(just for the record, this is a slight alteration of my anime review)

GiTS, the story of an anti-terrorist group of men and cyborgs, as they prevent cyber crimes. And this is not even the tip of the iceberg. GiTS stands as most likely the best in overall and most influential cyberpunk work in manga and it is still a concept that was never surpassed in detail and attention by any other. Seriously, the Matrix trilogy looks like elementary school before it. Here is a list of all the awesome things you can find in this manga.

1) Great artwork and cinematics. Masamune Shirow simply loved to draw machines and cyber chicks and that shows in spades. Every frame is highly detailed, with masterful choreography in battles and explanatory charts explain brand new technologies and applications that never feel too hard to grasp. It gives you the feeling that it is all possible and probable, making you believe them as viable and not as mumbo jumbo magic technology like in other sci-fi works.

2) Great story and concepts. The blur between reality and virtual reality may feel commonplace today but this manga is from the oldest examples and still holds today as amongst the most mature and well-thought-of takes on the subject. In fact, many other directors, filmmakers, and mangakas admit they were heavily influenced by this work and any similarities may as well be considered as tribute to this one. Also, unlike most other variants on augmented or virtual reality which focus on a small concept or part of the world, here the idea covers all aspects of life, from society, to religion, to philosophy, to one’s personal search for identity and happiness. And in case you find the concept simplistic after all these years and how today all that are mainstream stuff, you can also “try” to read the second GiTS manga or the watch the second GiTS movie, where things are even harder to understand. Good luck to you; I lost track at some point and my organic hard drive crashed so I left it for another time.

3) Great characters. Motoko, Batou and Togusa are three very easy to understand yet complicating personalities, all a product of their era, affected by the ever-present technology yet still making their own personal choices. The manga is both about co-ops and fighting criminals, as well as existentialism dialogues and the distinction of reality from illusion. There are no clear bad guys and good guys either; everybody is either greedy or apathetic to the most part, so morality is not standing in the way. Mercenaries and company presidents and politicians, all of them just try to make the best of what they can in a world run by information and the power of stealth ends up being more effective than the power of guns.

A thing to take notice is that the movie and anime versions have a far different feeling, as the characters there are more serious. In the manga version they are rather comical and from time to time offer a few laughs, without ever ruining their credibility. That is not a problem as much as the loose plot between the various missions. The story is highly episodic and thus may feel a bit unexciting for those who prefer tight storytelling. I didn’t mind it much though and I still recommend it as one of the oldest and best cyberpunks ever created.