Huynh Ghosts In YOUR Shell

With people come identities, but what is an identity? Is an identity what we define ourselves as? Or is it what other's/society defines us as? It's very hard to try and figure this out, because underneath it all, we know we have changed ourselves, be it big or small, to please other people and to fit in. Nobody likes being an outcast, and everyone would surely like to be friends with others. These are the questions raised in the movies watched in our anime seminar class.

Taken from semanticpool.de

For me, Akira brings the question of "Who are we living for, ourselves or society?" This is brought about because the identity of so many characters are brought into light. Who's my friend? Who's my foe? Who am I? These are all brought up in Akira at different points in the film.
Perfect Blue brought different things to the table. It made me think "Do I really have control of my life?" Throughout the film, identity of oneself is brought up again and again. With so much technology these days, and nearly all information being on the internet, one can get mixed into the mass of information, for everyone to see. You throw your identity as a person on the internet every time you log into something that has your information, or even as simple as a search query. This allows for a copy of your identity on the internet, but do you really have full control of who sees it?
Ghost in the Shell brought up the biggest question, "What defines an identity?" With the Project 2501 being an AI, one would assume it's just a computer program, but one of man's greatest fears arises. It forms a conscience and makes an identity for itself, the Puppet Master. This makes one wonder if we are really a person of our own, or just a ghost in a shell. The ghost can be interpreted in many ways, and for me I see it as a conscience that occupies a shell. Being a person of our own for me means that we are a whole with our bodies. Our physical appearance is also part of our identity, and if we lose that, we're just a conscience that may have a personality and preferences, but those are really just emotion. A ghost in a shell is a believable concept, because what if we're just reborn into new bodies where our memories are wipes to be overwritten by our new "life". What's in your shell?