Can machines fall in love?
In the 13th and 14th Century A.D., there was a legendary sword smith in feudal Japan named Goro Nyudo Masamune. Known as one of the greatest in all of the land, he was the winner of many awards for his immaculate craftsmanship and detailing. It is said that each of his swords had a story to tell and that he loved his inanimate swords, crafting them like he would mold his own children. He passed on this experience as contextualized lessons to his many students who would go on to succeed their master as some of the finest sword smiths of Japan.
Masanori Ota, the Japanese writer and illustrator who created the manga series ‘Ghost in the Shell’, is better known by his pen name Masamune Shiro. His name was inspired by the legendary sword smith and that is not all that he inspired in him. Masanori Ota wanted to achieve similar degrees of excellence in the detailing of his stories. His characters had to feel universal, authentic and relate-able. Even though their fields of work are poles apart, their desire to have each of their creations tell a fascinating story is the thread that ties both these artists together.
‘Ghost in the Shell’ is set in a unspecified time during the 21st century, in the fictional New Port City, where the human body can be augmented. Dysfunctional parts of one’s anatomy can be replaced with suitable prosthetic parts, including the parts of the brain. Memory implants are common and wireless communication has been upgraded to selective telepathy. The original manga series (then adapted into an anime, movies and video games) tells the story of a special task force in the police department of New Port City. It is an armored unit that has the elite commanders and officers of the police force. They are tasked with suppressing major crimes and digital terrorists who wreak havoc across the city.
This special unit, called the Public Security Section 9, is headed by Chief Aramaki. His trusted hands at work are Major Motoko Kusanagi and her deputy Batou. They carry out Chief Armaki’s orders as told, but not always. There are others too, but these are the two main characters in the fables of Section 9.
Major Kusanagi had suffered a horrible accident when she was a child and most of her body is augmented, making her an advanced and highly skilled cyborg with soul of a tortured and abused child. Because of the advanced degree of augmentation, she is also highly susceptible to attacks from digital terrorists. As a result, being at risk almost always, she looks at things in a different way than most others. She spends most of her time on her own and dwells upon the realities that haunt her and the world she operates in. She is hailed by many as a capable enforcer and detested by others, especially those who believe she is given higher privileges because Chief Aramaki’s has a ‘soft corner’ for her.
Batou is Major Kusanagi’s deputy. He too is a highly augmented cyborg (but not to the same degree as the Major). He was always a loner and after being deputized to Major Kusanagi, he finds purpose in his work as an investigator (outside of being a brute and a muscle man). The Major respects him for his commitment and gives him enough leeway to step into her private life. Some times.
While story of Ghost in Shell majorly revolves around the difficult villains that the Section 9 task force has to fight and nullify, there are some very interesting dynamics between the characters that make the story even more fascinating.
One of these stories is the subtle love story between Major Kusanagi and Batou. Even though the both of them are, in every sense of the term, cyborgs, they still exhibit insecurities, feelings and emotions that one would relate to the human condition.
Batou longs to be in the Major’s company, dwell on her philosophical thoughts with her and save her every time he gets a whiff of lurking danger. Major Kusanagi, on the other hand, is on search for answers to her philosophical questions. Sometimes, she leaves the world behind in her search. But when she returns, the only person she truly feels comfortable confiding in is Batou. Even though their personalities are firmly opposite to one another, they find comfort only in each other’s company, even if it is for a fleeting moment after years of separation. Its almost as if the minutest of contact with one another allows them to keep moving forward, in this long lifetime that they have been blessed/cursed with.
As is mentioned so many times throughout the manga/anime/movies/video games, they look at their life through the prism of the work that they do. In a lonely futuristic Japan, the notion of love is far flung and a deterrent to the work of the Section 9 Task Force. They are reminded constantly to keep a hold of their wits by Chief Aramaki to repel any sort of danger from digital terrorists.
In the movie series, directed by Mamoru Oshii, the Major transforms into a new being after fusing with one of the most dangerous villains of the series called the Puppet Master. Batou is not just distraught but he is shell shocked when he learns of the Major’s decision to continue evolving with the Puppet Master, away from Section 9, away from him. The idea that he won’t see her again in the same form as before drives a metaphorical ‘stake through his heart’. Like a rejected lover, he goes into his own cave of darkness. He loses the motivation to be the ardent deputy that he used to be. But when he stumbles upon the chance to come in contact with her again, he jumps atthe opportunity. And just like long lost lovers, when they meet again, they know exactly how to appease the other. In this relationship, it is by watching the other’s back till the enemy has been decimated.
Once done, they say their good byes and head back down their respective paths. Just that one moment, a few minutes, was enough for them to keep going. A single touch is enough to fill the heart with enough purpose. For many, that is the definition of true love.
In Ghost in the Shell, also known as Mobile Armed Riot Police, Masanori Ota/Shirow Masamune has achieved the detailing that was demanded by the one who inspired him. His stories are very well detailed and thoroughly relate-able, one of them being the unsaid love story of Major Motoko Kusanagi and Batou. Throughout the series, there are enough moments of love, hate, acceptance, rejection, innocence and maturity that one would associate with any human relationship.
