'Ghost in the Shell' is the smash hit manga by Masamune Shirow and the source material for two blockbusting movies directed by Mamoru Oshi, and a TV series (Stand Alone Complex). So what is all the fuss about? Why is it that when you say you have never heard of 'Ghost in the Shell' to another anime fan they look at you as though you've just made a rather nasty smell?

The story takes place in the year 2029 at a time when cybernation means that as long as you still have a few living brain cells you can control a prosthetic body or limbs. Not only this, but computerisation has lead to people being able to connect to one another through a vast advanced internet. Of course this leads to hacking, hackers can get into another persons body and control it making way for a new kind of terrorism. This is an age of international and national uncertainty, with hackers controlling terrorists, corrupt politicians and often violent marches for artificial intelligence rights (for robots and androids to have the same rights as a human) made by humans, Japan needs a force to protect its self.

Enter public security section nine, lead by the amazingly smart Arimaki, who being a bit old for the physical demands of some of the missions employs, the cybernetic female fatal Major Motoko Kusangi (second in command), the brawny cyberman Batou and the flesh and blood Togusa amongst others. They carry out often deadly and almost certainly dangerous missions to try and make Japan a safer place. Over roughly three hundred and fifty pages we see them tackle hacker crimes, regular crimes and fight mad robots/androids. They even cross paths with the super hacker known as the 'Puppet Master', someone who will not only challenge section nines crime solving skills but their friendships with each other, smash their preconceptions of life and challenge their views on what it is to be human.

The stories deal with politics, philosophy and the results of computerisation fairly heavily. This is not a very light story; there are a large number of notes from Shirow in-between the panels and a large number of footnotes towards the end of the book, explaining political or techno babble in the story and even giving sources for further reading. The story does have its light moments all the characters offer a bit of comic relief at various points of the manga and almost always from the Fuchikomas, the spider like robots section nine use in a number of missions (the Fuchikomas were redesigned for Stand Alone Complex and given the name Tachikoma). These light moments do not completely cover the large aspects of the story and if politics or philosophy isn't your strong points you may want to stay away from 'Ghost in the Shell'.

The artwork is distinctly that of Masamune Shirow, which is really a matter of personal taste but very rarely can subtract enjoyment form the overall storytelling.

'Ghost in the Shell' is a manga with quite a lot of depth (so is the first movie and part of Stand Alone Complex that I've seen) while rather heavy on preaching a message at times, the story is great and compelling. Make sure you look out for the second manga Ghost in the Shell 2: Man Machine Interface, when it's released in 2005.