[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]
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Ghost in the Shell is a classic of Japanese animation (https://www.imdb.com/video/vi497074969/?playlistId=tt0113568&ref_=tt_ov_vi) which was recently made into a (poorly-received) Hollywood movie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_ghost%2520in). It tells a complex and philosophical story of cyborg (part human, part machine) detectives attempting to stop a series of murders. On the one hand, the movie asks deep questions about identity and what it means to be human; on the other hand, it paints the picture of a beautiful cyberpunk city accompanied by memorable music.
The Ghost in the Shell manga, by contrast, is less a philosophical text, and more an action/mystery/detective story. There are interesting SF elements, and the drawing is often busy and unique. While it is called “volume 1,” this book is actually a spin-off series of stories with secondary characters. As the author explains in his commentary in the back of the book, it may be better to just enjoy the atmosphere (including a lot of interesting casual and SF language) than to look for a comprehensible story. Also, there is a surprising amount of humor in these pages compared to the film.
My two cents: One of the most interesting features of this book is actually the very last three pages. They contain an index of the “SFX” (擬音語・擬態語) throughout the story and their English translations. It may be worthwhile just to look at those few pages on their own.
