| about
trismugistus.com
and digital-bondage.net
are my web sites.
trismugistus.com
is where I upload my anime, manga and tv&film reviews,
and also where I occasionally post short stories and longer
works I've written.
digital-bondage.net
is my wallpaper site and provides anime, manga and other
desktop wallpapers in a variety of resolutions. I also
have a few tutorials and some resources, such as psds
for you to download.
I also run a site called scan-city.org,
which provides scans from the latest japanese anime magazines
for you to download and use in your wallpapers.
You can also read my blog here
or check out my anime list here. |
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| ghost in the shell: man-machine
interface review |
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| details |
| The Genre: Science Fiction |
| The Format: 11 * 32 page comics (colour and
b&w) |
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| The plot: March 6, 2035 -- four and half years
since cyber-cop Motoko Kusanagi joined with an artificial
intelligence and quit the 9th Police Squad. Now,
a hyper-advanced cyborg called Motoko Aramaki --
a fusion of multiple entities and identities --
heads the investigative department of the giant
multi-national, Poseidon Industrial, deploying remotely
controlled humanoid surrogates around the globe
as on-the-ground agents. When a herd of specially-bred
pigs used to clone human organs for transplant are
slaughtered, Motoko dispatches herself through cyberspace
and utilizing surrogate cyborgs at far-flung locales
to do the heavy lifting, Motoko hunts down the attackers,
battling online and on the ground, but there may
be more to the mystery than meets the eye...even
the all-seeing eye of artificial intelligence. No
work of graphic fiction you've ever experienced
can prepare you for the mind-warping journey that
is Man-Machine Interface. |
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| back
to top |
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| opinion |
| You know how you read reviews sometimes and
they proclaim things like “greatest ever”
and “sets a new standard” or “everything
else will be benchmarked against this” and
then you get to see the thing yourself and it’s
not all that? Well I’m afraid I’m going
to have to say all three of those things, but hopefully
if you pick up copies of MMI you will agree with
me.
Man-Machine Interface is the sequel to the phenomenally
successful Ghost in the Shell manga, which you're
probably more familiar with than you think ads it's
been ripped off left right and centre by everyone
and the Wachowskis. It follows on directly from
GitS, a few years down the line and focuses on one
Motoko Aramaki.
In the years since GitS, Shirow has developed a
not inconsiderably talent for (and love of) CGI.
As such, the most striking aspect of MMI is the
look. It’s an absolute visual tour de force,
with hardly a page that isn’t visually stunning
and generally gorgeous. |
That’s not to say that all of the
pages feature digital images, but a good chunk
do, and it’s interesting to see him
blending the digital and analogue worlds with
such phenomenal skill. Similarly, the addition
of colour, undertaken by Shirow since the
publication of the original work, has only
been selectively applied.
This means that there are several points
where the action shifts from colour to black
and white and then back again. Whereas normally
you would expect this to be a straight change,
on occasion Shirow chooses to use a gradual
shift between the two. It’s this kind
of attention to detail that really marks MMI
out as something special- and Shirow as a
bit of genius.
As a bit of a Shirow nut (you hadn't guessed
alread?), I’d already purchased one
of the Japanese editions of the manga. Since
this is a western edition, there are of course
several differences. The first and most obvious
is that it’s printed flopped (left to
right instead of right to left), with English
sfx and dialogue, and in a larger format. |
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Now my personal take on the whole “authentic
manga” thing is that it’s a bit of a
mixed bag. I prefer reading the manga in the original
direction, but not being able to read the sfx (I
cannot read Japanese) is incredibly annoying. The
bigger western format is definitely a bonus here,
as well.
There is also a divergence in content. The original
features several saucy scenes, which are in keeping
with Shirows recent output of quite hard material
(the poster book collection, for example). These,
with one slightly odd exception, have been dumped,
but as they really weren’t integral to the
actual story it’s no great shakes. Those that
are interested can find them with a quick google
search, I’m sure. Oh, and you should note
that Shirow himself made these edits, rather than
Dark Horse. |
 |
Now if there’s one thing Shirow draws well
it’s beautiful girls and mechs. Whilst MMI
has a distinct lack of the traditional Shirow power
suits and mechs it has an absolute deluge of pretty
young things. Indeed, if there’s one criticism
that could be levelled at this comic it’s
about the amount of flesh on show and the sheer
volume of panty shots.
Well, ok, there are two criticisms - MMI is incredibly
difficult to really understand. |
 |
I’ve read it through myself around 6 times
now, and there’s still a lot of it that I
really don’t get. It’s not that I don’t
understand the fundamental story, or even the detailed
bits. What I don’t understand is the jargon.
The dialogue is absolutely packed with gibberish,
so while you can pick up what’s going on fairly
easily, knowing exactly what’s being said
is a bit tricky. This, then, will act as a turn
off for many, but for me it’s a great excuse
to keep re-reading :). |
 |
There’s also very little proper action
in MMI. Whereas you expect Shirows stuff to
contain plenty of gunplay there almost none
in this. There are also only a few bits of
hand-to-hand combat. However, one of these
fights especially is unbelievably detailed
and features all sorts of interesting visual
depictions.
Shirow depicts the fight using what is effectively
a heads up display. Movements are predicted
and motion vectors calculated via software,
with visual aids used to represent these.
It’s really difficult to explain, but
it all makes sense when you see it.
Instead of action, the work is very cerebral
in nature and takes place predominantly in
a virtual world. And in true Shirow form we
have a rather long-winded bit of reasoning
as to why Motoko is effectively naked in this
virtual world. I mean, she isn't quite, but
she's definitely not clothed. Now this isn't
a problem for me, but you might want to think
twice if you're of a particularly prudish
bent. |
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You know, the problem with things that are amazingly
good is it’s really difficult to write an
in-depth review. Which means it must be time for
me to go, but just before I do:
Man Machine Interface sets a new standard in graphical
fiction. For me, everything else will be benchmarked
against this from now on. Simply stunning.
Well, I did warn you I was going to say stuff like
that :). |
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| back
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| summary |
| The Summary: Simply the greatest work of graphic
fiction ever produced. |
| The Score: 5/5 |
| The Pictures:
(click for larger versions) |
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