Believe it or not, this is high art. The series addresses topics as diverse as social psychology, mental illness, political anthropology, and the roots of consciousness. Over the past 1.5 seasons (its still in first run on Adult Swim), I have been so impressed with the social and emotional evolution of one of the richest cast of characters in television today. For example, the Tachikomas (self-aware, insatiably curious, "think-tanks", with the personality of a gifted nine year old) are precious, and I tear up when one or more of them get destroyed even though it is clear that their collective memory is maintained. But as the lyric in the 2nd season opening theme states, "Save your tears for the day when the pain is far behind". The series is beautifully rendered, with an attention to shadow and facial expression you're not likely to see in a weekly anime offering. The musical direction (even the incidentals) complements the themes of each episode to a tee. In an era that has shown us some incredibly bad and insipid television, I consider myself lucky to have found this series.
3 Reviews
GITS: SAC... First anime Emmy nomination? (may contain spoilers)
Daedalus3923 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is about the Game,not the series (VG=videogame remember)
chrichtonsworld12 February 2007
This game is based on the anime "Ghost in the Shell - Stand alone complex"! What I understand from other reviews concerning this anime that it has little to do with "Ghost in the shell" the movie! And takes a more conventional approach! The same can be said for the game! It is basically a third person shooter with some hand to hand combat! You can play as "the major" and "Batou"! The animation is done wonderful! The special effects used are also top notch! For example if you use kicks the animation slows down (matrix style)! Playing the game gives you the feeling of actually being in the anime! It is easy to control the characters! However sometimes there are really annoying platform puzzles where you have to jump in a certain way! With a little patience you will get through! The game has the same style as "ONI" but with much better graphics! Overall the game is easy and frankly too short! The story was quite interesting,but not special enough! The game is fun,but could have been much better! I think this game is meant for the fans of the series! I liked it!
Stand Alone Complex
radmc00120 April 2006
Fantastic Series. Very entertaining. Good action scenes dotted throughout the series, an great example is where they storm the Geisha building in the first episode. and the story lines are very gripping. The short Tachikoma cartoons at the end of each episode are amusing. The laughing man storyline is very intriguing and the twist near the end of the series is very clever and cannot be seen. The last three episodes contain amazing action and again create a climax up to a great twist. The characters are very well animated and the series does dive into the past of some characters - such as the Major, showing her breaking a doll in the opening credits. However, the translations are not perfect. The opening theme song is fantastic and the music throughout is also very good. A great example of Manga.
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