Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original Manga | Masamune Shirow |
| Director/Artist | Kenji Kamiyama |
| Format | Anime (OVA) |
| Made By | Production I.G |
| Episode Length | 25 minutes |
| # of Episodes | 26 |
Contents
Genre
Sci-Fi, Drama, Action, Recommended Dub
Sum it up in a Sentence
Japan is harbouring an immigrant population in a disused section of Tokyo who are feeling the chains of oppression and wish for freedom
Main Description
Section 9 has been reformed secretly, hidden from the knowledge of the public. All the regular cast return to form the secret branch of the government designed to deal with cyber crime aggressively. Now they face a terrible foe, an increase in domestic terrorism fuelled by a secret organisation pushing forward an anti-immigrant ideal. All the while normal branches of the Japanese government push to limit sections 9's ability to investigate and solve problems as they are happening. Who is causing all the problems? Are the immigrants forming a terrorist cell or is the government secretly conspiring to control them to their own means?
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First Series:
Original Movie:
SAC Movie:
From the same director:
Personal Opinions
Mirsha
The first series was awesome so the basic question is this series any good?. Well yes, Not quite as mind blowingly good as the first series but it's still worth it's own weight in salt. Most of my complaint with this season is based upon how heavily almost every episodes weighs into the main plot line. The first season was Stand Alone Complex, every episode either weaved a part of the larger tale or was something to be appreciated for in it's own right. Season two has much more trouble distinguishing between these situations and most of the plots fall into the main plot line or seem vaguely defined to fit in there whilst providing some coverage. The series does still derail into individual character plots, which are not to be missed, and it has a good sense of trying everything up.
Once again though, this series carries more than your average pigeon's worth of philosophy in with it's kicking the shit of people in a pleasant manner. It takes some of the main characters and gives you a lot more details of their how and why and the series still has the Tachikoma's which are quite frankly the most amusing anime personifications ever developed.
If we were ranking this on an arbitrary scale I'd say A+.
a kitten
I like the first season more, but season two is definitely not a letdown. The intrigue and plotting remain both compelling and strong and characterization of the cast continues with all of the members of Section 9 getting at least an episode dedicated to them.
WMain00
Now, if you were to ask me "Main, which series of SAC is the best one?" I'd have trouble answering that. My biggest problem with series 2 is that Mamuro Oshii weighs in like the philosophical truck he is and once again weaves Ghost in the Shell into his own muse about life, the universe and everything. The result is that the technobabble, philosophy and story are far more intense and it took me a 2nd playthrough before I really understood what the hell was going on. A simple answer therefore would be that if you hate the techno-philosophy crap of the universe, then stick to the first series.
If you can get your head around it though, then the 2nd series is a more rewarding experience. Each episode is tied (apart from maybe one or two side episodes) directly to the overarching plot and Section 9 are really tested to a far greater extent than The Laughing Man case. Goda and Kuze are fascinating and dangerous characters whose motivations are fairly interesting (although, as I say, their motivations can get bogged down in techno-babble).
Saying that though, I still find the ending fairly poor and most obviously influenced by Oshii. Around about the latent half of the series the characters become increasingly 2-dimensional - Motoko in particular - and the whole thing runs off into a somewhat predictable ending.
So, the 2nd series is good, but I think the first is more fun.
God I wish they'd make a 3rd series. :(
Links
- Official Site (United States)
- Official Production IG page (United States)
- Official Production IG page (Japanese)
- Official Animax Website
- Official NTV Website (Japanese)
