Channel Awesome
Tamara and Cody check out the new Scarlett Johansson manga movie, Ghost in the Shell. Does it do the anime any justice?
Tagged with: channel awesome ghost in the shell movies tamara chambers tamara just saw
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In the anime film and in the Stand Alone Complex, the reason for her nakedness is because she is largely disconnected with her humanity. Unlike most people, she doesn’t associate her true self with her body, and therefore is not conscious of the concept of modesty. To her, that’s not really her you’re looking at. To her, the body is just a tool.
But honestly, it’s probably just an excuse to show off Scarlet Johansen’s form.
Actually, if you watch enough anime, it seems that an awful lot of Japanese characters are more based on American or European forms; they only rarely look Japanese. So, to me, adapting the anime with a European actress isn’t that much of a stretch. And the idea of putting a Japanese girl into a European looking body fits somewhat with the theme of loss of identity and distinction. It adds to the notion that the body is just a body and not the self.
She’s never naked in Stand Alone Complex, and extremely little in the original manga. That whole thing is pretty much exclusive to the Mamoru Oshii film, who wanted the Major to come off as more detached and slightly inhuman, something that she only becomes in the manga after the Puppetmaster hides inside her brain.
And the idea that anime characters would look Western is garbage. Anime characters are heavily stylised, emphasising emotion over detail, and don’t look like any real ethnicity. To their creators and the intended audience anime characters look very much Japanese by default, unless explicitly told otherwise.
So let me ask this question then: if anime/manga go with style over ethnicity, then is it okay for a western-made film to do the same thing when adapting an anime? Is it okay for a western-made film based on an anime to use the same approach to casting that anime/manga artists use in character design? If not, why not?
O_o;; If you’ve no investment in the show or series, why bother 1. seeing it, 2. then make a video about it? Why not leave this to Sage, Snob-gumi or even domestic comic geek Linkara, who could at least compare it to other geek related films? This would have had a lot more punch had it been a twofer of her “Never Seen” and THEN “Just Saw”. For an anime fan, this is like somebody arriving to the conclusion Avatar: the Last Airbender is shit just from seeing what Shyamalan crapped out.
Um…did you even watch this video in it’s entirety? She said that watching this movie actually made her want to see the anime! Now if she had said that it most be bad because the movie was bad that would have been stupid, but she didn’t.
While it’s good to hear a compare and contrast, their are other reviewers who are surely going to do this if they haven’t already. But a lot of professional critic who had to review this movie have probably never any form of the anime either. No one reviewer should be expected to see every source material for every adaptation, especially if the same story or characters have been told in multiple forms. Do you have to know every prior incarnation of Batman comic, film, tv show etc. to make a video on the Lego: Batman movie?
I hope she does see the anime. She won’t regret it! It’s one of the best ones ever made. But she’s really gonna be surprised by how different (read: Better) it really is, and she’ll be impressed by Mary McGlynn. Sorry, ScarJo, but Mary McGlynn will now and forever be THE Major
The whole premise of both this show and the other one (Tamara’s Never Seen) is to give her honest reaction to the films in question. There’s no doubt that Ghost in the Shell has attracted a lot of attention, even among non-otaku, largely because it is an adaptation of a high profile anime/manga franchise. And I think such honest reactions are just as important as those of fans of the franchise. The film has to be able to appeal to new viewers as well as prior fans, because that’s part of the point of making something like this: to appeal to a larger audience.
Seriously? They’re talking about this film, which is garbage, not of the source material they are not familiar with.
I’m glad that they went into this without any existing prejudices so that certain idiots can’t claim that they’re just stupid weeaboos complaining because it’s not exactly like the anime.
I’m surprised you guys didn’t like it that much. I did not see that coming. O.O Still, this movie doesn’t appeal to me at all and maybe it’s because I haven’t seen any of the original. Despite the fact that I haven’t seen this movie, I’ll defend it in the facts that 1. anyone who is a cyborg probably would speak very blandly and 2. The whole Asian child becoming white robot works in the context of the story from what I can tell.
1. Being cyborg doesn’t affect a person’s emotional capacity. The Major is quite emotive in the original manga and Stand Alone Complex, and only stoic in the animated film because of her personal issues.
2. That plot point is completely pointless, most likely only added to raise a middle finger to the fans who complained about the whitewashing. Ofcourse barely anything about the plot makes any sense, so it’s just one poor decision among many.
Honestly, has a pure fan of Ghost In The Shell, the casting of ScarJo never really bothered me because, as a lot of people pointed out, she’s a cyborg. All of the liberties they took with the source material did. I was literally saying to myself in the theater, “Who the HELL is this character? That’s not her background! It didn;t happen that way! Her name is MOTOKO! Not Milla!” Hell, the actor who played Batou was the best part of the film
Maybe it was meant to be a reference to the Resident Evil films or something.
Now you lot need to watch the animated film. My guess, it elicits the same general reaction.
Series: totally different.
She needs to see BOTH, especially the anime. The anime is one of the best ones ever made and stars amazing Mary McGlynn! Sorry, ScarJo, you did the best you could with what you had, but Mary McGlynn IS the Major!
You should really do a “Tamara’s never seen” of the original Ghost in the Shell, and contrast the two. Since you will be seeing them in the opposite order than most you can give a unique perspective on the two.
I liked what Sage said about this movie–that it was like the studio handed them a collection of disparate scenes from the original movie, the 2002 series, the sequel to the original movie, and the newer miniseries and told them “Ok–connect these.” The nudity in the original film had a point, as someone else has said. The scene where she strips on the boat even had a point in the original: it was to show that Batou was the only person in the film, including herself, who didn’t objectify her. But, they cut his reaction for some reason, so it was just another scene from the original source.
Pretty much every other property of this franchise is MUCH more about the philosophy and delves pretty far into it. I actually feel betrayed because they turned this smart, philosophical anime into a mindless action film. Everything about the Major was changed and far for the worse. It was just a huge disappointment that felt like a betrayal because of how much I love the source material.