Getting To Know The Story Of Ghost In The Shell

In the original Manga created by Masamune Shirow, Major Kusanagi is on the hunt for a cyber-criminal who is "ghost hacking" - hacking into and taking control of human minds. The Major works for Public Security Section 9, a special operations task force comprised of former military and police officers, who specialize in political intrigue and counter-terrorism.

The criminal is known as "The Puppeteer" and is quite difficult for the Major to track down. Over the course of her team's investigations it becomes clear that The Puppeteer is not just an ordinary hacker. In fact this criminal is actually a very unique and highly sophisticated autonomous artificial intelligence. It was created by the "Treaty Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs", which is also called Section 6.

The Puppeteer seems to be trying to evolve, and grow beyond its initial programming. As it does so, it seeks to merge with Major Kusanagi. While she is highly skeptical at first, the Major eventually agrees to allow the AI to merge with her consciousness.

In this version we again see Major Kusanagi hunting the mysterious hacker, this time called "Puppet Master". She discovers in the first few scenes that a foreign diplomat's interpreter had been hacked by the criminal. She killed the diplomat just as a Section 6 strike team interrupted the meeting, then disappears through the use of her optic camouflage system.

She returns to the Chief of Section 9 to report her findings. Her team determines the hacker to be a garbageman at first, but after further investigation find another culprit. The chase this man down only to discover he too was a puppet, ghost-hacked by the true criminal.

When a cybernetic body is assembled without authorization, Section 9 retrieves it and begins to investigate. They are cut short when Section 6 comes to claim the body. It is then they discover the "ghost" present in that body is actually the Puppet Master. It identifies itself as "Project 2501", an illegal project of Section 6 which has installed various programs throughout multiple cybernetic bodies. It claims it has grown self aware, but the agencies argue whether or not this is actually just a bug in the software.

After a great deal of struggle, the Major is eventually convinced to merge her consciousness with that of the Puppet Master.

This TV series follows the same overall plot as the manga and anime movie versions, though this show is considered an "alternate and separate" story-line. It further expounds upon the Major's career, as well as Section 9 and its methods. The series also retains more of the different plot-lines from the original manga than the anime feature-film did.

Here we get to follow the Major's team more closely, and get to know each of them and their respective roles better. Things are typically explained in a way that is easier to digest and follow. Making this one my personal favorite version of the story. If you haven't gotten around to it yet then I highly recommend you sit down and watch this one!