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Artificial Intelligence. Cyberspace Espionage. Hot chicks in one-piece swimsuits kicking ass with sidekicks and sidearms. Yep?it’s Japanese animation. And this is anime with attitude. It’s Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the series based on the ground-breaking 1996 animation epic.
RATING: 4 out of 5
Many of the hardcore anime fans out there will attest that Akira is “the ultimate experience” in this imported art form from the Land of the Rising Sun, but I can’t watch it. Gives me an ice cream headache every time I try. And for the longest time, I avoided anime like housework?unless it was an episode of Star Blazers. Then in a Blockbuster I picked up in the bargain bin a $10 VHS copy of an anime called K?u kid?, known in the US more commonly as Ghost in the Shell.
I didn’t sleep a wink that night.
Since then, I’ve been trying to learn more about anime. I have found that I look at anime the same way I look at wine, scotch and cigars: I don’t know everything about it, I probably won’t ever stop learning about it, and I definitely know what I like about it. Now and then I will pull out my DVD of Ghost in the Shell, watching it as if it was for the first time. Just incredible.
Then I found out at the beginning of the year that Ghost in the Shell had a sequel in the works. I thought “How cool! Can’t beat that!”
Turns out the folks behind Shell could as they were also developing Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, a series featuring Major Motoko Kusanagi, Bateau, and the invisible and enigmatic “Section 9″ facing the toughest cases of cybernetic nature.
Major Motoko Kusanagi and her partner, Bateau, are part of “Section 9,” a branch of the future Japanese government who are not military, not law enforcement, not your average intelligence branch. Section 9 is the company called in to investigate when hacking and homicide collide. In the pilot episode (entitled “Section 9″), Kusanagi and her team are called in to rescue high-ranking government officials from haywire geisha robots. (While there is a sense of sex appeal in GitS: SAC, NO the geisha robots weren’t going haywire in some sort of naughty Westworld fashion, so get over that?) Here you see Section 9 at their best, working methodically and efficiently in thermo-camouflage. They manage to rescue the officials, but this case is far from closed with a secretary’s death, a death not at the hands of the malfunctioning androids.
Much like Ghost in the Shell, its series is “eye candy for the brain” as the writing is smart, sexy, and surreal. If you have not seen Shell or read its manga, coming into GitS: SAC cold might provide a shock to your neural net. You may miss in the pilot episode some of the early, subtle references to the original film. There are also concepts and language used in the film that may take a moment or two for you to wrap your brain around, but it is still easy to enjoy the edge, action, and intelligence of GitS: SAC.
If you have read the manga and seen the film, brace yourself. You are in for one incredible ride. This series will not only make you appreciate the original film all the more, but expand this futuristic world in ways that will challenge your imagination. A must have for any amine fan.
My one hang up with GitS: SAC are these overly-cute, overly-goofy shorts called “Tachikoma Days,” appearing at the end of each episode. The mini-features feature the Tachikomas, AI-supertanks that provide moments of levity throughout the series. In context of each episode, the Tachikomas and their eccentricities worked. In their post-episode shorts, though, the Tachikomas crack jokes that aren’t funny and try way too hard to be clever. It reminded me of watching Bertolt Brecht or Samuel Beckett on stage. It was “Anime of the Absurd” and a part of me felt like the mini-features trivialized the depth and scope that GitS: SAC achieved. I also felt like a part of me was a “stupid American” too dim to get “the joke.” Then I remembered I felt the same way about the Tachikomas and their asides in Shell’s manga. So maybe I just have an issue with AI’s that think it’s “Open Mic Night” at Caroline’s.
Regardless if you are into surreal robot anime shorts or not, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex lives up to the demand, anticipation, and hype created by the original Ghost in the Shell and it well worth watching. Nothing is missing from the series and takes the characters we got to know in the original film and continue their story with the same degree of intellect. Perhaps you are intimidated by anime but are curious as to what it’s all about. Go out and give GitS: SAC a try as the action and animation will grab you and won’t let go. If you are already a fan of anime and are fighting the temptation to invest in yet another series, consider this a hack on your Ghost: go on and get Volume One of GitS: SAC. After all, what’s one more series to add to your collection?
Go on and give into the temptation. Don’t worry?you’ll thank me later.
