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

Going to have to wait until 3:30..

Holy crap!

The Major kept her clothes on for an entire episode!!!!

This was probably the most tasteful eps they've shown. It was still dull, but at least there wasn't any blatent fan serve...

I missed it again, have to wait for the late showing now.

So far, this has been a pretty interesting series, if a bit repetitive. Hopefully, things will start moving forward in the near future.

quote:

Originally posted by COHugh Holy crap! The Major kept her clothes on for an entire episode!!!! This was probably the most tasteful eps they've shown. It was still dull, but at least there wasn't any blatent fan serve...

Yes there was. Someone even went so far as to make an animated gif of it.

hhah she was actually overdressed this episode. Maybe I complained to much.

At least we got a bit more action, and a little more confusion in the laughing man case. Reminds of BIg O get us more and more confused, although I hope it won't end the same way.

It seems the laughing man has become some what of a pop culture phenomenon.

They still snuck in some up-skirt shots there.

Only thing interesting about this series so far is the identity of the laughing man. This is the kind of anime I'd only watch once and not give it a second thought.

I'll agree with that last comment. This anime isn't "blowing me away" like some have set it up to be.

The mystery is neat and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I wonder if they'll take a few episodes to focus on other things and then have the Laughing Man be a recurring topic off an on until the end.

The cyber/techno stuff is a little too much for me, and I usually like this stuff. But I think they chalk a lot of plot devices up to sci-fi magic which is hard to follow. Maybe I'll come to understand it more as the series progresses. Same goes for the conspiracy stuff.

I have to admit that this anime seems really mechanic to me. I really don't connect with much of it yet. I get a vibe like Witch Hunter Robin - with the team of "cops" and the mysteries. But with WHR, I enjoyed the characters.

This GitS series hasn't really made the characters "real" for me yet, with the exception of Togusa (the guy who has a wife and kids and was the friend of the investigator who got killed in the car accident).

The Major especially seems very ho-hum to me as a leading character. The only draw she seems to have is she's a "hot-looking" woman (and really not as pretty/sexy as other anime females) who provides fan-service and butt-kicking action sequences.

I hope this doesn't sound sexist, but it seems they basicaly like they have a male character and put it into a female body for the fan-service. I'm not saying females can't be strong leader types who keep their emotions in check. Maybe a better way to put it is that whether female or male - this character really has no personality.

'Course, this all could be because she now has a "prosthetic cyber body" and is seems more like a emotionless android than anything else. But it'd be nice if they explored this more.

Ah well, I've talked too much already. I'm still watching it, but hoping it picks up my interest a little. I usually don't mind slower paced shows, but even this one seems to drag. (I wonder what those who didn't like Big O's tempo think about this show. The cynic in me says there's a lot who don't mind since they can look at the Major eye-candy.)

Huh... I must've missed the up-skirt scene since it went so fast...

There I go, giving credit where it isn't due yet again!



As for Schoolie's comments:

THANK YOU!!!! I agree whole-heartedly with your statements about the Major. She seems so 2-dimensional and rather bland. I wish the writers would have invested some more time in developing her character so that I would actually care whether or not her brain gets fried when entering a criminal/machine/etc.

The same goes for most of the other characters (ironically, I also feel a connection with Togusa because we actually get to see more of his personal life than some adolescent's fantasy of multiple attractive women wrapped around each other in a bed). This show needs some more character development desparately and I'm hoping the next few eps will deliver.

I would say this one was a little bit better.. not much. Still trying to figure out where they are going with all this. I will agree with the thing about how the characters are. I haven't really connected with them either... except for Togusa also.

Hasn't really grabbed me.

BabyGhia

I liked the action they put into this episode. The secton before the commercil break really flew by. It was kind of rewarding, considering the lack of action in the other complex episodes. I predict there will be some more stand alone episodes for a bit. This would be a good time to get to know section 9 members better.

quote:

Originally posted by Barrin I liked the action they put into this episode. The secton before the commercil break really flew by. It was kind of rewarding, considering the lack of action in the other complex episodes. I predict there will be some more stand alone episodes for a bit. This would be a good time to get to know section 9 members better.

I certainly hope so. The only one we seem to have a clue about is Togusa and he's the only one without a cybernetic body(right?). What does this say about the rest of section 9? The guy that Togusa is normally paired up with seems to have a sense of humor.

Madrona

quote:

Originally posted by Madrona The only one we seem to have a clue about is Togusa and he's the only one without a cybernetic body(right?).

Yeppers. The only one.

I certainly hope we do learn a little more about the others.

BabyGhia

Last episode had some fighting and plot that went pretty fast and didn't give me chance to think everything through before it was over.

That was one of the better episodes so far. These stand alone episodes make it easier to get to know the characters and the setting.

I don't know if I understod everything, but the action was neat and the idea of "ghost dubbing" from a comatose man is intriguing.

Batou (I think) is becoming more of a memorable character. (I first noticed signs of this when he barked like a dog a couple episodes ago!) The scene where he captures the guy in the bathroom was funny.

Togusa, the Major, and Batou seem to be the main three characters. They really haven't shown us much of the others, except for the chief, of course.

quote:

Originally posted by Schoolie That was one of the better episodes so far.

Still doesn't say much about it.. It was good but still not memorable in my mind. It's getting harder and harder for me to force myself to watch this each week. Though I have been able to watch more episodes than I did with Wolf Rain.

I'm gonna have to catch Thursday's replay. Had a long conversation that carried over both airings last night.

This episode was pretty interesting. The series is getting a little better. But still not grabbing me.

BabyGhia

well, the next few eps coming up may satisfy some pople, namely "Jungle Cruise", where our Batau takes center stage an a wensy bit of his past is revealed...and its pretty sick what the killer does in this ep, taking a page out of "Strange Days", dont know what i mean?, you'll see....

And i dont know if this has been mentioned yet but this series seems to bre using "The Catcher in the Rye" alot, namely the laughing man's slogan and a message that Togusa finds later on...


I liked that book, need to re it again. Oh yea and i bought an artbook for GITS:SAC, its great and all except....


There's soo much text and its all in japanese....i read a word of it, Chracter bios, mechanical blueprints,info on cyberbrains and a small preview of 2nd GIG tons of good stuff....cant read a word...oh why did i take spanish in high school instead of japanese?

I just saw the Ghost in the Shell movie, and it makes things make a bit more sense, but I'll have to see "Innocence" for it all to fit together.

In the movie it explains a lot of stuff, such as the nature of their robot bodies and section 9. In it Togusa is the new guy, hand picked by Major Motoko Kusanagi because he was not a cyborg. Batou is her right hand man and looks out for the Major because of her dangerous habits, such as scuba diving. Batou and the Major have a good friendly relationship, and they discuss the meaning of humanity and whatnot...there was a scene in the end where the Major tries to pry open a tank and gets her arm ripped out that reminded me of episode 2 or so. One thing that was bothersome was that whenever the Major went into invisibility mode, she had to be completely naked, and when she was done, Batou would have to run off and grab her coat. Ha ha.

Anyway...yeah, that's about all I have to say about it.

quote:

Originally posted by C.R Foxhound well, the next few eps coming up may satisfy some pople, namely "Jungle Cruise", where our Batau takes center stage an a wensy bit of his past is revealed...and its pretty sick what the killer does in this ep, taking a page out of "Strange Days", dont know what i mean?, you'll see....

Nice to know that, Foxhound.

I probably should borrow the movie from a friend of mine. Been meaning to.

BabyGhia