This review won't contain spoilers, meaning I won't discuss plot details, but I will discuss some ideas and concepts, which may spoil things, so read at your own risk. Although, I think, if you haven't seen the films I'm about to mention here, none of it would make sense anyway. I wanna start by saying, I feel like there's been some sort of technophobia going around in the 90s-early 00s Japan. While watching this film, I couldn't help, but draw parallels with some horror films that came out not a long time after it. Specifically I wanna name Ringu, Pulse and Marebito. Although Ghost in the Shell is not a horror film, it does have some horror vibes and that existentialist bleak message, which is very comparable with those films mentioned. As in Ringu and Pulse we see supernatural reaching out (admittedly in different ways) to humans through artificial, and as we see human reaching out to supernatural through artificial in Marebito, we see artificial reaching out to humans through almost "supernatural" in Ghost in the Shell. If you've seen the film, the initial event, that causes the attempt at contact, cannot really be called normal, so it comes as a shock to the audience, cause we never expect it. It's always fascinating how one film can make you think of other ideas explored in other films, that you've never thought about. How I can now see the themes of losing human identity in the face of technological advancement in those supernatural horror films now (e.g. in Marebito the desire to see the horror for real, cause the tape isn't satisfying enough). All of them seem to convey the idea of Nature vs. Technology in one way or another. Only, GitS goes a bit further, by showing the artificial becoming the natural, and the natural becoming the artificial, so the roles are switched. If you pay close attention, the most "human" characters in this film are the least biological. Also, similar to those horror films I mentioned, this one seems to hint at the apocalypse of sorts. In this case, the upcoming extinction of human race as we know it. I've seen this film 3 years ago and didn't really understand it, but I'm glad I rewatched, cause now I consider it a masterpiece. P. S. It also feels a bit like the creators hint at the threat of major chinese immigration to Japan. I dunno if this was intended, or I'm reading too much into it, but it's full of kanji characters with latin transliterations of chinese names on a lot of them. Tell me if you know. P. P. S. Oh yeah, and this film would be very relevant right now, with the whole identity crises / gender issues going on around. Well, I suppose that's why they made the hollywood live action one. Though I haven't seen it, so I dunno if they tackle this issue in it.