Thoughts are free.
Like in Masamune Shirow’s classic manga, “Ghost in the Shell,“ which Mamoru Oshii later made into an anime that significantly contributed to the worldwide popularization of the genre over 10 years ago, the interior of our dear old city spa resembles a beautiful spirit in an inanimate shell. If you begin to reflect on the legendary story of the mysterious puppet masters who in 2029 manipulate cyborg-like humans into committing appalling crimes, one’s thoughts continue to drift into even further regions of the brain.

It’s also interesting to note that there is a similar story line in Ghost in the Shell and the Lynch / Frost production of Twin Peaks, which achieved cult status in the early 90s. On the surface, it may seem like a sleepy little town in the Northwest, but it’s bubbling underneath. Another similarity is spirits in the surrounding forests. They are like the puppet masters in both their ability to take possession and be alienable.

I remember only too well how a good friend of mine raved about GITS and even managed to get me, an anime skeptic, to become a little enthusiastic. Just now, after an intensive three-week period of watching the entire series of Twin Peaks for the second time, I can certainly say that I more prefer Lynch’s way of thinking and aesthetics. And of course the plots and characters which he creates, suit me much, much better. Twin Peaks is a town whose terrible-beautiful microcosm completely and instantly engages one and takes one on an authentic journey to a time, which is now in many ways experiencing resurgence. It’s probably no coincidence then that the Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box came out on the German market in November 2007.

“Die Gedanken sind frei. Wer kann sie erraten? Sie fliehen vorbei wie nächtliche Schatten.”

“Thoughts are free. Who can guess them?
They flee by like nocturnal shadows.”
(Did anyone else besides me have to sing this in school?) But there’s something true about it. So I’ll just say for once with all the formality of a school math teacher: this article is QED.

Text & Photos by Eugen Braeunig