However, the diligent reader will be able to find Japanese News translations chronicaling events that bear a striking resemblance to events in the anime. Due to a combination of the language barrier and Japanese societal censorship it is more difficult for outsiders to easily observe Japanese current events than to observe events in North America and Europe. While the author is clearly exploring how society will address the coming technological impact on the populace and the resulting "fallout", one can also make the case for his use of this anime as a social commentary or a mirror of "then current" events, just as Mark Twain used his stories to present and explore social issues of his era. Yet, as those criminals are revealed to have more depth than was at first apparent, the various protagonists are left with disturbing questions: What exactly is the definition of human in a society where a mind can be copied and the body replaced with a fully synthetic body? What, exactly, is the "ghost" - the essence - in the cybernetic "shell"? Where is the boundary between human and machine when the differences between the two become more philosophical than physical? The main entity presented in the various media is the Public Security Section 9 police force, which is charged to investigate cases like the Puppet Master and the Laughing Man. People also tend to rely more and more on cybernetic implants and the first strong AIs make their appearance.
Ghost in the Shell takes place in the year 2029, when the world has become interconnected by a vast electronic network that permeates every aspect of life.
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