing for thePalme d'Or that year.[23]
As of 2023, it also received fourAnnie Award nominations including Best Animated Feature and Best Achievement in Directing, tying withSpirited Away,Millennium Actress, andWeathering with You to have four nominations; the second-joint highest for an anime film at the Annies, behind the predecessorGhost in the Shell (1995) and thenBelle (2021) with five.[24]
The movie was released onVHS andDVD byBuena Vista Home Entertainment Japan (laterWalt Disney Studios Japan) on September 15, 2004. AUMD version was later released in 2005, and an "International Version" DVD was released on September 7, 2005, which contained multi-language subtitles. the movie was released onBlu-ray Disc on December 6, 2006.
An "Absolute Edition" was released by Disney on Blu-Ray on August 6, 2008.
Walt Disney Japan released the 4K remaster of the film onUltra HD Blu-ray and regular Blu-ray Disc on June 22, 2018. To tie in with this release alongside the first movie's 4K remaster's Ultra HD release. On the same day,Bandai Namco Arts and Disney teamed up to release an Ultra HD Blu-Ray combo pack containing both movies for a limited time.[25]
Innocence ranked 28th at the US box office earning $317,000 on its opening weekend in September 2004.[26] The film eventually grossed $1 million in US box office,[27] which completely exceededGo Fish Pictures' profitability target.[28]
On December 28, 2004,DreamWorks Pictures (parent company of theatrical distributorGo Fish Pictures) releasedInnocence onDVD in the US.[29] Reviews immediately began appearing onAmazon and other websites criticizing the movie's subtitle track: Instead of including the overlay subtitles from the theatrical release, DreamWorks produced the DVD subtitles usingclosed captioning, resulting in subtitles that intruded on the movie's visual effects. In addition to reading dialogue, audiences saw cues like "[footsteps]" or "[helicopter approaches]". After receiving numerous complaints, DreamWorks released a statement saying that unsatisfied customers could exchange their DVDs for properly subtitled ones, postage paid; and that version 4 already had the proper subtitling.
Bandai Entertainment has released the film on Blu-ray and DVD in the US, with an English dub also featuring the cast used inGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.[30] Bandai had licensed the film for a short period from Paramount.[31]
Funimation released the film onDVD and onBlu-ray combo-pack on February 7, 2017. The combo pack features the Japanese version and includes the official English audio track and subtitles, along with the special features.
On April 17, 2024,GKIDS announced the acquisition of the North American distribution rights and announced they would re-release the film theatrically with a new 4K remaster in the summer.[32][23] This re-release would occur from June 23 to June 27, 2025.[33][34]
Manga Entertainment, which released and co-produced the first film and collaborated withBandai Entertainment to release the TV series, releasedInnocence with an English dub featuring the same cast as the one used inGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex in the UK on February 27, 2006. The Manga UK dub was co-produced with long-time anime partner,Madman Entertainment who has distributed Manga UK titles in Australia since its founding in 1996. The UK English dub on the Region 1Blu-ray disc features an audio error where the soundtrack has been pitch-shifted down, resulting in unnatural sounding deep voices and mechanical sound effects in slow motion, because the dub was produced to PAL standards rather than NTSC. This is also present on the standard DVD.
The controversy with licensing also affected its release in Australia. Although Madman licensed it through Go Fish Pictures, the English dub used is from Manga Entertainment, through which Madman have licensed allGhost in the Shell properties. The licensing costs are extremely high due to two different licenses being in effect on the DVD release.[citation needed] It is unknown whether Madman will use the Manga Entertainment dub or the Bandai dub for the Blu-ray version.
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