Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence: After the Long Goodbye Novel Review
Before I review Innocence, Mamoru Oshii’s 2004 follow up to his 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie, I thought it might be fun to look at the little-known prequel novel that fits neatly between both films, occurring immediately prior to the beginning of Innocence. Whereas Oshii had previously written his own tie-in novels for his films, such as for Avalon, this time he surrendered writing duties to his friend, the Nihon SF Taisho and Seiun award-winning Masaki Yamada, an author he greatly admired. Its publication preceded Innocence’s Japanese theatrical release by one week.
Yamada’s other work comprises multiple other novels, of which Aphrodite was published in English in 2004, while he also wrote the source novel for 1990’s alternate history mecha OVA series Kishin Corps (released as Kishin Heidan on UK VHS — does anyone else but me own a copy of this? I’ve never met anyone else who ever heard of it…) Apart from long out-of-print short SF story collection Silver Bullet and Other Tales, there’s not a whole lot else of his works avaliable in English.
Oshii granted Yamada carte blanche to write pretty much whatever he wanted, and having been given access to a rough cut of Innocence during production, he settled on an intimate psychological case study of Batou, Major Kusanagi’s former partner. Of course, Batou is the main protagonist of Innocence, so this makes sense. Yamada’s goal appears to be to explain Batou’s state of mind at the opening of the film.
After the Long Goodbye feels very different to any other GitS media I’ve experienced so far. It’s narrated in the first person, granting us access to Batou’s innermost thoughts, preoccupations and worries. Compared to his depiction in the previous movie and the TV series, this version of Batou is troubled, introspective, and only grudgingly social. Following the Major’s disappearance he’s become depressed and isolated, going through the motions with his work, and relying only on the love of his pet dog Gabriel (here shortened to “Gabu”).
Great long stretches of the book detail Batou’s doubts about his own humanity, his capacity for love, and even the validity of his experiences. His perceived abandonment by the Major has left him pining for her, seeing her face superimposed on other characters, seeking out her presence in his interactions with strangers. It’s quite a dense read, and it takes about a third of its length for the plot to even really get started. I’ll admit I found it quite difficult to get into, though it does become much more compelling later.
Yamada’s take on cyborgs is significantly different to the rest of the franchise. The movie and TV shows take pains to elaborate that while Batou’s and the Major’s bodies are fully synthetic, their brain tissue is not. Cyberbrains (or “e-brains” in this novel) should still contain organic material, directly interfaced with neurochips and housed in a protective metal or ceramic shell. In this novel, Batou belives that cyborgs’ brains are no longer organic, they no longer function via the mediation of organically-secreted neurotransmitters, hormones no longer have an effect, and these physiological mechanisms are merely simulated by software. Now, in my nitpicky SF fan mind, what Yamada is describing here is in fact an android’s mind, or at the very least a copied or synthesised human intelligence. We know this isn’t how GitS’ world usually works though, so his reliance on these concepts proved somewhat distracting to me, and made me wonder if Yamada had even read the source material, or watched the original film.
Compounding Batou’s general malaise and identity crisis is the fact that his e-brain is hacked quite early on, and from that point onwards all of his experiences are then put into question. He interacts with strange characters who may or may not be real. When his e-brain is “re-formatted”, Gabu goes missing shortly afterwards — he worries this is because perhaps Gabu thinks that Batou no longer has a soul, and as an empty doll can no longer truly love. Dogs are portrayed as creatures capable of perfect love that outclasses that of humans, or cyborgs. Batou is devastated (or at least his e-brain simulates devastation) that Gabu is missing, and begins to take increasingly risky actions in order to locate and retrieve her.
It’s during this latter part of the novel, once Batou’s investigation is under way, that we approach much more familiar GitS territory. This section of the story could almost have been adapted as a Stand Alone Complex episode, with Batou conducting an investigation into a crooked dog racing company run by the Chinese mafia. He faces up against a multi-ped tank, a scarred hired assassin with throat cancer whose speech is heavily distorted, and a corrupt fast food company whose entire fortune is reliant on the augmented tasting skills of a brain-damaged adolescent. There’s a lot of interesting concepts here, and some appropriately colourful and dangerous characters.
As a detailed study of a very damaged version of Batou, it works well, though I don’t really recognise him as the character from the rest of the franchise. His behaviour in Innocence is similar to this book however, as he spouts far more philosophy and seems more prone to introspection than he did in the first film. In common with both films, there is minimal humour, plus the other characters barely appear. Togusa shows up once or twice mainly to hint about the movie’s backplot (there are a series of Gynoid-committed murders that Section 9 are keeping an eye on), and the final scene leads straight into Innocence.
Although it’s hardly an essential read, and I’m not convinced it’s at all necessary to understand Batou’s character arc in Innocence, for anyone who is a fan of Oshii’s films, it’s worth checking out. It’s an intelligently-written novel, introspective and thought-provoking. In tone it’s far removed from the original manga and sits awkwardly amongst the rest of the franchise. It’s also horribly out of print, and you’ll be looking at around 50 dollars on Amazon to pick up a copy. Thanks to Oxfam’s online bookstore for selling their copy to me at a (somewhat) more sensible price!
Next, I’ll move on to review Innocence itself. Thanks for reading, and see you again soon!
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence: After the Long Goodbye
Author: Masaki Yamada
Illustrations: Daigo Shinma, Keita Saeki
Translator: Yuji Oniki, Carl Gustav Horn
Based on: Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow
JP publisher: Tokuma Shoten
JP publication date: 29th February 2004
US publisher: Viz Media
US publication date: 4th October 2005
Language: English
Pages: 196
ISBN 13: 978–1–4215–0156–7
