The Offical Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex/SAC: 2nd Gig Thread!

The manga is very good. I'll have to take some pictures and post them. I wouldn't scan it though, because I'm not going to break the binding on a $24 book!

EDIT:
I carefully scanned two pages to whet everyone's appetites. The pictures are extremely high quality (read: big) so those with slow browsers, beware.

After throwing a knife into her boyfriend, the Major comes to a startling realization...

Chief Aramaki's coolest moment

Wow, after that episode I realized that not only is the Major completely shameless, but she’s also a pedophile. Damn, she knows some kid for about 3 hours and she takes him back to a hotel room, walks around in front of him with just panties on, and she offers to have sex with him. Sheesh! I did like the symbolism with Motoko looking up at that plane in the beginning of the episode.

I figured she was just teasing him. She was rather shameless about walking around near naked, but that was because she doesn't care what anyone thinks. I seriously doubt she would have actually had sex with the kid considering her earlier and subsequent attitude towards him.

She basically seems sort of...disinterested in sex throughout the series, I'm pretty sure that was meant as a bluff on her part.

I had a feeling they were going to play up the whole thing about the major seemingly regretting being full prosthetic, or at least a reference to her crushing the doll as a kid (which was mentioned maybe..three or more times last season), but...apparently not.

Overall it was sort of a bland episode..no lengthy dialogues, nor any over the top action sequences. Not bad, but not one of those "I'm so glad I have cable and can watch this" episodes either.

I only remember one in-episode reference to her crushing the doll. The other reference was in the shows opening credits.

I was dissapointed that we really didn't learn anything new about Kuze in this episode.

And as I said earlier, I want to see S-1 vs S-9 like in the manga, dammit!

I've always had a hard time with the character, the Major. She really bothers me. After last episode, I just despise her even more--how the heck did she get to be the main character?! She's so conceited and shameless. It's digusting. She really crossed the line last episode. I think she was dead serious given what we've seen of her lifestyle in the past (season 1). She's sick.

That's Ghost in the Shell's biggest problem--it's hard to relate to any of the characters. Aside from maybe Togusa, they're practically all lethargic nutjobs. People often wrongly complain about Gundam Wing's Heero Yuy being this, but GITS' characters make him look like Bugs Bunny. These people just don't come off as human-like.

I hope the story gets more focused. The second season was on a roll when Gouda was jerking around Section 9, and then it started to fall apart. I keep watching because GITS has potential (that, and it's one of the few new anime on TV right now), but in no medium does GITS ever seem to live up to its potential. The writing just trips on itself.

I am going to have to say that I wouldn't doubt for a second that the Major would be willing to go through with it. As Dog pointed out, I am really not a big fan of her character. She's made deliberately to be nothing but fanservice. They build a whole serious tone during an episode, and in walks the Major in a thong. WTF? It was the same way with the movie. A great action scene starts and then poof, off comes her clothes. It wouldn’t be so unbelievable if all her Section 9 buddies didn’t remain completely clothed at all times. (Which I’m glad they do )

As for tonight, that entire bedroom scene was completely unnecessary. You're around an underage stranger, show some damn restraint.

The Major has never shown inclinations towards having sex with boys. Through the entire episode she was disrespectful/looking down on him. If anything, she's a lesbian (see season one/manga) and definately not a pedo. That and she has been shown to have an odd sense of humor.

And to her credit, she was NOT wearing a thong. Not that it helps much that she was wearing boy-cuts and a towel.

Well put, Raven. Tell it how it is. It's so frustrating and distracting to see a series/property that's supposed to be so high-brow and great degrade to these devices time and again with no justifyable purpose.

Hopefully Kuze and Gouda will be able to to save this season by providing a legitamate challenge and some exciting combat action.

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Originally posted by Ano Hito And to her credit, she was NOT wearing a thong. Not that it helps much that she was wearing boy-cuts and a towel.

Well,I was refering to all those other times in season 1 as well. She always wore short black jacket with that strange top that covered as little as possible.

I don't think the scene ruined the entire episode. It was only a minute, and the episode was zillions of times better than the one where the Tachikomas sit around a talk the whole time. I think everyone is reading too much into the whole scene.

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the episode was zillions of times better than the one where the Tachikomas sit around a talk the whole time.

Eh..maybe not ZILLIONS...but...definately better than that formula.

I mean I love this show as much as anyone on here, but even I have to admit...this was just generally sort of a forgettable episode.

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Originally posted by Ano Hito I don't think the scene ruined the entire episode. It was only a minute, and the episode was zillions of times better than the one where the Tachikomas sit around a talk the whole time.

Oh, I'm not saying that at all. I just wanted to point out how silly that whole thing seemed to me, that's all.

I'm not arguing that this episode was the best ever, I'm only arguing two things
1. The Major was not considering having sex with the boy
2. The episode wasn't ruined by the gratuitous fanservice.

The big brewhaha over that scene sort of reminds me of the one...really WEIRD part in Azumanga Daioh with the one middle aged teacher who does nothing but profess how he's basically got a strange fixation on young schoolgirls (at one point the guy talks about drinking the water from a pool following a swim match, yeah.)

I always found that pretty jarring because of the context it was in, it seemed like they wrote this pretty lighthearted comedy series and then just threw in this incongruous, darkly semi-comedic subtext into parts of it.

Nobody...ever seemed to complain about that though. The internets a weird place like that.

By the way, I read that another Ghost in the Shell movie is coming out in Japan this summer, supposedly it's set in the SAC universe. That'll be interesting. Maybe they'll make an English dub of this one.

Also, I wish that CN would air the Tachikomatic Days segments, but they're real miserly when it comes to credit length.

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Maybe they'll make an English dub of this one.

The first two did well over here (innocence, which I haven't seen, was even released in some theaters), and the series was picked up..so...I'd say its almost assured it'll hit dvds at least.

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Originally posted by Paradigm Dog That's Ghost in the Shell's biggest problem--it's hard to relate to any of the characters. Aside from maybe Togusa, they're practically all lethargic nutjobs. People often wrongly complain about Gundam Wing's Heero Yuy being this, but GITS' characters make him look like Bugs Bunny. These people just don't come off as human-like.

Well, they're mostly cyberized soldiers, so you are correct.

Come to think of, I'm not really getting a sense of character development. Is it just me, or is there a lack of it? I mean, I like them all and can relate to their traits, but I haven't had a sense of their complete characters.

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These people just don't come off as human-like.

Well considering they're...yeah, mostly biologically inhuman, and totally numbed from years of killing, it's supposed to be that way.

Then again they don't really ram that point home constantly like oh...say...evangelion did. It's done more in sporadic, cogent flashbacks (The episode where Batou watching a drugged up test flight for a supersoldier go berserk in a combat zone and muder a bunch of civillians, the major being basically a robot since early childhood, and so on)

It's better than having them all be neurotic, overly melodramatic, and having tormented childhoods that are referenced alot..there was another show where the shadowy group with paramilitary capabilities did that, gee I wonder what it was called again....

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I wish that CN would air the Tachikomatic Days segments

I don't know...are we missing out much without having some sort of "wacky tachikoma antics" injected in at the end of stuff to try and incongruously lighten the general mood of the show, would be my question

"I don't remember any calling me about ordering a hooker."
*smashes face against door*
"I don't remember anyone calling me either."

Damn, that sequence cracked me up. I liked the episode myself and although it does kind of suck that we didn't really learn all that much jack about Kuze, I still liked it overall.

I didn't have a problem with the "bed" scene with Motoko and the kid. Actually, I liked it and thought it was very funny. Is it tasteless? You damn right it is but still, loosen up. It was funny.

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I did like the symbolism with Motoko looking up at that plane in the beginning of the episode.

That was a very good shot indeed.

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She basically seems sort of...disinterested in sex throughout the series, I'm pretty sure that was meant as a bluff on her part.

This is true. Although, she dresses like it, the series has kind of shown that Motoko isn't really that sexual. And yeah, that was a brilliant bluff and the kid folded... Punk.

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People often wrongly complain about Gundam Wing's Heero Yuy being this, but GITS' characters make him look like Bugs Bunny. These people just don't come off as human-like.

Well like Sharpie said, and its kind of obvious, there not really all that human. Togusa and Arakami are basically the only expections. Everybody else has the cyber brain and body, and have gone through long periods of war and destruction. Also, I like Heero Yui. Although, yeah, he is self-destructive and that's why I like him.

I thought the kid and Motoko had a good connection, like at the lobby of the hotel. But yeah, the whole "Motoko-walkin'-around-basically-nude-like-that" was a bit much. Even for her. Also, in this episode I liked the "Traffic" movie reference when the kid was talking about making cocaine into little figurines. Catherine Zeta-Jones would be proud.
Peace.