Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

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Template:Infobox animanga/Header Template:Infobox animanga/Anime Template:Infobox animanga/Footer Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX; Kōkaku Kidōtai, Mobile Armoured Riot Police) is a Japanese anime TV series set in the Ghost in the Shell universe created by Masamune Shirow. It is often referred to by its acronym GitS:SAC.

Production of the show was undertaken by Production I.G. headed by director Kenji Kamiyama. The overarching series was sketched by original creator Masamune Shirow, unifying the standalone 26 episodes in a larger encompassing plot.

The series receives its subtitle from a theoretical mental complex attributed to the adaptation of cybernetics into the mass public. In the story, 'stand alone complex' is said to describe copies with no original and is portrayed by copycat crimes with no original criminal or, in other words, an imaginary criminal. It also refers to the structure of each episode: Each episode can be viewed independently of each other, and there is little catch-up (if at all) given in each episode to keep the viewer up to date (unlike many anime series). The individual episodes are discreetly marked either 'stand alone' or 'complex' in the title screen. The 'complex' episodes are closer entwined with this encompassing plot, and the 'stand alone' less so.

There is also a series of comedic shorts, Ghost in the Shell: Tachikoma Days, attached to the episodes on the home video releases featuring the antics of the Tachikoma mini-tanks of Section 9, involving plot points from the episodes it accompanies.

After finishing its run in 2003, the series was continued into a second season under the title Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. The first season is sometimes colloquially referred to as 1st GIG to emphasize relation between the two.

In the United States, the series is licensed by Bandai Entertainment with the English dub produced by Animaze. The English version of the series airs on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the United States and YTV's Bionix block in Canada on Friday nights.

Contents

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Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

''It is a time when, even if nets were to guide
all consciousness that had been converted to
photons and electrons towards coalescing,
standalone individuals have not yet been
converted into data to the extent that they can form unique components of a larger complex.

Taking place in a fictional city of Japan called "Niihama-shi" (New Port City) in the year 2030, Stand Alone Complex tells the story of a special operations task-force called Public Security Section 9, or simply "Section 9". The series follows the exploits of Section 9's agents who range from ex-military to ex-police to even ex-mafia as they address each case and how it affects them on a personal level, eventually leading to the mysterious figure dubbed by the media as "The Laughing Man".

Public Security Section 9 is an elite domestic anti-crime unit charged with the task of preemptive prevention of technology-related acts of terrorism and crime. Their duties include response to serious cyber crimes (i.e. Cyberbrain hacking, cyber-terrorism), investigation of unlawful acts of those in public office and of high profile murder cases. From time to time they also serve as protection to foreign VIPs.

While the characters themselves are carryovers, this is not a re-telling of the popular manga. In this telling of the story, the character of Major Motoko Kusanagi (草薙素子 Kusanagi Motoko) has not met the net-lifeform called Puppet Master, or Project 2501, as detailed in the movie adaptation. Literary references include Flowers for Algernon, the Nine Stories written by Salinger, and, more importantly, The Catcher in the Rye.

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Cinematic Comparison

The TV series differs from the cinema adaptation in its focus upon issues created by the advance of technology. Instead of the intensely focused and personal examination of technology, what is presented is a look at society and technology as a larger whole. The series of 26 half-hour TV episodes has a larger budget of time to explore the concepts and ideas found in the original manga. In comparison to the film version, the series is considered by many to be easier to understand. Also, in comparison, the series can be found to be closer to the manga; due to the presence of some humor, the usage of the Tachikomas (Fuchikomas in the manga, and referred to simply as "tanks" in the one scene a derivant version makes an appearance in), the design of the characters, and also, the usage of the characters Paz, Bouma and Saito.

Stand Alone Complex exhibits the accumulated experience and expertise of Production I.G. in their application of computer generated imagery. This is evident in their digital color grading, environmental effects, and cel-shaded computer models. Their work has been highly praised for its subtle contribution to a scene, which adds greatly to the atmosphere.

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Technology

Stand Alone Complex tries to depict the near future convincingly, extending trends from the current day into the future. Often a viewer can even speculate which current-day factory or design firm would be responsible for the future machines and buildings.

Image:Gits-cyberbrains.jpegOf the many futuristic technologies, the cyberbrain or neural computer augmentation technology is discussed and convincingly portrayed. This is the implantation of powerful computers directly into the brain, greatly increasing certain mental capacities such as memory. Coupled with ubiquitous access to the informational net, this is shown as a fundamental technology integral to the future Japanese society. Applications include wireless communication just by "thinking" it, massive informational recall capabilities, and digitization of printed media and the encryption thereof. The series is notable for portraying a comprehensive and believable user interface to this technology. At the same time, drawbacks are revealed in the form of "Closed Shell Syndrome" or cyberbrain autism and "Cyberbrain Sclerosis". This technology is in many ways the crux of the series.

Nanotechnology and its medical, as well as less benign applications also figure heavily within the futurescape depicted within the show. In the fictional future date of 2030, nanotechnology and its applications are still considered to be experimental only reaching the first stages of practical usage.

Image:Gits-katsuragi-camouflage.jpeg An important technology used in the series is thermo-optical camouflage. Members of Section 9 as well as their Tachikoma tanks have the ability to activate a special camouflage technology which enables them to blend in with the environment, making them near-invisible to the naked eye, radar and infrared sensors. It is an active stealth system which projects ambient conditions of the opposing side, and thus rendering the masked object transparent by transmission. The system is not shown to be perfect, as it seems unable to compensate for sudden changes and physical impacts nor impervious to close observation. A faint translucent distortion is shown as the limitations of the technology. In the legal landscape of the series, usage of the technology without a warrant is heavily restricted. The use of this technology by Section 9 is the exception, and not the norm - further highlighting their extraordinary legal standing. Surprisingly, there is present day research into the active optic camouflage inspired by the fictional portrayal of it by the University of Tokyo [1].

The use of Light Autonomous Tanks which had to be left out of the 1995 Ghost in the Shell movie by time constraints come to their full right in Stand Alone Complex. Called Tachikoma, they are four-legged light tanks with two forearms and adhesive wire shooters. Armed with a small calibre machine gun in their right arm and an interchangeable weapons mount at their "mouth", they provide Section Nine with a quick and highly mobile weapons platform. The weapons mount is often equipped with a grenade launcher or a gatling gun. The body design and movement of the Tachikoma appear to be modelled after jumping spiders.

With very advanced AI, they act as the comedic relief of Section 9, as they are endlessly curious and innocent. As such they provide a counterpoint to the cynical and hardened humans of the force. Two episodes are dedicated to their exploits; episode 12, "ESCAPE FROM," and episode 15, "MACHINE DÈSIRANTES." In the latter episode, the curious nature of the Tachikoma result in instabilities in their artificial intelligence fatal to operation as weapons, leading to their disarmament and decommission from service with Section 9. Image:Tatikoma B2.jpg Another technology that is noticeable in the series that was also not included in the 1995 film is the use of Armed Suits, bipedal power-actuated armored exoskeletons. Resembling Shirow's Landmate armor from another of his works, Appleseed, the Armed Suit uses a small set of inner "master" arms to control the larger, more-powerful, "slave" arms. A prototype Armed Suit makes an appearance later in the first season, while another Armed Suit, based more on the Type 24 JSDF Armed Suit in the original manga, makes its appearance in 2nd G.I.G.

Image:Gits-tiltrotor.jpeg The series features Section 9 using a tiltwing aircraft very similar to the American-designed V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. The aircraft depicted within the show has the capacity to carry six Tachikoma and a complement of personnel, allowing Section Nine to rapidly deploy a highly mobile and well-armored force anywhere in Japan.

The ECHELON wiretap system makes an appearance in a later episode. While under the command of the American Empire's (United States) CIA, the system is borrowed by Section 9 for a short time. The system depicted within is a more powerful and more pervasive communications monitoring system capable of real-time interception of all phone, internet, cyberbrain communication of Japan. The limitation of this system was shown to be the computational power to process the flow of information.

The subtitle "Stand Alone Complex" refers to the phenomena of emergent behavior catalyzed by parallelization of the human psyche through the cyberbrain networks on a societal level. There is no original, there is no leader. What ties together the disparate and unrelated individuals into the event called the "laughing man" case is the systematic motive encoded into the basic informational flow itself. This concept of an ever normalized ego into the fabric of society recalls the writings of Philip K. Dick, among others.

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Episodes

See main article: List of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex episodes
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Trivia

  • The "Laughing Man" plot that runs through the series refers to the political corruption scandals of the 1980s in Japan, but is primarily based on the Glico-Morinaga case, a famous extortion case that remains unsolved and its elusive figure, "The Monster with 21 Faces", whose name comes from the villain of a detective novel by Edogawa Rampo.
  • The Laughing Man is also a short story by J.D. Salinger.
  • The text on the Laughing Man's logo, "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes", is a quote from "The Catcher in the Rye".
  • In episode 1, the Minister of Foreign Affairs attempts to read an encrypted document. Around the pupils of his cyberneticly enhanced eyes reads 'Made in Germany... Carl Zeiss'. Carl Zeiss (1816-1888) was a famous German optician who pioneered several camera technologies. It is also a tribute to cyberpunk classic/precursor William Gibson who used eye implants by Carl Zeiss in his short story Burning Chrome (1984).
  • In episode 2, the weapons designer Takeshi Kago, who dies because of religious stigma and is later 'reborn' inside his latest creation, draws a parallel against Takeshi Kaga, a famous Japanese actor known for his role as Jesus in the broadway rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, although he is mostly known now for his "Chairman Kaga" persona on Iron Chef.
  • In episode 3, the Jeri android is modelled after Jean Seberg, an actress who appeared in many of Jean-Luc Godard's films. Dialogue from Breathless is quoted verbatim by MacLachlan and the Jeri throughout the episode, while some of Godard's other films, such as Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution are mentioned in the episode.
  • In one scene of episode 3, an interviewer speculates that the androids committing suicide are gaining "Ghosts" similar to a certain sci-fi comic of the past. This is a reference to Masamune Shirow's original manga, Ghost in the Shell.
  • In episode 4, the voice-activated image viewing/enhancing machine which Togusa uses is a clear imitation of a device of the same function used by the protagonist in the popular cyberpunk film Bladerunner.
  • The president of the Meditech company in episode 8 is described by Togusa as having a "Jameson-style cyberbody". The character's appearance is a reference to Professor Jameson, an early cyborg hero from pulp magazines whose brain was implanted into a steel box and moved around on four legs.
  • In episode 9, the recorded logs that continuously transcript the chat room participants' conversation are heavily based off the bulletin board system used by 2channel, the Japanese mega-forum.
  • The title of episode 10, "A Perfect Day for a Jungle Cruise," is taken from the script of the world famous Walt Disney theme park ride Jungle Cruise of which each boat captain has memorized. The ride takes the patron on a tour through Asia, Africa and South America.
  • Also in episode 10, when Togusa and the others are arresting Marco, there is graffiti on the wall which reads STARFUCKS (only up to the U is shown). This is a reference to the real-life coffee house Starbucks.
  • Episode 11 features a character, the mental health facility's administrator, who is modelled after actress Louise Fletcher, who is most famous for her role as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
  • In Episode 12, in the background of the theatre is a poster that says "Go See BananaFish!", a reference to the short story A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J. D. Sallinger, which is printed in the same collection as "The Laughing Man".
  • In Episode 12, Miki mentions the story of "The Secret Goldfish". It was about a little child that wouldn't let anyone look at his goldfish because he bought it with his own money. This is a reference to "Catcher in the Rye" where Holden states that his brother, D.B., had written "The Secret Goldfish".
  • In the first spoken line in episode 14, the Chinese assassin intentionally misquotes the first line from Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto, substituting it with "the spectre of capitalism".
  • In episode 15, when one of the Tachikoma units begins to address the other units, it is a part taken from the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell where the wise pig, Old Major, shares a dream of revolution with his fellow farm animals.
  • Episode 15 also has Batou's Tachikoma talking amongst the other Tachikomas about being his exclusive machine and the damage from Batou using natural oil has resulted in it being customized. The Tachikoma then makes a comment that he should be painted red and have a command antenna installed, using a wrench as an example. This is an homage to Char Aznable of Mobile Suit Gundam fame, who piloted red mecha with a distinctive antenna attached to the head.
  • During Episode 15 there is a scene where Batou and Major are discussing the Tachikomas' odd behaviour in a soundproof/electromagnetically sealed room. Sensing that the Tachikomas are stealthily watching and reading their lips, they intentionally talk out of synch of their lips. This scene is obviously a nod to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey where Bowman and Poole discuss the possiblity that HAL 9000 might be malfunctioning from the soundproof cockpit of a space pod while the computer reads their lips, therefore being aware of their intention to disable HAL's higher mental functions. The computer terminals in the sealed room in which Batou and the Major speak closely resemble HAL's distinctive, single-lense console from the movie.
  • In episode 16, the subtitle Ag2O is the chemical symbol for silver oxide (tarnished silver). This is a reference to the Olympic silver medalist turned spy Zaitsev.
  • The scene where the laughing man incident originally took place bears an almost exact resemblance to the Hachiko exit of the JR Shibuya station.
  • In episode 26, when Togusa is sitting on a bus, wondering whether Kusanagi is really dead, just before he actually voices this thought, she can be seen in a passing bus. Alternatively, this event might aid in the uncertainty of Kusanagi's death by suggesting her body is so common, she might be impossible to find.
  • Also in episode 26, When Togusa returns to his home and collects his spare gun, rather than another Mateba M2008, his standard revolver, it is a M2006, the same model of Mateba revolver his character used in the 1995 film. Other than using the same basic characters, this is one of very few concrete links to the 1995 film in the series. Others include the SWAT police uniforms and the net-diving stations at Section 9 HQ.
  • Near the end of episode 26, when Motoko is on her way to meet the Laughing Man, the railing on which her hands rest has graffiti which reads FUCK YOU, which is a reference to a chapter in The Catcher in the Rye. This shot was cut from the Cartoon Network broadcast.
  • Again in episode 26, when Motoko meets the Laughing Man he has a hat with his name in it. This is arguably another reference to The Catcher in the Rye and Holden's Red Hunting Cap.

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Voice Cast

Japanese voice cast

English voice cast

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Theme songs

  • Opening
  1. "Inner Universe" by Origa
  2. "GET9" by Jillmax (Japanese Rerun Opening)
  • Ending
  1. "Lithium Flower" by Scott Matthew
  2. "I Do" by Ilaria Graziano (Japanese Rerun Ending)

Inner Universe is composed by the iconic anime composer Yoko Kanno. As she does in most of her works, Kanno uses an amalgam of several languages for her lyrics; in this case, Russian, Latin, Italian, and English are used. The vocals are sung by Russian vocalist Origa, featuring boy soprano Benedict Delmaestro.

Lithium Flower is the ending theme song. Sung by Scott Matthew and written by Yoko Kanno, it is a mixture of several music types (as is frequently Yoko Kanno's style). The lyrics to this song can be found here.

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Soundtrack listings

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

  • [SOUNDTRACK]-Yoko Kanno
  • Track Listings:
  1. Run Rabbit Junk (with Hyde)
  2. Yakitori
  3. Stamina Rose (with Gabriela Robin)
  4. Surf
  5. Where Does This Ocean Go? (with Ilaria Graziano)
  6. Train Search
  7. Siberian Doll House (with Gabriela Robin)
  8. Velveteen (with Ilaria Graziano)
  9. Lithium Flower (with Scott Matthew)
  10. Home Stay
  11. Inner Universe (with Origa and Benedict Delmaestro)
  12. Fish - Silent Cruise (with Benedict Delmaestro)
  13. Some Other Time (with Gabriela Robin)
  14. Beauty Is Within Us (with Chris Mosdell)
  15. We're the Great
  16. Monochrome (with Ilaria Graziano)
  17. GET9 [TV Size] (with Jillmax) (included in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV Single only)
  18. Rise [TV Size] (with Origa) (included in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV Single only)
  19. Inner Universe [TV Size] (with Origa and Benedict Delmaestro) included in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST+ only)

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Vol. 2

  • [SOUNDTRACK]-Yoko Kanno
  • Track Listings:
  1. Cyberbird (with Gabriela Robin)
  2. Rise (with Origa)
  3. Ride on Technology
  4. Idiling
  5. I Can't Be Cool (with Ilaria Graziano)
  6. 3Tops
  7. Gonna Rice
  8. GET9 (with Jillmax)
  9. Go da Da
  10. Psychedelic Soul (with Scott Matthew)
  11. What's It For? (with Emily Curtis)
  12. Living Inside the Shell (with Shanti Snyder and Chris Mosdell)
  13. Pet Food
  14. Security Off
  15. To Tell the Truth
  16. I Do (with Ilaria Graziano)
  17. We Can't Be Cool

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Vol. 3

  • [SOUNDTRACK]-Yoko Kanno
  • Track Listings:
  1. The End Of All You Know (with Scott Matthew)
  2. Turkey (also known as Torukia or Torchia) (with Gabriela Robin)
  3. Know Your Enemy
  4. Laser Seeker
  5. Break Through
  6. Flying Low
  7. Europe
  8. Hantou No Higashi (East Of The Peninsula)
  9. Mikansei Love Story
  10. Christmas In The Silent Forest (with Ilaria Graziano)
  11. Access All Areas
  12. Sacred Terrorist
  13. Dear John (with Scott Matthew)
  14. 35.7c
  15. Smile
  16. Flashback Memory Plug (also known as Flashback Memory Stick) (with Origa and Benedict Delmaestro)
  17. Dew (with Ilaria Graziano)
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See also

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External links

Template:-Template:Ghost in the Shellde:Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex es:Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex fr:Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex ja:攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX zh:攻殼機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX

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