The Ghost in the Shell 2 Deluxe Edition (The Ghost in the Shell Deluxe)

Shirow Masamune is a detailed author and illustrator. The cover should prove his skills with pen and editing software but the inside proves his range with backgrounds, submarines and more being very detailed and thought out. The book should have been left in original right to left format so that the art didn't get flipped. This edition is a standard western left to right format and some art was flipped and some art was left alone depending on the artist's opinion.The writing however steals the show for me. It will take a long time to read this and will introduce you to thought provoking ideas. Topics it covers include hacking, protecting yourself electronically in a interconnected world, underwater propulsion, the spirit, politics, and much more. Shirow Masamune has lots of ideas about the future on display like he always has (for example the original Ghost in the Shell manga or Black Magic or Orion). It will probably take multiple reads to catch all the connections and references to earlier parts of the story and to fully understand what happened. The translator did a great job on this manga.If you enjoy Shirow's work then I would also recommend the Battle Angel Alita series and the sequel Last Order series.

Is there a difference between humanity and machines? Is there really a difference between Religion and Science? What if everything we perceive is false, or perhaps it`s just a parlor trick with mirrors? Maybe not as good as Volume One and perhaps as the author says. This story isn`t really a sequel to Ghost in the Shell, or maybe it is the answer to Ghost in the Shell. You decide!

Ditto'ing the other reviews; this sequel is not quite a sequel, and is hard to follow. It pretty much differs from GitS 1 in every way to include story, art style (over a decade between releases) and even the chars.I was surprised to see well over half the comic in color! AND is by no means a small book.Shirow's mind is on an entirely different level when it comes to creating an intricate futaristic cyberworld. What I like about him is that he puts a lot of extra effort into explaining these futaristic Sci-Fi scenes and what is going through his head. (i.e. captions explaing certain scenes like why motoko said ___ or why her body is in place ___ or Shirow explaining what acronym ___ means).This is what makes GitS; it is mentally stimulating and, if not familiar with the GitS or underestimate the series, is down-right confusing. Though not for a casual reader *myself*, I don't have a problem just staring at the art while I read and re-read to understand what Shirow is thinking.If you at all:-like GitS-like a challenging read (this one's a doozey)AND-like comicsGet This.

While this volume is as imaginative and as well-thought-out as the preceding volumes (1 and 1.5) --- and perhaps more so in some ways --- as well as returning to the Major as being the main character (which had largely been abandoned in 1.5), I don't think it has much of what was charming about the preceding volumes. The Major has become almost entirely a virtual being as opposed to a physical one, which gives the story a very different flavor. Moreover, whatever is happening happens much more quickly and much more obscurely than in 1 and 1.5.I say "whatever is happening", because if your attention strays for a moment, you very quickly realize that you no longer actually know what's going on, and there's no way to pick up the thread of what's going on without rereading a significant amount of material. For example, there's so much mind-diving and interchanging of bodies that it's sometimes easy to become confused and forget that you're watching the Major at all. And the various techniques she uses while doing all of this are largely inexplicable. Probably they're all completely thought out by the author, but as far as the reader is concerned, the Major may just as well be shouting out "magic attack #1!", "magic attack #2!", and so on, and it would be just as meaningful.And there are other little points too, such as the fact that the new surrogates for the fuchikomas are simply not as cute or charming as the fuchikomas were, and are a million miles short of tachikomas. (Not that that's the author's fault, I suppose, since the tachikomas are from S.A.C. anyway, rather than Ghost in the Shell proper, but it does leave you wishing for more.)With that said, there's quite a lot to like about it, so that I feel rather guilty giving it only 3 stars ... but I'm afraid that's my assessment. I'm sure there are plenty of people for whom this volume would be the bees' knees.

I have never been interested in the whole anime genre but was curious about the 2017 movie coming out so decided to read GITS 1 and 2. I am not an expert in the anime/manga genre nor a writer so I'll keep my comments brief.Though this wasn't a direct continuation of the first volume's storyline it was just as intriguing. The plot line is good and I kept wanting to know what was coming next.There is a lot of detail that the author based in reality that helped tie the fictional technology together. The art work was terrific. I was a bit disappointed he discontinued the fuchikama as I thought they were interesting and good comic relief.This led me to was the animated movie from the 90's. Which was awesome.This book is definitely worth your while if you're curious about GITS or manga and are in the mood for some action and a wonderfully penned work.

Good condition

Got my 3 books today, no water damage or anything like that. I haven't owned any previous editions of the manga. This is my first time buying them. The hardcover is nice, it seems well made. When you see "sound effects" you assume there will be some sort of audio with the book - there isn't. Im pretty happy with the package all together but it's a shame there's no real new content based on the other reviewers statement.

Havn't got to this yet still on volume 1 but really nice looking thoe

I have to agree with retread, the visuals are excellent but if you take out the pseudo science techno babble the story could be covered in a bout 40 pages and what's left feels more like an introduction than a standalone.After the first book this was a disappointment

This is the highest quality erotic art with a superb sci fi theme. Graphics at the most detailed best.

A great addition to my collection.

Great manga, highly detailed with explanatory footnotes and great story.