Ghost in the Shell

One of the most critically acclaimed anime films of all time turns 30 this year.

Set only four years from now in 2029, Ghost in the Shell introduces us to Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cybernetic government agent. Kusanagi and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master”, a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together with her fellow agents from Section 9, Kusanagi embarks on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity.

Director Mamoru Oshii's award-winning cyber-tech thriller, based on the comic book by Shirow Masamune, is lauded as one of the greatest anime films ever made. Raising philosophical questions about the relationship between the mechanical and the biological, about sentience and mortality, Ghost in the Shell is a noted influential work for filmmakers including the Wachowskis, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. When preparing to make The Matrix, Lana and Lilly Wachowski reportedly showed the film to producer Joel Silver and said, “we want to do that for real.”