in the shell

Please, let us indulge in this wondrous conversation! Why is she the main?

Even in Innocence, where the whole scene was on Batou, and somewhat Togusa, the focus somehow made Motoko loom over the movie like the guardian angel that she was.

When we first saw motoko in motion, was her assassinating a diplomat by blowing his head into pieces, then vanishing in the blink of an eye. She beautifully leapt down the building, and then did something so grotesque in such an inhuman, and rather ruthless manner, that automatically the viewer is thrust into such immense admiration for the complex conundrum that her personality and actions prove to be.


In MMI, even, where she only appears at the near-very-end of the manga, she was still such a prevalent force, the story still working its way around her. How does she manage to do that? What is it that truly sparks her brighter than the rest? Why do we love her so much?

Lets hear it!


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I feel because it is our nature to persue that which we cannot have....

I have to say I've questioned why she was the main character before, mainly in innocence which could have quite easily have been carried entirely by batou as main protagonist without so much influence from Motoko, maybe even limiting her appearance to a minor cameo.

I think it's because she's something of a force of nature, with her actions mostly being guided by lofty moral imperatives, which from a practical standpoint are the dictate of pure reason, but on a more personal level can be seen as the divine(or higher purpose) whispering through her ghost. This when contrasted with the more earthly or human motivations and justifications of the other characters makes her viewpoint a more viable way of dealing with the large social changes that make up most of the storylines in the Ghost in the Shell universe.

This also relates to the mix of her graceful agility and grotesque actions, for such a character moved by this sort of motivations to work and be believable they have to be written as something more than human, something both magnificent and monstrous at the same time - or else they simply won't be believable as a human character with normal human concerns.

haha moral imperatives? I'm getting so pretentious in my old age, everyone knows she's the most important character because she's hawt.

I would imagine that she was developed first. then came everything else

Epiphany wrote:I would imagine that she was developed first. then came everything else

I think you are right. Similar to Appleseed Masamune Shirow wanted to create a strong female lead.

I disagree.

I personally like to think that the whole world was created, and motoko was the anti-parallel that summarized it all into one single being that not only represents that world, but also questions it and counters it.

Why Motoko is the main character? Quite simply, because she rocks!

alfonso2501 wrote:Why Motoko is the main character? Quite simply, because she rocks!

She honestly does.

I hope to see her in something new sometime soon. The live-action film would even be good, as long as I watch it on mute.


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marto_motoko wrote:as long as I watch it on mute.


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Put the japanese sound track for SSS on and watch the live action one

Epiphany wrote:

marto_motoko wrote:as long as I watch it on mute.


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Put the japanese sound track for SSS on and watch the live action one

That one had great music, but also some overly dramatic pieces that I didn't care for.


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