AoY Podcast #80 – Ghost in the Shell 20th Anniversary Review (w/ Gerald Rathkolb)

Also known as: “Because porn doesn’t need plot, never does…”

Download Episode HERE! (Total Time: 1:43:27)

On November 18th, 1995, a certain anime film came out that changed the way we look at anime to this day. As anime fans, we owe it to a particular film for shaping how anime has been distributed and the limits on what it can become. We had to call in one of the big guns of anime podcasting, Gerald Rathkolb of the Anime World Order podcast, to discuss the impact that Ghost in the Shell left on the world since its release 20 years ago…

(0:00 – 16:40) Portrait of an Otaku – Gerald Rathkolb: Before we ever got into discussing Ghost in the Shell, we get to hear the backstory of how Gerald became an anime fan in the Virgin Islands. This brings is to know how much someone can hate windsurfing, what it took to own anime at your local Sam Goody, hating on Hanna-Barbera cartoons, how to FEEL THE ANIME POWER!, how the recorder isn’t a real instrument, and more.

(16:40 – 1:28:35) Review – Ghost in the Shell: Gerald takes us down memory lane going back 20 years at this point, where he explains how Ghost in the Shell affected the anime community at the time, and what brought in people to knowing anime. This of course gets us to talk about the Ghost in the Shell manga and other works by Masamune Shirow, and even say something about all the works of what came after Ghost in the Shell movie under the same name. We to spoil a bit of the film in terms of thematic elements of what Mamoru Oshii was putting into the film, which might actually make watching Ghost in the Shell much easier to watch and understand. Gerald pretty much stole the show, but both host just let Gerald tell his stories of high cyberpunk adventure. We also once again bring back the need for you listener to read Brian Ruh book. This of course gets off topic on the good ol’ days of anime being only sold at brick and mortar stores, discussing bloody Italian movies, how Digimon should be with the rest of the anime titles in your local video store, Mamoru Oshii as a director in general, Rumiko Takahashi is a HACK MANGA AUTHOR! THE TRUTH of Evangelion and Christianity, live action anime talk (here we go again…), Harmony Gold hate, Sci-Fi Channel anime censorship, and so much more…

(1:28:35 – 1:43:27) Closing Remarks: Gerald vents on how great Metal Gear Solid V is, which also led to Konami hate, how free to play games are terrible for you, Chris Chan and his transgender amiibos scam, Dustin getting a wisdom tooth pulled, and Dustin also calling out Gerald on his Giant Gorg review.

We should also note, Dustin was able to post up some Ghost in the Shell related things on the internet recently, where he posted the latest blog post at the Anime of Yesteryear Blog of the Animerica Ghost in the Shell issue, and also did a write up at his new blog The Cyber Funker mentioning briefly the impact of Ghost in the Shell. So check those links out!

Music Selection:

OP – Welcome to Newport City, 2029…

ED – The net is vast and infinite…

This show has: