The original "Ghost in the Shell" (1995) is one of my all-time favorite movies, live-action or animated. It's undoubtedly one of my favorite pieces of Japanese animation (Anime'), and it's also one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies. As well, the original Manga that inspired it (by series creator Shirow Masamune) is one of my favorite books of all time. I also appreciate the deep influence the Manga and film had on "The Matrix" (1999), which is another personal favorite film of mine and another all-time favorite sci-fi movie.
With the Anime' series "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," which aired in America on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim, we get another taste of the world that Masamune breathed life into all those years ago. "Stand Alone Complex" appears to be somewhat of an expansion of the original "Ghost in the Shell" from 1995, since as I remember the movie (successfully) condensed a pretty hefty storyline into a single 82-minute feature. A lot of story and characters were left out of the movie entirely, so that it could instead focus on the main storyline of the original Manga.
Here in "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," a lot of the story left out of "Ghost in the Shell" is fleshed out, and plus a wealth of new ideas, characters, and concepts are also explored. The series is set in 2030 A.D. in Japan, where Section 9, an elite government task force, investigates crime (both human and computer crimes), terrorism, and all other manner of evil wrong-doing that threatens public security in the country. Led by the tough-as-nails cyborg vixen Major Motoko Kusanagi, they engage all threats with a wicked vengeance. The central storyline details Section 9's investigation of the elusive Laughing Man, a notorious computer hacker who brings to mind memories of the elusive Puppet Master from the original 1995 movie.
This is a great, thought-provoking series, like the movie and Manga series that inspired it. Much like its predecessors, "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" dives into a futuristic world where humans are very close to being not human at all. Many humans in this future, are enhanced, in some way or another, by machines, as a means of getting the upper hand in a world where rapid technological advancement is proceeding forward with little or no oversight. How long before flesh & blood will merely be a thing of the past? Can you still be considered human in an artificial body made out of plastic, metal, wiring, and other complex prosthetics? Will there be an ideological war fought between cyber-enhanced humans and militant "anti-cyberization" rebel forces? In some ways, that makes this show seem almost eerily prescient, and entirely possible. It's these sort of paranoid philosophical questions that makes this series such socially relevant science fiction. (James Cameron, are you reading this?)
The animation here is great. Like the movie that pioneered the trend, it is a stunningly envisioned, seamless blend of traditional hand-drawn animation and computer-generated imagery (CGI). My guess is that the traditional hand-drawn animation and CGI mirrors the series' persistent theme of the melding of man and machine together. (A very interesting conflict, indeed.) And the exotic soundtrack music by Yoko Kanno is exceptional; it's both moody and atmospheric - it perfectly fits the show in every way possible.
"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is a great Anime' show. It's fantastically animated and intriguingly philosophical in the presentation of its ideas and concepts; watchful viewers could also pick up a few references to the Ridley Scott-directed 1982 American sci-fi classic "Blade Runner," and perhaps even acclaimed American author William Gibson's seminal 1984 cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer," the latter of which is probably the single greatest source of inspiration for this whole setup. And Major Motoko Kusanagi has to be one of the most strikingly beautiful (if not THE most strikingly beautiful) cyborgs ever conceived for an animated format.
10/10
With the Anime' series "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," which aired in America on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim, we get another taste of the world that Masamune breathed life into all those years ago. "Stand Alone Complex" appears to be somewhat of an expansion of the original "Ghost in the Shell" from 1995, since as I remember the movie (successfully) condensed a pretty hefty storyline into a single 82-minute feature. A lot of story and characters were left out of the movie entirely, so that it could instead focus on the main storyline of the original Manga.
Here in "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex," a lot of the story left out of "Ghost in the Shell" is fleshed out, and plus a wealth of new ideas, characters, and concepts are also explored. The series is set in 2030 A.D. in Japan, where Section 9, an elite government task force, investigates crime (both human and computer crimes), terrorism, and all other manner of evil wrong-doing that threatens public security in the country. Led by the tough-as-nails cyborg vixen Major Motoko Kusanagi, they engage all threats with a wicked vengeance. The central storyline details Section 9's investigation of the elusive Laughing Man, a notorious computer hacker who brings to mind memories of the elusive Puppet Master from the original 1995 movie.
This is a great, thought-provoking series, like the movie and Manga series that inspired it. Much like its predecessors, "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" dives into a futuristic world where humans are very close to being not human at all. Many humans in this future, are enhanced, in some way or another, by machines, as a means of getting the upper hand in a world where rapid technological advancement is proceeding forward with little or no oversight. How long before flesh & blood will merely be a thing of the past? Can you still be considered human in an artificial body made out of plastic, metal, wiring, and other complex prosthetics? Will there be an ideological war fought between cyber-enhanced humans and militant "anti-cyberization" rebel forces? In some ways, that makes this show seem almost eerily prescient, and entirely possible. It's these sort of paranoid philosophical questions that makes this series such socially relevant science fiction. (James Cameron, are you reading this?)
The animation here is great. Like the movie that pioneered the trend, it is a stunningly envisioned, seamless blend of traditional hand-drawn animation and computer-generated imagery (CGI). My guess is that the traditional hand-drawn animation and CGI mirrors the series' persistent theme of the melding of man and machine together. (A very interesting conflict, indeed.) And the exotic soundtrack music by Yoko Kanno is exceptional; it's both moody and atmospheric - it perfectly fits the show in every way possible.
"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is a great Anime' show. It's fantastically animated and intriguingly philosophical in the presentation of its ideas and concepts; watchful viewers could also pick up a few references to the Ridley Scott-directed 1982 American sci-fi classic "Blade Runner," and perhaps even acclaimed American author William Gibson's seminal 1984 cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer," the latter of which is probably the single greatest source of inspiration for this whole setup. And Major Motoko Kusanagi has to be one of the most strikingly beautiful (if not THE most strikingly beautiful) cyborgs ever conceived for an animated format.
10/10