After the Long Goodbye

Masaki Yamada provided my entertainment during my business trip to Florida this week with “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, After the Long Goodbye.” There are only a few titles out there that have had a huge impact and effect in my life and the way I view everything, I add “Ghost in the Shell” to that list, right below “Evangelion.” To be more precise, it has always been on my list, but after reading this, “Ghost in the Shell” has gotten a huge boost.

The short description on the back cover of “After the Long Goodbye” does absolutely no justice whatsoever to revealing the true eloquence and deep philosophies of the actual story. “After the Long Goodbye” is the prequel to the “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” film. On the surface of it all, we have Batou searching for his only companion (after "losing" Motoko), his dog Gabriel. But within this seemingly simple surface, lies a world of discovery and uncertainty - the philosophies and dualities of life. The Motifs and themes of the story all relate to innocence, purity, identity, the soul, the self, feelings, love, and memories. In a world of cyborgs and the most advanced technology questions, the make-up of humans is broken down in the most minute details, including how a thought is processed. The areas of uncertainties lie in the soul. As we follow Batou, the meanings of identity and innocence are explored and analyzed. In the end, the journey to identify the existence of a soul could reveal emptiness and render it pointless. Could it be that we all are ghosts in a shell apart from our innocent forms?

This novel is written beautifully and is definitely one of a kind. I recommend this to all fans of GitS. A synopsis that captures the novel in its entirety is almost impossible. The only way to understand is to read it. So that being said, I invite you to pick up “After the Long Goodbye.”