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Shangri-La is a weird show to me because I honestly can't tell who this show is for. With a long list of story lines and plot threads all mashed up together, all trying to tell there own stories with varied tones and subject matter, you would think in all of that there would at least be something you can like about this show, or at very least something positive to take away from it. In actuality this show feels like what was intended to be many different ideas that were intended to have their own series devoted to them got crammed together like some sort ... of anime soup. I don't mean to take away from the writer though, in actuality I thought that many of the plot elements in this show had potential.

What could have been is sort of the tune I'll be singing to though. From the very start of episode one I felt this way. At first it seems like a interesting take on the post apocalyptic setting, In which the worlds polar ice caps are melting at such an alarming rate that populations across the world are forced to consolidate their living space and leave most big cites to be taken over by the forest out of necessity to keep the worlds carbon balance at bay. This show also shows what a word economy based on carbon would be like, these are actually some of the most entertaining parts of the show to me but I realize I'm not everyone.
And this is where the biggest problem this series is put in full spot light, the main character Kuniko is one of the least interesting people in the story. There are a TON of interesting sub-plots in this show that easily overshadow the "main story." The only interesting things that happen in this show are things that usually have little to nothing to do with Kuniko. I guess I just personally dislike her to some extent simply because I was much more interested in the side characters. So I beg ask the question, Is it that Kuniko is badly written or that the supporting cast is just written better than she is? I don't rightfully know myself, if you decide to watch this then I guess you will come to your own conclusions. The supporting cast I mentioned before is quite interesting, and in some resects is worth checking the show out for. You have Momoko, the trans-sexual motherly figure to Kuniko ( wow, I never thought I'd write that). Karin the carbon terrorist (sort of) and just over all economical badass. And Mikuni-sama, the mysterious little girl that carries a strange disease that doesn't allow her to go out in the sun, but does seemingly give her some horrifying powers. And Kuniko has a boomerang, riveting. The characters do give this show some redeeming qualities so if you are just looking for a few neat characters to tickle your fancy (not like that) then you could pick a worse show.
The story is still a mess though.
"Okay, lets have an episode with a lot of action in it!"
"Wont that drain our budget and force us to spend way too long focusing on the supporting cast since Kuniko is a action based character?"
"Shut up! No one will care about this show if we don't blow most of our budget on the first half!
Now animate some more explosions and have that one chick beat up the waiter guy again, that doesn't make people feel uncomfortable at all."

Shangri-La is very average in my opinion. It has some good things going for it, but at the same time a lot of stupid crap as well. Mediocre is probably the best way to describe this in short.
This show has been licensed by Funimation, and is relatively cheap on DVD. If you are wondering there is a english dub that is quite serviceable. There is also a French dub if thats you thing.
This show gets a 5/10 in my book, but I do recommend it if you don't mind sitting through a bit of a mess. Thank you for reading, please tell me if you found this helpful.

What people take away from Ghost in a Shell can vary. Some people would argue that it's one of the best anime of all time, yet others would also say that it's story is unfocused and difficult to follow. Rather then picking a preverbal dog in the fight going into this movie, I sided to watch it without listening to anyones subjective opinions of it first. I didn't read reviews, I didn't do research, I just purchased the film and watched it. In my personal opinion this film is an interesting experience, but perhaps not as much a fulfilling story. Don't get me wrong, I ... really enjoyed this movies subject matter and imagery, but by the end it almost feels like I was only given half a story. As of right now I have yet to see the sequel Ghost in a Shell 2, so I don't know if any of the ideas expressed in this movie are further explored, but honestly that doesn't matter! A film shouldn't need a sequel to have a complete story. Granted this is only my opinion, many people think the ending to this film is fulfilling and meaningful, I was just personally disappointed with it.
On to other things shall we? One of the things I really enjoyed about this film was the fact it explored what it meant to be human. In a world were almost everyone has a synthetic body, sometimes not even keeping more then a small part of the original brain, it would make sense for someone to start to question if they really are a person anymore. This is a really neat concept that I felt was explored in a entertaining way. I think that we as an audience would have been more invested if the main character Motoko Kusanagi had been slightly more relatable. She is robotic by design, meant to embody and explain most of what this world is supposed to be showing us. That isn't a bad thing, in fact I think they pulled it off quite well in the first act of the movie. When the story kicks in is were Mokoto loses me. While you might know a general idea of what she is trying to accomplish, you aren't let in to what she is thinking. Now this could have been a really interesting way of showing this character had she been to the side, but as your main lead the audience has to know where the lead is heading in the overall story. I'm not asking to be spoon fed, I just just wish I had a little more information. For the most part the rest of the cast isn't really that notable besides maybe Batou, a friend and coworker of Mokoto that actually does play a role in the story towards the final act. He does add a bit of demention to Mokoto that I appreciated.

As for the art and sound this film is probably one of my favorites in those categories. The art is both futuristic looking, as well as drab and degraded looking all at the same time. Being able to blend those two elements together shows a lot of skill and is very impressive to a trained eye. The art and imagery of this film are as important to telling the story as its dialog, which is why even though I honestly found the story of this film a bit underwhelming from a dialog point of view, I haven't chastised it. Like I said at the beginning, this film is an experience, and the art and music reflect this fact. After you watch this film your mind is supposed to be stimulated, and that is a big part of why I feel this film is so well received by critics and audiences alike. You could say 2001 Space Odyssey is poorly paced at points as well, but the way they showed it like that was on purpose, it was meant to get you thinking. When you focus on one aspect of a scene for what feels like a really long time, it gets the audience looking deeper into what they are witnessing. And perhaps I am a little hard on this film, but I do think my complaints are warranted. Over all I did really like this, and I feel it is worthy of 8/10. If your lookng for a stimulating sit, try it out.

Akira is one of those movies that everyone whose seen it, or at least most everyone, will recommend it to all of there friends. The way I found the movie was no different, one of my friends recommended the movie to me and without saying to much it is a very unique and interesting movie. I will say this though, I've since read the manga and it is a lot more detailed and layered then this movie is, but Akira stands out in its own right for simply being such a unique film. the story is both open ended and satisfying, a type of ending ... that is rarely done correctly in any medium much less anime. I'll promise you that you'll be thinking about the ending to this film long after your first viewing. When I watched it my first time it messed with my head so bad that I watched it again the next day to see if I had somehow missed something. Every time I've watched Akira I've noticed something I didn't see before, which in my opinion is what a true master work should be like.
As for the art style, I think it has aged very well for a show that came out in 1989. older art style hasn't ever effected my enjoyment of the anime I've seen, but it is understandable if you are used to more modern animation. I think that this movies art is like its story, unique and interesting.
I can't really go on with this review without saying something that i didn't like about this movie though, because its not perfect. A lot of characters had to have much smaller roles in the film then in the manga, another reason you should definitely read the manga. The characters other then I suppose Tetsuo don't get much development in this movie which Im not going to lie, was a bit disappointing. All I'll say is that if your looking for a very character driven story this might not be what you're looking for. Overall this is a great film, and I'm happy to recommend it to all my friends who haven't seen it.