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elfsWow. Just f'ing wow.
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex is probably one of the few TV shows based on a movie that is, in many ways, better than the movie. The show is a half-hour format, 26 episodes in the first seaon, divided between "Standalone" episodes which can be watched independently, and "Complex" episodes that follow what has come to be known as "The Laughing Man" story arc.
The standalone episodes are pretty damned good, but it's the complex episodes with their story arc that's so amazing. The actual motives are ordinary-- government corruption involving a withheld vaccine-- but the uncovering of the plot, and the extent to which the powerful go to remain powerful, provides incredibly powerful emotional value against which the "white knights" of Section 9 Public Peace play out their roles. The relationship between Motoko Kusanagi and Batou is given real power, the characters who were barely ciphers in the film like Tsuga and Ishikurwa are actually given personalities and motives. Aramaki has an old girlfriend; Matoko has roommates.
But the series doesn't go deep into that; those are mere glimpses. What we do get is an unequivocal action cop show with some of the best damned art anime has yet to put on the screen, a storyline that's allowed to grow and expose much more than we could have gotten in a two-hour movie, and characters complicated enough to be unpredictable. When Tsuga, who has the least cyberware of anyone on the team gets injured, Maktoko's reaction is stunning but not out of character.
The soundtrack, by Kanno Yoko, is likewise perfect in too many ways. One of the best I've heard yet.
Here's hoping the US Release on Cartoon Network next fall doesn't butcher the voices. The Japanese voice actors for Batou, Aramaki, and Matoko were incredible.
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex is probably one of the few TV shows based on a movie that is, in many ways, better than the movie. The show is a half-hour format, 26 episodes in the first seaon, divided between "Standalone" episodes which can be watched independently, and "Complex" episodes that follow what has come to be known as "The Laughing Man" story arc.
The standalone episodes are pretty damned good, but it's the complex episodes with their story arc that's so amazing. The actual motives are ordinary-- government corruption involving a withheld vaccine-- but the uncovering of the plot, and the extent to which the powerful go to remain powerful, provides incredibly powerful emotional value against which the "white knights" of Section 9 Public Peace play out their roles. The relationship between Motoko Kusanagi and Batou is given real power, the characters who were barely ciphers in the film like Tsuga and Ishikurwa are actually given personalities and motives. Aramaki has an old girlfriend; Matoko has roommates.
But the series doesn't go deep into that; those are mere glimpses. What we do get is an unequivocal action cop show with some of the best damned art anime has yet to put on the screen, a storyline that's allowed to grow and expose much more than we could have gotten in a two-hour movie, and characters complicated enough to be unpredictable. When Tsuga, who has the least cyberware of anyone on the team gets injured, Maktoko's reaction is stunning but not out of character.
The soundtrack, by Kanno Yoko, is likewise perfect in too many ways. One of the best I've heard yet.
Here's hoping the US Release on Cartoon Network next fall doesn't butcher the voices. The Japanese voice actors for Batou, Aramaki, and Matoko were incredible.
