ghost in the shell

Visual Novel Community Anime/Otaku Discussions
#1

Well, a video store near here is closing its doors and has its entire inventory on sale for cheap. I was in there last Saturday and managed to snag the original Godzilla vs Mothra, a couple of Sailor Moon movies I don’t have, the original Oshii-directed Ghost in the Shell, and the complete set of the first TV series of GS. And all under fifty bucks, so Bamboo is in Panda heaven, right now. It was particularly exciting to get the GS stuff, because I’m the biggest Major Kusanagi fanboy in the cosmos.

There’s this one scene in the movie (that’s sort of repeated in the series) that always gets to me. In the movie, the Major is on a boat going down this narrow canal with buildings on either side of it. The boat passes by a coffee shop where there’s this woman in the window that looks exactly like the Major and their eyes meet. Near the end of the series, when Togusa is being roughed up on the street by some cops and a taxi passes by with a woman in the back who looks like the Major, but this is after she has been (supposedly) disposed of by government assassins.
Neither of these scenes is made much of in the anime, although I believe Oshii (in the movie) is trying to make some subtle philosophical point here about the nature of identity. However, neither of these scenes makes any sense (and are possibly pretty forgettable), unless you’ve read the manga, where we learn that, while the Major’s body may be equipped with a lot of impressive upgrades, the shell she chose a standard model body that won’t stand out in a crowd and attract the attention of body jackers. Not sure why this particular bit is so fascinating to me, but there you have it.

By the by, I’m not really interested in picking up the second series or the Solid State Society movie, if either one should come my way. The second series started out well enough, and has a few interesting bits, but overall it’s not very good. It lost its way about halfway through (as many anime series seem to do), and overall it was a disappointment. And SSS was boring, redundant crap that was ultimately one long Nissan commercial, as well.

Now it’s on to Sailor Moon ("Fighting evil by moonlight, finding love by daylight¬Öetc).

#2

I don’t know about SSS, but in my opinion, it’s the second series of GITS that’s really great. The first one is good, too, but I found the “Stand Alone” episodes to be overall weak and boring. The second season is more focused on the plot, and overall better. Anyway, great show, it’s a shame we don’t get many anime as clever as GITS :frowning:

#3

Well, I guess there’s no accounting for taste, is there. But maybe I should give the second series another chance. I liked the “I’m a Soldier” theme song well enough, but the Individual Eleven and the political intrigue around the lady Prime Minister didn’t interest me as much as the Laughing Man story did.

#4

Well Solid State Society was a more a Japanese Current climate statement commentary on Japan’s aging society. It did have some nice touches especially the nod to the 2nd Ghost in the Shell movie where Batou and the Tachikoma are holding off the attackers while the Major hacks the SSS system. Although I can see why you didn’t like it, I liked it well enough. (Not enough Motoko, and it tried to be the 1st movie there at the end, and it fell a little flat.)

#5

I basically did not like the original Ghost in the Shell. (I liked the movie well enough, but did not terribly like the manga.) I’ve only seen Stand Alone Complex; I’ve been meaning to see the second season, but I haven’t got round to it yet.

Friend of mine says he vastly prefers the first season to the second season, though; he likes the stand alone episodes and feels that the comparative lack of filler in the second season is a detraction.

#6

I guess I’m the oddball here, because I like both the first and second season, as well as the movies (except SSS, which I am undecided on since I haven’t seen it yet despite the fact that I own it). Both seasons have their good points, though the points differ in their emphasis. The first season seemed to me to primarily be about transmission and evolution of a cultural phenomenon (or if you prefer, the oh so in vogue word “meme”), with a touch of political intrigue. The second season on the other hand, primarily focuses on political intrigue, most especially when it comes to how some people can manipulate the fears of a culture in order to come to power, for good (to right perceived injustice, a la Kuze) or evil (for personal amusement and selfish gain, a la Gouda). What is common between the two is the fact that they make you think, which is why the series, both first and second season, is my all time favorite anime series.