Reviewed by: Becca & Jeff

Spoken Languages: Japanese, English

Published by: Manga

In the year 2029, the world is made borderless by the net; augmented humans live in virtual environments, watched over by law enforcement that is able to download themselves into super-powered, crime busting mecha.

The ultimate secret agent of the future is not human, has no physical body and can freely travel the information highways of the world, hacking and manipulating whatever and whenever required.

The agent, created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is designated code name Project 2501 and distanced from them under the pseudonym 'The Puppet Master.' 2501 seems to be the perfect solution to their international espionage requirements. Everything runs smoothly until this prototype virtual agent concludes it is a life form in its own right 'born in a sea of information' and requests political asylum and true physical existence in defiance of its creator.

The race is on to recapture the Top Secret Project 2501 before it succeeds in finding a host body and escapes for good. What the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hasn't counted on is the Puppet Master's cunning and reserve. It has threatened to expose their illegal creation (itself) to the Internal Bureau of Investigations who are unaware of its source, and regard the Puppet Master as a Grade A priority security threat. The two agencies maneuver discreetly against one another in a violent, high-tech race to capture the ever changing omnipresent Puppet Master.

The Internal Bureau is unaware of the Puppet Master's persuasive ability to offer seductive hints at true freedom to their semi-cybernetic human agents, who are forced to question their own validity as human beings. One of these agents, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is a highly trained female agent sent to counter the Puppet Master's threat, will have to make the ultimate decision when the Puppet Master suggests a merger with her.

While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are engaged in direct explosive confrontation, Kusanagi must decide if she will fulfill the Puppet Master's ultimate objective to become truly human and exist outside of the Electronic Net.

That is one long description! *walks away* Huh? Oh yeah my opinion on this anime. Ok, I guess you can have it, since I am sure you are dying to know. I thought this movie started out rather slow, then towards the end it picked up. The main character, Motoko, needed to be a tad bit more in depth but all in all I did get close to her.

The explainations worked well in this movie, they could of cut back on the scientific jargon. It left all my answers sealed, and I was able to walk away with that at least. I didn't like the end of this movie at all, was rather ridiculous if not humorous. The dubbing was fantastic, and thank goodness they stayed away from the love aspect of anime. We all know how bad that can get. I really don't have much to say about this movie without completely ruining the entire thing for you. It's worth the energy to watch it and live through the first half, I'll promise you that much.

This has to be one of my favorite animes of all time. It has everything that I look for in a good anime: Action (lots of it), deep story (thoroughly engrossing), and a naked chick who kicks LOTS of @$$. Like Becca said, the main character does tend to lack some depth, and I thought the same thing. Her character was a little flat throughout the first half of the movie.

The idea this movie contains (without spoiling it) is very interesting, and at times confusing. Most of the confusion however is cleared up quite well by the end. This movie puts a whole new spin on what the internet means to us, and what it will mean to us in the future; What makes something alive; and many medical/technological marvels, and how far they can go.

If you are not the kind of person who can sit through a rather uneventful first half, I would not recommend this one for you, however, if you like a very intriguing story, and lots of well done action sequences, check this one out.