Mardock Scramble: The First Compression - Recommendations

• Movie (1 ep x 83 min)
• 1995

A mysterious new hacker known only as the Puppet Master threatens to create chaos, erasing and rewriting the memories of his victims: humans who have cast away their physical body to become cyborgs. Is he an evil genius, or could he signal the beginning of a new age in the relationship between man and machine?

• OVA (2 eps x 29 min)
• 1993

Among the garbage dumped down from the mysterious aerial city of Zalem, a new life is found. Restored by a brilliant cyberneticist, a young girl named Gally struggles to find her own place in the world, to learn the extent of her own deadly abilities and to discover that which makes her truly human: love.

• TV (22 eps)
• 2012 - 2013

In the future, a system called Sibyl presides over the country and provides order to every facet of life. It dictates which job fields citizens should go into based on aptitude tests, and can even read each resident's mental state and predict which ones are likely to commit crimes in the future. Fresh from exams, Akane Tsunemori is beginning her career as an Inspector, a specialized police officer who works to apprehend these latent criminals and stop crimes before they happen. But not all that get caught are eliminated or jailed, some join the police force as Enforcers to provide insight into criminals’ minds, and Akane is warned not to get too close to them, as they're considered little more than hunting dogs. Though skeptical of this advice, and Sibyl's judgement, Akane is determined to work together with her Enforcers to protect the peace of her city and its inhabitants.

• TV (52 eps)
• 1972

One day, the lonely woodworker Gepetto fetches a log and carves it into the shape of a boy; he names it Pinocchio and promises to treat it as his own son.  Gepetto's wish soon comes true when a fairy turns Pinocchio into a boy - albeit still in his wooden form - and gives a cricket the power to speak in order to keep track of the newly-created child. Pinocchio wants badly to become a real boy by whatever means necessary, often becoming selfish in the process and leaving his fairy benefactor to punish him by turning parts of his body into trees. In addition, the townsfolk take advantage of Pinocchio's naivety at near every turn, selling him as a talking tree, kidnapping and forcing him to perform as a circus freak, and tricking him into giving up his money - amongst other things. Can Pinocchio survive these harsh lessons and become a real boy?

• Movie (1 ep x 45 min)
• 1998

As a young girl, Sawa is orphaned when both her parents are brutally murdered and is taken in by a police detective named Akai, who trains her to be a professional killer. He turns Sawa and Oburi, a young boy, into his puppets and makes them kill to fulfill his own sense of justice against child molesters and other harassing members of society.

• Other (4 eps)
• 2013 - 2014

In this highly anticipated prequel set in the year after the fourth World War, cyborg and hacker Motoko Kusanagi finds herself wrapped up in the investigation of a devastating bombing. But she’s not the only one looking for answers—as she delves deeper into the mystery of who is behind the attack, a specialized team unlike any before begins to take shape.

• OVA (1 ep)
• 1991

• OVA (4 eps)
• 2006 - 2007

Touru Souma was a hacker in Steppen Wolf, a rogue group of four who caused mischief in the wired world. But during their final hacking session, they attacked the government agency known as FLAK and Touru’s friend Yuuya died in the process. Haunted by his memories, Touru vows to find the ones responsible for murdering Yuuya, even if it means he must join the enemy to do so. Further complicating the matter is the emergence of the terrorist organization Fei Dao; but the largest challenge Touru must now face is his forgotten memories – especially one involving a girl who continuously reappears in reality...

• TV (13 eps)
• 2006 - 2007

Kai and Hashim enjoy hanging out at Penny's Cafe with their rest of their gang, the Saru 'tribe'. Good-natured and fun-loving, the Sarus take in meek and geeky Tamiyama who wishes to join their gang, appointing him as secretary for lack of other obvious abilities. Befriended by Kai and Hashim, Tamiyama doesn't have time to get to grips with tribe life before disaster strikes the Sarus: a leading fighter of a rival gang is sent to assassinate Saru's leader. The assassin turns out to be Mera, Kai's friend growing up. Brandishing a baseball bat against Mera's katana, the two friends now find themselves as rivals in an escalating war between the tribes...

• OVA (4 eps)
• 1990 - 1992

Mad Bull is a rogue cop who doesn't take crap from anyone. In a metropolis laden with sex and violence, he makes his own law as he executes violent criminals according to his own laws. Now, his rookie partner Daizaburo is exposed to his controversial ways and must decide whether Bull is a real hero or worse than the criminals he's fighting!