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Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st GIG
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Animation - 9.4 |
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Sound - 9.3 |
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Story - 8.6 |
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Character - 8.3 |
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Value - 8.6 |
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Enjoyment - 8.7 |
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Average - 8.8 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Starting as a complex yet unfulfilled “cop-show”, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex eventually morphs into a truly engaging work of science fiction, exploring (amongst other things), the ironic humanity of cybernetics in a way which even surpasses the original film.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Like the movie before it, GITS SAC has become somewhat of a reference point when it comes to judging the graphics of a series. I believe this is well deserved as GITS SAC is pretty much as good as it gets animation-wise. The sound may take second place to the amazing eye candy but right from the intro song on, you feel how great they work together. The Story is very well done; seemingly episodic , it all comes together in the bigger story line. More action oriented than the 2nd Gig, GITS SAC is fast paced, and also "shot" that way. For the none Japanese, none speadreadering anime fans among us, this means we have to hit the pauze button quite a few times in the 'talkier' 2nd GIG. The Characters are the 'take me as I am' kind. They're good, but no great developments here. To me GITS SAC 1st GIG and 2nd GIG are must have's just like the movie itself. But then ....I'm really into this stuff.
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a top quality 26 episode anime featuring an alternate storyline to the original 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie.
The animation is top quality. The amount of computer graphics and animation is plentiful and professional. The blend of CG with non CG is flawless, the attention to detail is excellent and the use of colours is great. Overall, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is extremely pleasing to watch.
The music fits in very well with the scenes, and most tunes do not feel repetitive. The opening and ending themes are decent, albeit not brilliant. Still, this anime does not disappoint in the audio department one bit.
The storyline of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is totally separate from the original 1995 movie. However, the quality is not deterred by that fact one bit. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is an anime that has an almost unrelated storyline every episode. Almost, in the sense that although most episodes do contribute to the main storyline of the series to a certain degree, they all seem unrelated as individual episodes with their own distinct storylines. And most of the time, the story behind each episode is fast paced and fascinating.
Although the series' conclusion could have been better, every episode of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex was a joy to watch for their own tale alone.
There is a distinct lack of character development in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, but is not noticeable due to the interesting storyline. Despite the lack of this, all the characters are intriguing to watch.
I for one have thoroughly enjoyed the high quality animation, the fast paced unique storyline of every episode, and the excellent cast of characters. I would strongly recommend this anime to everyone, but this is definitely more enjoyable for the tech savvy, due to the numerous technical jargons and references used throughout.
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Summoner |
(2007-04-29 02:47:30) 2006-10-28 09:58:10 |
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| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Almost after 7 years of silence Ghost in the Shell's world comes back to us. Though not as well done as the movie, Stand Alone Complex is still a worthy piece to spend your time with.
After seeing the original movie I had huge hopes up for this series, I've even thought it might make up to my personal top 10. Unfortunately, after just seeing the first episode I have realized that I am going to be disappointed utterly. If you have loved the original movie and you are hoping that the series will prolong its fascinating story, you are wrong. The only thing S.A.C. and the original movie have in common is their names and the space everything is happening in (though S.A.C. is portrayed not even half as dark as the movie). Even the character personalities are different. In other words you should look at this as an absolutetly different product, rather than a sequel to the movie. It has the basics of the similar idea, but follows it via another way, which is, unfortunately, the fanservice way.
Talking about fanservice, while Mayor doesn't fight naked anymore, as the series, unlike the movie is dedicated to the age-wise wider audience, her outfits are still very sexy and revealing. There's quite a lot of action scenes too, though the music fails to bring a satisfying atmosphere for an action show. Finally, while watching I have counted 14 filler episodes, in other words more than half of this anime running time is consumed by fillers, though I must admit some of them are quite interesting and intelligent.
Even though the tv series have discarded most of what I loved about the movie (philosophy about individuality and indentity) it still remains pretty complex and confusing. This time around chief Aramaki is nearly the most important character and he spends a lot of time briefing the situation for section 9's unit and the viewer. The briefings are always full of political speculations and complex motives of the criminals. In other words, if you wont pay attention during the briefing time for a second you're condemned to be confused, though in my opinion, it's one of the show's strongest points. Just for the god's sake, don't forget the names of the politicians and organizations, I swear, if I'll be rewatching this I'm going to write them all down.
Recommending this is quite hard, actually. It's neither philosophical, neither action show. It's somewhere between those two. I think it is a little bit similar to a detective, since you uncover a lot of weird and fishy things about both the world and the people characters are interested in. Anyway, if you are looking for something, what is full of political speculations and is heavy on text and dialogue, while having little bits of action to spice things up, then it's your call.
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This series is not a continuation of the movie but more of a spin off or an alternate adaption of the same story. It stretches out the movie into more detail but feels very solid.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| ghost in the shell stand alone complex is a great series and one of the best sci fi action series ive seen in a long time.major is one of the coolest sexiest characters ever.
animation- the animation is eye candy galore it will satisfy your visual side for animation and cgi.most series have cgi but it looks very ugly and horrible but not ghost in the shell they made it look stunning in every way especially when used on the cars and the scenery.
sound- i love origa and her music so when it came to inner universe there was no complaint i loved it to death .
story- this story is very deep and it takes you till the last episode to actually understand why the show is called ghost in the shell. the laughing man episodes were very well written and kept you guessing what will happen but there are many twist and one major one toward the end of the series.major back ground story is well done and also touching.
charcters-major is one well rounded character....lol and is very well developed and so is batou and togasie especially toward the later episodes of the series were togasie gets alot more screen time.
enjoyment- this is a very smart sci fi thriller and one of the best looking anime out there everyone should check this ouyt you wont be disapointed.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| A series that packed with action, thriller and sci-fi. It takes a rather philosophical view on the way humans behave.
The story takes place in a futuristic Japan with people going for cyber enhancements and prosthetic bodies. If you noticed, Matrix took its "plug in" and cyber world inspiration part from GITS. If you watched the first GITS movie, you will notice that SAC 1st Gig brings back the questionable Laughing Man, but this time it brings a conclusion to who or what his intention is.
Animation is well done, expressions of the characters are what are I liked most, it brought out the feelings.
Characters are easily indentifiable and each have unique personalities, GITS attempts to give each of them sufficient screen time and background to let viewers understand them better which is good.
The music is good, both OP and ED, background music in scenes were also well synchronised and added to the action more.
Personally I feel that the CSI style is abit hard to follow, each case introduces new characters and brings in politics to add to the twist. I had to pay extra attention to names mentioned, and at times the philosophic exchanges between characters were at best confusing.
The part I liked best and felt was touching when the Tachikomas decided to payback Batou and help him during the last few episodes.(No spoilers here!)
Nonetheless, GITS SAC 1st Gig to worth the time watching and re-watching.
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Saya77 |
(2006-08-28 21:30:13) 2006-08-07 19:40:25 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Overall, a terrific anime and an excellent addition to the Ghost in the Shell series. In fact, I think this might even be better than the movies. Extremely entertaining, with tons of action, mystery, and political intrigue mixed with a healthy dose of futuristic technology make this a great anime, and the best sci-fi anime around.
The animation is top-notch in this series: you won't find any anime with better animation. The character models are terrific, the action scenes are very well done, and the sequences in the "net" when the characters are diving into it are all very interesting to watch.
The soundtrack to this series is terrific; the opening and ending songs are perfectly suited to this futuristic and mysterious anime, and the soundtrack during the episodes is also amazing and well selected.
The story is pretty complex, with layers of criminals to be caught and mysteries abound. Every episode contains a piece of information that you will later learn has importance in the underlieing storyline, and all the pieces will connect to bring the episodes together. Each episode is also full of action and mystery, and each episode may involve a different cast of characters (including focusing on different members of Section 9 itself). The whole Laughing Man plot is also very well done and the ending, in my opinion, was a perfect way to end the series. I can't wait to watch "2nd GIG".
The characters are all very well done as well; each having depth and personalities to them to bring them to life. Togusa, Motoko, Bauto, and Aramaki are the characters with the most screen time in this story, and by the end we really get to know each of them and to learn their personality quirks. The relationships between the characters are also amazingly well done; from the peer-to-peer relationship of Aramaki and Motoko compared to the relationship of Aramaki with the rest of Section 9 to the relationship between Motoko and Bauto or Bauto and the Tachikoma.
This anime is top-notch, and deserves to be watched by any fan of anime, sci-fi, or just movie enthusiasts in general. It is very rewatchable, and I plan on buying the whole series as soon as I can.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This is a very high quality anime, with rich 3D scenes, superb sound, but falls slightly short of the story department. Nonetheless its still a worthy addition to your must watch anime. This anime is a ultra modern version of Saber Rider, or a nice version of ROD OVA.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is probably one of the most thought provocing animes out there. Taking place in an Orwellian type future of Japan where Section 9 which specializes in information warfare take on terrorists and even government officials. aside from that it also brings up the question of cyber ethics and how far is too far for an individual to be able have control of anothers cybernetic componets (since in this future most people are now part machine) along with whether one can remain human even with all these cybernetic enhancements.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| In my opinion this is one of the greatest animations ever made. The story is just incredible - not only that is original, but also it is politicaly and historicly defiend. Mayby it is the only future Si-Fi that is actualy so possible it might just happen:) Taking a deep look at the modern aspects of life, war, terrorism, it makes me thing twice before judging whos the terrosit. The animation is great, so is the sound. No wonder why there are so many fans all over the world.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| As a former anime-junkie, it takes much more to impress me.
Aside from plausible comedies that invoke the intellectual response which is laughter, most mangas and animes are simply not up to par with the greater wealth of literature and movies. They do not evoke profound thought on life, the universe, nor humanity, and therefore suffer scorn as mindless entertainment.
This is not the case with Ghost in the Shell.
Many people had a certain feeling about Cowboy Bebop - it didn't feel like a "normal" anime. Ghost in the Shell takes an Existentialistic point of view at humanity, at the core of our nature - our absurdity.
Some seek to improve ourselves - by eliminating our humanity through synthetic and cybernetic enchancements.
Some machines seek their humanity by attaining more features that are strongly identified with humans - by gaining sentience and appearance.
What can truly be defined as "life" as DNA is merely a set of data, just like a program or AI.
What is the point of living if we humans reject humanity itself?
Why is humanity absurd?
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petran79 |
(2008-01-14 19:49:18) 2006-04-12 02:44:55 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| (Kickass Anime fansubs)
In terms of quality this is one of the best animes I've seen. Animation, sound, direction were outstanding. Considering that the author of the original manga had an active part in the production and that he could add more ideas in the GITS world (11 years passed since the publication of the manga) the story could be even better than the manga.
Problem is that just as some books are impossible to be adapted to TV due to their peculiarities, the same goes for some comics as well. GITS is one of those comics. The manga sequel of GITS even more. Masamune Shirows mangas like GITS and Appleseed are of the most complex and difficult to read. So many sci-fi theories are thrown in that at some points the reader needs to be a sci-fi expert in order to grasp the plot. The main question I came across while reading the manga was if Matoko can realy be considered a human. Here in the anime some background info is included such as that she decided to become a cyborg while she was 6 years old. It implies that she was human. In the manga this info isnt included at all and from what I could understand she was a cyborg from the beginning, even having a relationship (not only with men). Having decided to make Makoto have a human brain from the beginning is the major difference with the manga. But except for her decisiveness in the various Section 9 missions there is nothing more. The same with the other characters. They're just fit for action. No background info and no character interaction at all. The manga, though complex, had better character interaction.
The other difference is that the anime is more action-oriented. Here and there some episodes are trying to explain the complex world of the anime, but I'd suggest reading the manga for that. In the first episode the think-tanks Tanchikuma in the end credits try to explain the theory that trying to communicate through speech and words is useless and outdated as only through data can communication be more effective. But in order to compose and interpret data one needs to master speech first. I wished they'd keep the same philosophical motif in the rest of the episodes instead of going into silly gags. I also liked the episode where people were discussing about the Laughing Man case and the dialog between Batou and the Tanchikouma.
I'd recommend the anime mainly for the action scenes as they're very well directed. I wouldnt recommend it for the story though as it never becomes clear what the Laughing Man really wanted and why it was necessary to sacrifice the entire Section 9. The individual episodes on the other hand are interesting and fortunately the difficult to explain manga theories are cast aside and so the episodes turn more enjoyable. For the story and sci-fi elements the anime isnt sufficient. Whereas series such as Evangelion and Serial Experiments Lain were able to have a much better story with many sci-fi elements in a much better way.
Worth a look though, if you'd like to see the nightmarish world of the manga becoming alive.
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Avalanche |
(2006-02-08 14:15:52) 2006-01-27 14:11:46 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| What a ride! GITS is definitely the best Sci-Fi anime ever made. With top-notch themes and a very polished story, GITS will go down as one of the best anime ever made.
SOUND
Music is excellent. The opening song is so cool. The overall background music fits the scenes in perfect harmony. This is the best sound effects after Speed Grapher and of course, Cowboy Bebop.
STORY
The story is very loosely based. The basic episodes are stand-alone, one episode finishes the story. The complex episodes are an all together different class. Very comlicated with extremely tedious storyline. While the complex episodes are very good, the seriousness gets to you, leaving you exhausted. This is the only flaw with GITS. And predictably I've seen that this is why it has seen so many bad reviewa as well. If you can get around this point, then rest assured GITS is going to be a ride you don't want to miss.
CHARACTER
The major is cool and downright sexy. A very nice character. The Tachikomas - AI robots are very entertaining as well adding as comic relief to very tense situations. The remaining characters are not very well developed. And there is no need either. The other characters are very official like Aramake. The story is given preference over the characters. If you want actual character developement see NGE, Kare Kano etc.
VALUE
A gem. If you like Sci-fi, like me then this is the anime for you. Dont expect any laser beams, or Jedi Knights. This is realistic Sci-Fi. Brain hacking, cybernetic implants and other technolgies are shown which effect the general populace. And it is quite realistic, It moight hust happen after a few decades or so...
ENJOYMENT
The stand alone episodes are very enjoyable. They are very different from the usual anime episodes as well. One episode just has people talking in a chat room! While one has Tachikomas discussing evolution of AI!!! The complex episodes can also be watched again, but not a stretch, they are just too serious, and very exhausting.
However if seen with gaps to cool your head off, then the enjoyment would increase. This is really good stuff.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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|
| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is an anime not intended for viewers expecting a lot of action and a fluid easy-to-understand story. It is full of details and intricacies that will make it necessary to view the series at least once, but nevertheless -- it does have it's moments. When it does shine, the series is easily the best sci-fi anime out there, but be lenient of its complex philosophy or else you'll find it hard to swallow.
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| GITS is the creation of Production IG, the company famous for it's dark sf, beautifully animated, realisticly designed, complicated, smart but souless politic-social, terorism pronned and somewhat philosophic stories...
Animation and Sound... one of the jewels of all animes:
As expected from the studio the animation is just perfect from the detailled and realistic bg design to the characters, movements or gunfights... The soud has it's good and bad parts, the first beeing the bg music and the second the voice acting that isn't impressive at all.
Story... The brilliant logic of a robot with the same souless emotion:
The way the story views the near future is impressive, the most realistic and probably accurate in all the japanese animes i've seen till now... no space ships, no plastic suits, no giant mecha robots, no laser guns... but lots of modified humans, filled with electronic devices, cyber brains and eyes, nano robots, AI everywhere but still under the control of humans, a world wide web more powerfull than ever, the way that the borders between reality and cyber space just seem to dimm... As for the plot? it revolves around the concept of justice, the fight of one genious hacker against the corrupt system for the sake of justice, the corrupt politicians with their financial and power interests and the Public Section 9 caught in the middle... It is a very mature and complicated story, with lots of mysteries underneath but it somehow manages to bore me with it's long dialogue and to official and specialized dialogue lines.
Characters... robotic:
The characters are probably the biggest flaw of this anime as their almost total lack of development and sentiment destroyes most of the anime's mood. Motoko, Bateau, or Aramaki, they all lack that human feeling even dough by the end of the show they redeem themselves to a point. Probably the characters with the most personality were Tachikoma's the robots, and Togusa. This might be only a coincidence but maybe they wanted to show that the robots could get more human that some humans, or just makes you ask this question "where does the human stop and the robot begins?"
Value and Enjoyment:
I did enjoy the brain activity that this anime stimulated, and it's intersting but dark interpretation of a future with all the every day life ideas and philosophic thaughts, but on the other hand it also bored me quite a lot... you should probably watch this is you're a fan of serious sf animes.
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|
| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| TV series have bring the detail we want to see more from the movie. While the movie only have 1 plot with 1 ending, this stand alone complex got 1 huge plot then a lot of mysteries around them. It's a detective anime to begin with and this seem to a perfect mysteries solver and builder of all time.
First you got unlimited source of information, onlything that matter is time. Everyone having external AI brain giving us more potention of hacking and manipulating the human mind. The series done itself onto the eage of limited where robot and human have cross over each other line. While the setting is perfect they have to think of a way to come up with hard case and complex story to fill it in the wonderful world.
Stories might seem a little bit boring but it have to be that way to explain things completely without confusing people at the end. The story is confusing BUT even if you don't understand it all, you'll be able to enjoy the simple fighting scenes and humor between characters.
You can't predict anything in this series. I don't know how they come up with this stuff but it's truely remarkable. Character development also progressing alone with the story build-up. I could say it's one of the perfect story/plot i ever watch. The only thing that might you distract you from this is that they talk a lot, and most of time is really really boring. But fighting and touching scenes make up for it. Main char are really cool.
Motoko pwnt all! (But my fav char is Batou) :D WATCH IT NOW!
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|
| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| A-MA-ZING !!!!!
wow, this is really the top of the crop in the world of anime.
This is the second time i've seen it, and i fell in love all over again !!
The animations is extremely fluid and beutiful, really a feast for the eyes....beutiful use of traditional drawings and cg.
Music = Yoko Kano = AWESOMENESS !!!
As everything written by this genius, the music is outstanding !! really fits the mood of the show.
The structure of the show give it a really good pace for developing the story.
This is a cop show at it's core , mixed with some sci-fi cyberpunk and some nice philosophical messages, and it deals with a special goverment agency, Section 9, and their crime solving adventures.
Throughout the show there are "stand alone episodes" which deal with unique cases and sometmes dwell into each of section 9's crew and there are "complex" episodes, which all are related to the biggest incident and main plotline in the show.
The SA and CMPLX episodes are spread evenly so you get the best of paces.
each individual case is very clever ad interesting, and the main crime in the show, "The Laughing Man Incident" will have you guessing and scratching your head till the end.
I'm really impressed in the writers abilties to create such a convincing and well tought script...it's a really smart show and you'll need a bit of brains to get it.
One thing that i loved about this show is how human all the main charaters are even though many of them are actually closer to being machines (like the Major) or actually machines, like the Tachikomas.
All the main characters slowly shed more light about their life, their reasons for doing what they do and the reasons they are how they are...and throughout the show you'll begin learning all their quirks, personalities and philosophies which is extremely rewarding...there are some pretty powerful moments with each character and you'll come to love and respect this team of bad-asses in the end.
And beyond all these, this show provides a lot of powerful messages about life, death and everything in between, and this is very appreciated...this show is food for the brain.
This is an integral show, very complex, VERY REWARDING, an absolute must for ANY person who like to think and entertain themselves.
Entertainment doesn't get much better than this, honestly !!
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Slime |
2005-07-31 03:30:33 |
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
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Much like the earlier GITS movie, Stand Alone Complex is a good solid action anime which tries too hard to be deep and “philosophical” ... and loses something in the process.
The animation, aside from the occasional ugly CG atrocity, is crisp, clean and altogether excellent. The backgrounds are well drawn and the character designs are effective; although, the panty-clad major is a little over the top (I should point out that I thought the major's nudity in the original GITS movie was appropriate as it was justified by the use of her thermoptic camoflague) and an obvious bid for the 13-year old horny teenager crowd. CG is used extensively in this series with mixed results. Most of the time its done skillfully, but there are two glaring exceptions: the atrocious all-CG opening and the rendered vehicles--which just look like shit.
Yoko Kanno's soundtrack fits the series like a glove and although the opening and ending themes aren't particularly good, the background music is really outstanding. The nicest thing I can say about the opening “Inner Universe” is that it matches the trippy mood of the all-CG opening perfectly. I think its meant to invoke the opening of the GITS movie, but if so, its a pale imitation. The ending “Lithium Flower” is some sort of pseudo-techno piece with awfully silly lyrics. Again, somehow it fits the series quite well.
The background music is where Kanno really shines. It adds gravitas and drama and often makes the difference in a series whose dialog can be silly and pretentious.
The episodes are divided into two categories: “stand-alone episodes” and “complex episodes.” The complex episodes are those that deal directly with the show's main story arc, the “Laughing Man Incident,” while the stand-alone episodes are just that---individual episodes not tied to the central plot line. It should be noted that many of the stand-alone episodes are thematically tied to the Laughing Man story.
The weak point of GITS:SAC is the Laughing Man story arc. The story simply cannot support the weight of the shows philosophical pretensions. Pacing is also a problem. The show is far too slow at times. More than one episode consists entirely of dialog with no real action (in fact, one episode entitited “Chat Chat Chat” involves nothing more than people sitting around in a virtual room ... chatting with each other). Incidentally, the stand-alone episodes are usually more entertaining.
The ideas underlying the series are actually quite interesting; the subtitle “Stand Alone Complex” refers to the phenomenon of independent entities taking seemingly coordinated action because of the rapid and nearly perfect flow of information in SAC's cyberized universe. The show skillfully uses the tachikomas (which are artificially intelligent minitanks) as a counterpoint to this “Stand Alone Complex” phenomenon. The tachikomas synchronize with each other, sharing their experiences to such an extent that they cannot even tell which tachikoma unit actually experienced something. But despite that, they manage to develop individuality, which apparently wasn't part of their original programming. SAC plays with these ideas further with constant references to the role of memory (read information) in identity. There is constant discussion of the wiping/transfer of memory and its effect on identity. For instance, in one episode, a boy is implanted with the memories of his father. These memories change him and led him to attempt to assassinate a visiting dignitary; an action that neither the father nor the son would have contemplated. I think its safe to say that the theme of the series is that identity is intimately connected with the flow of information. Its really too bad that the plot wasn't strong enough to properly explore and explain the underlying ideas.
I was hesitant to watch this show; I wasn't a big fan of the movie and
my early judgment of this show was that was filled with philosophical mumbo-jumbo in order to impress the ignorant. I'm pleased to discover that I was (at least partially) mistaken. The ideas in the show are actually quite interesting, even if they aren't properly flushed out and explored. It does get a little carried away with its own depth, but GITS:SAC is still a solid series. Its well worth watching as long as you don't sweat the small stuff like plot holes and occasionally silly dialog.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is an interesting series on a stand-alone value (pardon the pun, but it's needed since the series differs from the 1995 movie.) The animation for the series meets the standards of typical series of its time, and the music is pleasant to listen to on the whole, composed by Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, among many series). The story met and exceeded my standards for a solid series, though some may find it slow paced and feel annoyed by the discussions of the Tachikomas (who I thought were charming ;) )and not appreciate the recurring philosophical themes. I felt that I could identify with the characters of Section 9 and the missions in which they partook. This anime series took me on quite a journey, and I enjoyed the ride overall.
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