GRAPHIC NOVEL
Ghost in the Shell 2
Man-Machine Interface

Author: Shirow Masamune
Artist: Shirow Masamune
Titan Books
RRP £19.99
ISBN 1 84023 767 8
Available 25 February 2005


March 6, 2035. Motoko Aramaki is a hyper-advanced cyborg, a counter-terrorist net security expert heading the investigative department of the giant multinational, Poseidon Industrial. Partly transcending the physical world and existing in a virtual world of networks, Motoko is a fusion of multiple entities and identities, deploying remotely controlled prosthetic humanoid surrogates around the globe to solve a series of bizarre crimes. Meanwhile, Tamaki Tamai, a psychic investigator from the Channelling Agency, has been commissioned to investigate strange changes in the temporal universe, brought about by two forces, one represented by the teachings of a professor named Rahampol, and the other by the complex, evolving Motoko entity. What unfolds will be all in a day's work... a day that will change everything, forever...

For fans of the original Ghost in the Shell graphic novel, Man-Machine Interface is not a continuation, as such. As writer/illustrator Shirow Masamune states in his foreword, this story is set around five months after Ghost in the Shell, and is concerned with a different organisation to that in the first collection.

There are more colour pages in this collection than Ghost in the Shell, and also a lot more erotic illustrations. These are usually in the form of half/completely naked girls, but also feature that other Japanese obsession - girls in white panties. Actually, I'd say that a good 80% of this book has erotic imagery and most of it is unnecessary. To some that will be a bonus, to others a distraction, but however you view it, it doesn't detract from the fact that this is an engaging collection.

If you a fan of Manga, then you need to make sure you order this now.

Pete Boomer

Buy this item online
We compare prices online so you get the cheapest deal! Click on the logo of the desired store below to purchase this item.


£13.99 (Amazon.co.uk)
   
£19.99 (Countrybookshop.co.uk)
   
£15.19 (Studentbookworld.com)

All prices correct at time of going to press.