Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig

Name: Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig
Type: Television Show
Episodes: 26
Rating: TV-14
Runtime Per Episode: 25 min
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Produced By Animax, Bandai, and others
Year Produced: 2003

One of the few animes that I can stand to watch in English, Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. (both of them), were produced about 7 years after the movie directed by Mamoru Oshii and was the first thing reviewed on this blog.

The classic troupe (with the same voice actors from the original Japanese version) and a couple of new faces make a return/entrance, to hunt down crime on the mean streets of New Tokyo, now!  Screw Hong Kong!
Actually, in all fairness, I thought that the movie was set in New Tokyo (I'll explain the "New" part later), but as I was looking around the net for verification of my plot summary, I figured out that the director said that it was set in Hong Kong, and that, if you looked carefully, you wouldn't find any hirigana or katakana (two character sets exclusively from Japan (since Japan got most of it's third alphabet, kanji, from China)) in any of the sign names... you might find English though... odd.

Chief Aramaki (Old Ape) and the Kusanagi (Queen Kong/The Major) now have a new foe!  A Super-Class-A Hacker (a term you'll hear quite a lot through the series)!  What is that?  No idea.  As far as I can figure, it's an honorific saved for those who have the ability to quickly and effectively hack/infect (via standard computer virus) other people's cyber brains.
It all started on February 3, 2024 when a man kidnapped the CEO of a micro-machine manufacturing cooperation called Serano-Genomix, demanding him at gunpoint to reveal a secret that "the world needed to know"... but what was this secret?  And who was this masked man?  And what does it have to do with the events occurring today... in mean, in the future...

The first part of a two-season run (though the two seasons have close to nothing linking them story-wise), Ghost in the Shell S.A.C 1st Gig is... strange in it's episode layout... actually, both "Gigs" were.

There were two types of episodes; Stand Alone episodes, and Complex episodes (and you can tell the difference by the color (green and blue respectively) and the fact that it tells you over the episode name).
Stand Alone episodes are just what they say.  The anime equivalent or a oneshot, or just a normal anime episode (pardon me, I have a mind more adapted to manga).  A plot that is summed up during the episode with practically no impact on the others except random flashbacks and references down the line.
Complex episodes, however, are part of the main story; that of "The Laughing Man".  I don't know what to relate it to, since I don't have television, and rely on downloading to get all of my anime and stuff, but that's the way it works.

The same thing goes for the 2nd Gig, only those are called Individual and Dividual episodes (new names for Stand Alone and Complex episodes, but pertaining to the main plot in that one.)

As far as the character development goes, even though some new characters were introduced, the plot still revolves around Motoko, Batou, and The Laughing Man, so you don't get to see much about them.  Togusa looks like hell though.  That's what married life does to some guys, though.

It's hard to describe character development, actually, since I watched the movie long before the show, and as such, couldn't really tell if there was much deep, probing ventures into the psyches of the characters...
Actually, that's a lie.  You get to know Batou a lot better through the series.  Like the fact that he grew a pony-tail.  A new aspect of his personality is revealed, and you learn about his jaded past (and how he lost his eyes!).

The art style was very different from the movie.  Don't be frightened by the opening sequence.  Actually, that's what I was afraid it was going to look like, and I was very happy when it was... well... not that.  There was a lot more color and shine in this one.  The eyes are probably the most apparent change in the art style (they get a lot more... anime...)

See?  She's also a lot more... I dunno... purple.

Animation style and flow is still good, and since it was for TV, that had to kick up the action factor, and drop most of the philosophic and (God, I'm getting sick of this word) existential stuff.

I don't know if I should be happy about this or not, but I found it well balanced for television.  Just enough action to keep them watching, but just enough thinking to make them question their existence a little (if they haven't been numbed by the movie already)... good work!

Again, good voice acting.  While they kept the original cast from the movie in Japan (as earlier stated, geez, don't you read anything I type?!), they changed almost everybody else except for Aramaki.  Among the new cast are (as far as I am concerned) a couple of stars!  Richard Epcar as Batou and Crispin Freeman as Togusa.

I don't particularly like or dislike Freeman, but I noticed that I've been seeing him quite a lot.  Saw him in Noein, and heard him for about a second in Hellsing (which I will be reviewing rather soon).

Now I do like Epcar.  I haven't seen him as much as Freeman, but I like the characters that I've seen him play, and also he's just got a inflection in his voice, and knows how to use it!  The guy's awesome!

As for the dubbed vrs. subbed argument, I can't lend much to it.  It was nice seeing the original voice actors in the Japanese one, made it easier to transition, but, like I said, I can stand this show in English (probably because I watched it in English first, though that doesn't always make a difference).  Now this show is one that I can stand to listen to while I'm "working".

I found the soundtrack and such better than the movie.  The movie had it's own charm, as I stated (the wailing children charm), but the anime was more into the punk/rock scene, with a couple of... "pop" (is that the correct term for "Inner Universe"?) numbers in there.
My personal favorites included Lithium Flower by Scott Matthew, Run Rabbit Junk by... someone, probably Yoko Kanno (who composed the music for pretty much all of the music), and Inner Universe by Origa.  You can also get an OST CD with all of their songs on it.

In the end... it really depends on what you're looking for.  If you want the action and more multi-ped tanks, watch the anime...

 

If you want the philosophy, the self-awareness, the more depressing (or should I say "realistic") story-line, or the nudity, then you should watch the movie (I think I know what you'll pick if you're a guy).

I can't attest to which one I like better, so the best that I can say is watch them both... just for the experience.  If you don't, then...

... I'm afraid you'll just have to accept the consequences... and the bullets and the pain.

I've also been told that the games produced for the Playstation are quite good, though since I'm too poor to afford a controller, I can't attest to it personally.

Once again, check out MiniTheatre for this one, and again, if you want to listen to the English version, go to the dual-audio folder.  Actually, I got mine from a Mediafire file folder, but it's only the English version.  I'll give you the link anyway.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig Mediafire Folder

Coming up next!

DNA²!

Alert!

If you don't like spoilers, or still want to watch the movie now, you'd better stop reading!

The Laughing Man is a teenager suffering from what is called "Cyberbrain Sclerosis" (the medical way of saying that you're going to go bald and people will be able to see all the little hatches on your head.  I don't really care what anybody else says, he either has ICBM missiles or chocolate treats hidden in there).  He kidnapped the CEO and ordered him to tell the world that the micro-machines that his and several other companies were manufacturing were utter crap, but the dude didn't do it, so The Laughing Man ran off.

The skill that The Laughing Man had inspired a wave of other hackers to trade on his "name" (he never actually declared himself as "The Laughing Man") and blackmail dozens of cooperations.

Six years later, a scandal involving the illegal implant and use of things called "interceptors" (little cameras that are implanted inside people's eyes for surveillance purposes) is brought to light, and Section 9 figures out that the agents working on the original Laughing Man case had been implanted with these interceptors, leading them to believe that the investigation meant a lot to people with real power in the political world.

Section 9 strikes off on its own, flushing out the scandal and bringing it to the attention of the press, during which, the real Laughing Man makes his appearance after so much time, threatening to kill the Chief Superintendent, though he never does.

As the series goes on, Section 9 is dragged further into the Laughing Man case, and ends up following it into a hornet's nest of political intrigue.  During the process, they go toe-to-toe with...

... the Narcotics Squad (basically a bunch of plain-clothes, uzi-wielding, well-connected but ultimately spineless killers) one big-ass cyborg...

... And a mysterious group led by a man in a beret called the Umibozu.

Scary, yeah?

Actually, killing people and fighting Godzilla isn't the Umibozu's whole life...

... they also harass old people in their spare time.

In the end, information about Section 9 is leaked to the public, and they are made out to be a secret kill-squad.  The Prime Minister calls in Aramaki to "talk turkey".

Section 9 is disbanded in the wake of the Umibozu assault, and all the members are arrested except for the Major who is shot in the head.  Well, it was more of a smear by then.

... too much?

Togusa, being the only one who is alive and being shown in the 26th episode is really down, and goes to kill the bad boys who started it all, but he is stopped and his gun taken away before he can cross the street.  The End.  Go away.

... Actually, it's all true, I just didn't finish.  Apparently, Aramaki "sacrificed" Section 9 in order to get the Prime Minster (who was in with the micro-machine companies) off his back, and then leaks the information about the micro-machine scandal to the public and causes a huge shake down.

Section 9 gets back together, tries to enlist The Laughing Man (though he refuses), and then goes on to continue their work in secret, and as far as everybody else is concerned, Section 9 died during the struggle with the Umibozu (who also don't officially exist, so... how's that work?).  Everybody's happy.

The Real End...

... NOT!  There's still a whole other season to go through!  But that's better saved for a different time.

My favorite episode from the series would probably have to be Episode 13: Unequal Terrorist - Not Equal.  This is the one about the mission to rescue Eka Tokura from the New World Brigade on that radiation scrubbing station... thing.
I probably liked it because of... well... all the gunfighting.  I'm a man with simple tastes.  I'm cool with anything from gunfights to juvenile sex jokes or "ecchi" situations, it's all good.

... and I promised that I'd explain the "New" part of New Tokyo, didn't I?
... damn.
Anyway, you don't really need to know this for this season, but in the second season, Togusa actually takes a trip to Tokyo (is it called "Old" Tokyo now...?).  Apparently, within less than 20 years, humanity has had a 3rd and 4th World War, during which Japan got nuked once or twice, but that's okay because somebody created little robots that clean up radiation.
I'd like to say that I've always know that humans are dumb, but I never considered the possibility that we might be able to have two world-crippling wars within two decades.  It took us like 30 years to recover from one.
... Then again, America isn't doing too hot in this future, so... never mind.

The story of The Laughing Man is not from the original manga by Masamune Shirow, but rather was written for the television show exclusively.  Since some people didn't really care about The New World Brigade, suicidal androids, and totally psychotic, flesh-stripping killers, an OVA was compiled out of all of the Laughing Man material, though I never watched it, so it could very well have new material!  But then again, I don't really care.

Even though most of the main story is now by Masamune Shirow, there are parts of it which are his (mostly the Stand Alones).  The suicidal android part could be a rip-off of a homicidal android story that he wrote... and the Ghost-Dubbing device and CEO Jameson are also out of the same story during which the CEO is not the lovable mock-Texan that you know, but rather a money-grubbing tin can that is cloning people (specifically smuggled children, and even more specially two girls; Link and... Zelda... no, seriously, Link and Adam) and then selling the clones... pretty much as prostitutes to special costumers.

There are also some links between the manga and the 2nd Gig, and this time they are actually directly related to the main story line!  Either get the manga, or watch the second season... or do both!

If you liked this, then you should probably watch the 2nd Gig.  You'll have a considerably easier time finding something related to this than for the movie.  I'd tell you more, but (as you've probably already figured out) I watch anime in no discernible order, and with no particular link, mostly it's adapted from manga that I liked, and sometimes I saw it in a random ad (that's how I found Ookami to Koushinryou). 

Sorry about that, I'm not totally into the cyber-punk genre... actually, I don't even know what it means...