Common Name: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Alternative Names: Ghost in the Shell SAC
Score: 9/10, 5/5
Length: 2 Seasons of 26 episodes
Genre: Action, Mystery, Sc-fi, Mecha, Military
Summary: In the near future, mankind has finally achieved the means of overcoming their physical bodies to the point that the technology is commonplace and easily available. These changes have also provided mankind with means of connecting with each other in a very literal way. Not only can people chat subconsciously with colleagues and place their minds in virtual places, but they can also be hacked as well. When the soul, or "ghost," and one's sense of self can be remotely controlled and altered by another, how can you be sure that a serial murderer wasn't simply hacked by the real culprit? To combat these cyber threats, the organization known as Section 9 has the authority to both investigate and pacify threats to the public by almost any means necessary.
Review: While Ghost in the Shell has gone through (though I feel like "suffered" is more accurate) many iterations, I stand to argue that the SAC series is its best one yet. While the movie is solid, action-packed, an thought provoking, it lacks the ability to fully engage its subject. ARISE on the other hand suffers because it tries to be too much like SAC, yet fails to capture the nature of the world and its characters (assuming that it is supposed to be a prequel to SAC). GitS: SAC on the other hand has a far better understanding of it's characters, personal messages, and world that all that came before or after. What makes it even better though is that, like Bebop before it, the show portrays all this in a fairly episodic format with an central story running in the background, making the experience multifaceted, since it explores the world through different characters and situations, but still easily digestible.
Personally, I find this episodic pattern to be humorous and appropriate though given that oh-so-important tagline--Stand Alone Complex. To be clear, I am no social or psychological authority, but as I understand it a Stand Alone Complex is the mimicry of an ideal that has no real origin, or progenitor. While a number of individuals can commit the same crime because of some collective, subconscious experience, they are acting alone and not as a group orchestrated by any actual authority. More to the point, the show's episodes are their own entities that perform a similar role as the show goes on, yet they are all inspired by the original movie that has no place in this iteration of the show, thus meaning they are Stand Alones with no progenitor rather than pure copycats of the movie. Perhaps this assessment is merely me reaching, but it is regardless one of the many things that this show brings into question and makes the viewer think about.
Now that the philosophizing is over though, I suppose I should get back on track with the review. So, I've already brought up that the characters are typically used as a means of examining the world and the show's flavor of the day with each episode, but I didn't really get into how well they function and for good reason. Honestly, if I were to have any complaints about the show it's that it doesn't really allow its entire cast to shine. While yes, characters like Motoko Kusanagi (The Major) and Batou are both perfectly made and executed characters, I attribute this mainly to the fact that they didn't change much from their movie iterations. The rest of the show's cast is an entirely different story, though I don't mean to say they're all bad. Pazu (the rogue), Saito (the sniper), and Borma (the...bald guy) rarely amount to more than chess pieces that The Major relies on to get the job done. I recall the only depth given with these three is that Saito knew The Major before joining Section 9, during a shared war experience. The only person who actually has a character on the same level as the Major and Batou is the full-organic (as in no mechanical enhancements outside of mental communications) member of Section 9, Togusa, and that's likely due to the fact that he was created as an interesting misfit in this high-tech world.
So let's review. Section 9 is composed of Major Badass, goggle-eyed strongman, old boss guy,
pretty boy, beard guy, other goggle-eyed strongman who is bald, a pirate, and...let's call him squinty.
Each character does serve their purpose in a way that leaves an impression, at least with the main leads (Major, Batou, and Togusa). This doesn't mean they're perfect though. Thought it may provide an interesting point about one's inability to grow personally when relying on the crutch of technology, the show's characters rarely grow or develop past their stated stereotypes. The show's most glaring flaw with the characters though is the show's use of the Major, that cold-hearted badass who out-sniped a sniper, out-hacked a technological mastermind, and 1v1'd a tank and won (though that last bit was part of the movie and not SAC), but also walking piece of fan service. Though I'm well aware of the character's...less savory origins, it still irks me that there are too many blatantly "fanservicey" shots of The Major to count throughout the show. Perhaps this sexualization is simply part of her character though and is thus meant to be seen as something like a flaw for her otherwise stellar character.
To be fair though, would you want to be the one who tell Ms. Tank-killer here that her idea of "work casual" is inappropriate?
Personal gripes about ruining characters with pointless sexuality aside, each character has an almost clearly defined stat sheet that could be easily referred back to for each episode that lists their stats, faults, and personality quirks. That doesn't mean they're uninteresting characters though. On the contrary, it's more like we're simply being exposed to the height of their skills and prowess, which certainly makes for great action. Rather than them growing though, we just get to slowly get to know them better and thus find them more personable. What's strange though is that growth and identity is clearly part of the show's themes though, since the series's mascots the AI spider tanks, known otherwise as tachikomas, do legitimately grow into something more than just tools. I won't mention more than that though for the sake of spoilers of that particular overaching story.
Aside from the characters though, the rest of the show is solid. The action is tense and is always fun to watch as the show's main gimmick--the use of data manipulation and the integration of technology--is brought into the light. The best part though is that the action is never repetitive since the role of Section 9 plays is like some amalgam of military, police, and spy organization; the characters rarely engage a threat the same way twice since predictability and homogeneity would mean the death of their team's effectiveness. Through this action, the show's daily plot is made fun and the way they all connect adds a necessary level of intrigue to the show as a whole. Though the tone changes frequently, the pacing remains relatively stable. The only time this aspect noticeably falters is during the second season when it became clear that the writers were beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel, dedicating the season to character revelations than the mystery and intrigue that defined the first season. To be clear though, the second season isn't necessarily bad, merely less compelling and action-packed than the season prior. It is however, ultimately what dragged my score down to a 9, rather than the solid 10 the first season deserved in it's own right.
While the art style and animation have begun to show their age, in that individual screen shots lack the kind of attention to detail seen today, the show itself is still stunning to look at when it actually counts. Through the visuals alone, the concept of cyberspace and our place in it is made not just believable, but also appealing. This, coupled with the show's fantastic musical score, makes the show feel like a real work of art. While not as elegant as some of it's contemporaries, it is no less impactful, awe-inspiring, and worth the large amount of time one would need to dedicate to watch the entire series.