The Ghost in the Shell 1 Deluxe Edition

The year: 2029. The situation: Government Cyber-brainwashing facility out of hand. Solution: Major Kusanagi.
The year: 2029. The situation: Terrorist hunting to kill Major Kusanagi. Solution: Major Kusanagi herself.
Situation: Illegal cyborg production involves copying of children's minds. Solution: Major Kusanagi.
Major Kusanagi is a anti-terrorist agent with a twist, she's a Ghost in the Shell. Fending off government conspiracies, terrorist vendettas and garbagemen, Kusanagi is a female cyborg to be reckoned with.
A tough read, it will take some readers twice to form any idea of continuity. Ghost in the Shell is tightly woven, and definately not a casual coffeetable book. Shirow's attention to detail and actually exciting art will make you come away with an appreciation for his work, it is immaculate.

A world of complex technology where the soul lies within the casing of a cyborg shell, people have exchanged there natural human body for a form of metal orgy, and electronic media. Where hacking is amongst the highest crimes committed by an individual. Humanity at immortalities door. This is the central core of Masamune Shirow's masterpiece: Ghost In The Shell. It is perhaps the greatest comic ever created because it glimmers with mastery at every turn, of every page. The characters are well developed and display real relationships such as when the main character, a woman cyborg owned by the government (note: this populous have bodies that have cyborg elements, but to become nearly 100% cyborg is very expensive cos of the maintennance involved. So there are a few people in this world that are nearly complete machines with only the spinal cord and brain being the only thing in them thats is flesh and tissue. In fact, the brain can't be duplicated to perfection by this society so even if one character wanted to be a complete cyborg, it would be inpossible in their time frame. The only complete mechaniize hominid in appearance are Tommies, and they're not human at all. Just androids.), Major Motoko Kusanagi, tells her men that it's time to get back to work and that after they're done she'll take them to a strip joint. Not the best example but here is a better one: near the last few pages, after you'll have to read about, Motoko, in a brain case and no way of seeing the outside world asks her #1 man,Batou to explain to her what is going on, he replies, "Some young stud is having his way with your body right now." Sorry for the implied sexual violence but you'll have to really read this comic to understand the joke behind it. Hopefully I did not break the commandment of spoon feeding plots and situations. If I did it is for a good cause since I don't know any other way to get newcomers to read this master work. Once you've read it you'll wonder why comics here are such rubbish. Even the average Japanese comic is more interesting. After all Japan is the most literate nation on th globe and they consume comics, which they call manga, from yougest age to oldest age. No shame in being thirty-five and reading comics on the subway over there. In fact manga has become a source of inspiration for some of Japan's mainstream films, and animation is usually the form it is seen in. So if the Japanes, whom probably have the highest collective IQ in the world, deem Shirow as here in the States as one of the great creators of comics, then more Americans can surely check out his work and hopefully appreciate his work. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You're probably wondering about the sentence above: Dubbing, a crime from the far future. Well, get the comic and find out what I mean. And if you do get it, as you read it remember Deckard, remember the unicorn.

[...] Notably, this TPB edition includes the original adult-rated pages edited from the U.S. first edition, will be 6" x 9" format, and shrink-wrapped with an 18+ age advisory.

=====
Ghost in the Shell Volume 1 2nd edition TPB
By: Shirow Masamune
Genre: Classic, Action/Adventure, Manga

Format: Soft cover, 368 pages, b&w w/color, 6" x 9"
Age range: 18+
ISBN: 1593072287

* Ghost in the Shell 2nd edition will carry an 18+ age advisory and be shrink-wrapped.

Ghost in the Shell Volume 1 returns! This second edition features the original Japanese size and additional material not published in previous U.S. editions!

Deep into the 21st century, the line between man and machine has been inexorably blurred as humans rely on the enhancement of mechanical implants and robots are upgraded with human tissue. In this rapidly converging landscape, cyborg super-agent Major Motoko Kusanagi is charged to track down the craftiest and most dangerous terrorists and cybercriminals, including "ghost hackers," capable of exploiting the human/machine interface by re-programming human minds to become puppets to carry out their criminal ends. When Major Kusanagi tracks the cybertrail of one such master hacker, the Puppeteer, her quest leads her into a world beyond information and technology where the very nature of consciousness and the human soul are turned upside-down and inside-out.[...]

Masamune Shirow is known for many differnet kinds of Manga, but none as incredibly well done as Ghost in The Shell. The movie company "Manga" brought the GiTS Manga onto Video, but the graphic novel outdoes the movie by a long shot. Being writen, the character's dynamics and art make the book beautiful as well as very in depth. Also the storyline alone is enough to go into Manga history. ANYBODY who has had ANY exposure to Anime and/or Manga should read Masamune Shirow's finest work to date, Ghost in The Shell.

About 10 years ago (around 1990's), Successfully Shirow Masamune predicted near future of our world. Namely, major battle mode goes to terrorism.
This work do not contain magic and supernatural power. All gadget items are on possible extension of today's technology (in the head of Shirow). In this point of view, Shirow is newer generation than Otomo.
But, after I saw Ghost in the Shell volume 2 in Japanese, I have to prefer vol 2. (Reason of 4 stars)
This work is future dream of 10 years ago. But still I like this hard-boiled.

This is the ultimate Ghost in the Shell manga! The 2nd edition has 18+ rating and so it includes original adult content :-) Also it's printed on a really quality paper with A5 dimensions so it's quite handy and nice. For GitS fans who don't have the 1st edition this is a must buy. Go for it you won't be disappointed ^_^

After seeing the movie, I simply expected the comic to be better than anything could possibly be. Kinda funny, since it didn't let me down. It was better than I could have imagined. Shirow tells a story containing beautiful cyborg women, cute fuchikomas, complex political incidents and thoughts about the meaning of owning a ghost.

While the book is an exceptional print and much of the story is consistent with previous editions, there are two jarring details that keep this from being a "must buy"

Firstly, scenes of "adult content" that are very important to the development of characters and of the universe have been cut from this edition. It's not a lot of content that is missing, but the edit interrupts the flow of the story and is heartbreaking for lovers of the original Japanese version.

Secondly, in tandem with the scenes removed, some dialogue has been rewritten/retranslated to make up for the cut content and to soften the universe as a whole. Again, for dedicated fans of Shirow Masamune this hurts the feel and tone of the book overall.

Masamune Shirow is the greatest. One of the ways I can back my opinion up is with Ghost In The Shell. This book is much like the anime, but has more detail. If you like the anime get the book, and if you like the book get the anime! Great work Shirow, keep it up!^_^