I've been complaining about the lack of science-fiction before but that was more directed at the space travel genre in anime. Ghost in the Shell would the anime franchise most people would think of when thinking about anime or manga sci-fi. Not only did the Ghost in the Shell movie by Oshii Mamoru, released in 1995, introduce many people in the west to anime, or rather showed them that it wasn't just about toys and whatnot, but it also influenced many writers and movie makers.
Ghost in the Shell also has always been one of my favorite anime franchises and I also like the original manga by Masamune Shirow a lot. Though I have some things to say about what he did to his manga series later...
