Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex

[YourAverageJoe]

So I read that Kurt hasn't checked out GitS: SAC. Personally I think it's the greatest series I've ever watched, it's got action, and some cool philosophy to get your mind wandering. The characters aren't too bad either, although Motoko's skimpy outfit may shock some at first, I think it's supposed to reflect her character, or just an okay excuse for some fanservice.

[Isao Kronos (BANNED)]

I preferred the first season to Second Gig, I don't know why. It's been a while since I've seen either though.

[ahnslaught]

Great show; I find it one of those shows that's better when you marathon it because the storyline gets really confusing at times.

Oh, and exalt to Isao Kronos because of the Five Star Stories! I love that manga - any idea if they ever went beyond issue 26?

[Isao Kronos (BANNED)]

I honestly don't know, you'd have to check Amazon.

[YourAverageJoe]

One thing you'll notice is the lack of recap, and the fact that each episode has an intro that specifies if it's independant (stand-alone) or part of the main story (complex). This helps if you wanna marathon through the whole story in few sittings.

[Shinigami]

Yes, I'm glad it has no recap. I hope they plan on making a third season. I still feel some of the characters are a bit under developed (like Boma and Paz). It seems like Motoko, Batou, and Togusa get all the focus.

[YourAverageJoe]

Yeah, but there's a wholly unrelated manga that you can read through, the movies, shows and manga aren't connected through storyline, so I say you should give that a go.

[necromaniac]

The manga is the best, then the TV show and then the movies in my opinion.

[ahnslaught]

I think GitS manga 1 is amazing; part 2, however, is one confusing mess which I really didn't get into. I'd actually rate the TV show first, then the manga and then the movie. The movie, as usual, doesn't have enough time to tell a good tale and develop the characters and setting properly. Again, the first movie is good, but the second is complete crap.

[Isao Kronos (BANNED)]

I hope Solid State Society is pretty good.

[Shinigami]

I bought both of the mangas. The first one was good despite the needless "humor" (Aramaki was called "Ape Face" for example). The second one however was a bunch of techno-babble and jargon. Most of the dialogue is just Motoko giving instructions to her sentient internet bots. I don't even know what the case she was investigating was. There are these people using pig brains to... do... something... or something. Then there's some crap about the depths of human consiousness resembling the life tree or something that has to do with the Japanese creation myth.

But probably the most dissapointing thing of all, there was no lesbian love scene like in the first one. Because really, that's what the people want, and it's sad to see that it doesn't deliver.

[YourAverageJoe]

Look for the fan-translation, it's much less safe for work.

[ninjarygar]

The show has some of the best animation I've ever seen. But whenever I try to watch it, it bores me to death. I'm sorry... it's really boring.

[ahnslaught]

Yeah, it takes a lot to get into the show; however, in its defense, I'd argue that just about every other anime out there has tons of action, and it's rare to have an actual interesting, smart storyline like the ones found in either season of the TV GitS. Stick with it, and pay attention to the story; it's well worth the investment.

Oh, and action scenes do come later on, and they are quite good.

[gesutaaru]

ahnslaught said:

The movie, as usual, doesn't have enough time to tell a good tale and develop the characters and setting properly. Again, the first movie is good, but the second is complete crap.

The movie had more than enough time; Oshii just removed as much of the story as he could, while still keeping it somewhat coherent, and replaced it with as much psychobabble as possible.

I saw the movie before I read the manga, and I remember not having any idea what the hell was going on in the movie. I thought I just didn't understand it, but, a year or so later, I got around to reading the manga, and it all made perfect sense. The manga even managed to touch of the psychological aspect of it all without beating the reader over the head with it.