Post by ravenwithoutcause on Feb 3, 2005 14:39:19 GMT -5
While I lack both the resources and the patience to carry out a scientific survey, I suspect that Masamune Shirow may have a degree of name recognition in the Western world, and particularly in North America, that equals or surpasses that of nearly anyone else involved in the creation of Japanese animation and comics. People who have adopted anime as a hobby are likely to know who Hideaki Anno is, just as manga enthusiasts will recognize CLAMP. But Shirow is one of those people who is known by seemingly everyone, including some people who don't like anime or manga. This is largely due to the exceptional popularization in the western world of one of his many creations: Ghost in the Shell.
Ghost in the Shell began life as a manga series. The story tracked the evolution, over the course of nearly two years of fictional time, of the struggle between a cyber-terrorist mastermind calling himself "The Puppet Master" with the personnel of Section 9, an elite anti-terrorist special operations unit operating under the control of the Japanese government. At the same time, it posed searching questions about the nature of human identity and the manner in which technology may end up shaping it's supposed masters - all of which was amply enhanced by Shirow's apparently effortless ability to discuss technical matters and complex philosophical ideas. The series proved to be wildly popular, and in 1995 Production I.G. brought it to the cinema screen in a much abbreviated version. When this movie was released in the States, it managed to score the number one spot on Billboard's video sales chart and garnered positive reviews from practically everyone who watched it, not least among them Roger Ebert.
It was almost a heaven-sent gift, then, to learn about Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. While a sequel to the original movie (Ghost in the Shell: Innocence) had been made recently (under the same direction and by the same studio as its predecessor) and the first manga, as well as its sequel (Man Machine Interface) had long been available in the US from Dark Horse, none of these really seemed to fulfill the potential the original had possessed. Shirow's first version of the story definitely went somewhere, and while he can hardly be faulted for having the courage to bring one of his creations to an actual climax, rather than dragging it out until sales fell off as too many authors do, he seems to have left most of the fans (including this one) wanting to see more of the world and the cast of characters he had created with Section 9. This series fills that need.
In this alternative version of the original story, the Puppet Master case and the irrevocable changes it effected in the structure of Section 9 never occurred. Instead we are given a look at the counter-terrorists as they combat a variety of challenges to the stability of the Japanese government. Some of these are one-shot episodes: the threat is identified and neutralized in the convenient span of 25 minutes. Others, however, revolve around the continuing effort to find and apprehend the individual known as "The Laughing Man."
The Laughing Man is a cyber-criminal of the highest order with a penchant for industrial espionage and a vague anti-establishment streak to his criminal style; his name comes from a ridiculous logo of a laughing face wearing a baseball cap, around which circle the words "I thought what I'd do is, I'd be one of those deaf-mutes" (a quote from Catcher in the Rye). This image is used as both a calling card and a weapon of information warfare: it appears over the Laughing Man's face whenever he is caught on cameras of any kind, including those implanted in cyborged humans. It also became a pop culture icon after the Laughing Man's initial spree of extortion attacks on large corporations six years prior to the events of the series. At that time, no one was able to make any headway on the case, and the subsequent years of poor results have not dulled the desire of the personnel assigned to it to catch their prey, who has long since gone underground. When an old colleague contacts Togusa, a member of Section 9, at 2 AM asking him to look over some unusual photographs he has been analyzing, all hell breaks loose: lives are lost, a huge scandal is uncovered, a prominent official is threatened on national television in the middle of a press conference, and Section 9 suddenly finds itself in the forefront of the renewed effort to catch the seemingly infallible terrorist who has come out of hiding to personally discredit people in high places.
A good series is made in large part by its characters, and GitS: SAC is no exception to this rule. The core of the team at Section 9 is one of the most interesting ensembles I've ever seen. Leading them is Daisuke Aramaki, an elderly man who gives the impression of having spent more years in covert government service than anyone else in the unit has spent breathing. Aramkai is implacable and incorruptible - like Elliott Ness might have been if he'd run the FBI when he was old enough to have seen his grandkids. There's the hulking, sardonic Batou, who wastes his pay on exercise equipment his cybernetic body doesn't need; and there's Togusa, a family man who is almost all flesh and blood and seems relaxingly normal beside everyone else. But most arresting of all is Motoko Kusangai, or "the Major" to her subordinates. Motoko is iconic - quite literally, as she is the most recognizable figure of the franchise and the primary vehicle by which the original story explored its deeper ideas. She seems to have been faithfully adapted here; everything looks right, from her hair and clothes down to the details of her unconventional romantic life, and her personality comes across in all its compelling force. The Major alone is reason to watch the show; her interactions with Aramaki, Batou, and Togusa is a wonderful bonus. She serves as both the field leader and primary combatant for the Section, and does both jobs exceedingly well.
Production I.G.'s animation work here is simply first rate. Not one frame on these two discs is objectionable to me. Everything here is eye candy, from the Major herself to the Tachikomas, artificially intelligent miniature tanks the Section makes use of. The audio is also splendid. I love Atsuko Tanaka's throaty voice, for which reason I prefer the sub, but there is no reason whatsoever apart from that to steer clear of Melissa Williamson's performance in the dub. Every volume so far has had a series of interesting extras as well, notably the interviews with Tanaka on volume 1 and Osamu Saka (on playing Aramaki and giving interesting insights into his character) on volume 2.
GitS: SAC is not quite perfect. Its failing lies in its fragmented plot. As I said, some of the episodes are essentially filler. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are bad - though some so far have had mediocre content - but they really don't compare to the Laughing Man episodes in any way. A certain amount of this has to be expected with any series, but so far the stand-alone episodes are running neck and neck with the Laughing Man episodes, two each per disc. I wish there was more to the substantive, intriguing main plot, even if it would have limited the series' run to a mere thirteen episodes. But it's a small price to pay, in the end. The show has proven popular enough in Japan to get a second season, which is allegedly superior to this one, so it looks like things only get better from here.
Bottom line, a 9.5/10
Ghost in the Shell began life as a manga series. The story tracked the evolution, over the course of nearly two years of fictional time, of the struggle between a cyber-terrorist mastermind calling himself "The Puppet Master" with the personnel of Section 9, an elite anti-terrorist special operations unit operating under the control of the Japanese government. At the same time, it posed searching questions about the nature of human identity and the manner in which technology may end up shaping it's supposed masters - all of which was amply enhanced by Shirow's apparently effortless ability to discuss technical matters and complex philosophical ideas. The series proved to be wildly popular, and in 1995 Production I.G. brought it to the cinema screen in a much abbreviated version. When this movie was released in the States, it managed to score the number one spot on Billboard's video sales chart and garnered positive reviews from practically everyone who watched it, not least among them Roger Ebert.
It was almost a heaven-sent gift, then, to learn about Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. While a sequel to the original movie (Ghost in the Shell: Innocence) had been made recently (under the same direction and by the same studio as its predecessor) and the first manga, as well as its sequel (Man Machine Interface) had long been available in the US from Dark Horse, none of these really seemed to fulfill the potential the original had possessed. Shirow's first version of the story definitely went somewhere, and while he can hardly be faulted for having the courage to bring one of his creations to an actual climax, rather than dragging it out until sales fell off as too many authors do, he seems to have left most of the fans (including this one) wanting to see more of the world and the cast of characters he had created with Section 9. This series fills that need.
In this alternative version of the original story, the Puppet Master case and the irrevocable changes it effected in the structure of Section 9 never occurred. Instead we are given a look at the counter-terrorists as they combat a variety of challenges to the stability of the Japanese government. Some of these are one-shot episodes: the threat is identified and neutralized in the convenient span of 25 minutes. Others, however, revolve around the continuing effort to find and apprehend the individual known as "The Laughing Man."
The Laughing Man is a cyber-criminal of the highest order with a penchant for industrial espionage and a vague anti-establishment streak to his criminal style; his name comes from a ridiculous logo of a laughing face wearing a baseball cap, around which circle the words "I thought what I'd do is, I'd be one of those deaf-mutes" (a quote from Catcher in the Rye). This image is used as both a calling card and a weapon of information warfare: it appears over the Laughing Man's face whenever he is caught on cameras of any kind, including those implanted in cyborged humans. It also became a pop culture icon after the Laughing Man's initial spree of extortion attacks on large corporations six years prior to the events of the series. At that time, no one was able to make any headway on the case, and the subsequent years of poor results have not dulled the desire of the personnel assigned to it to catch their prey, who has long since gone underground. When an old colleague contacts Togusa, a member of Section 9, at 2 AM asking him to look over some unusual photographs he has been analyzing, all hell breaks loose: lives are lost, a huge scandal is uncovered, a prominent official is threatened on national television in the middle of a press conference, and Section 9 suddenly finds itself in the forefront of the renewed effort to catch the seemingly infallible terrorist who has come out of hiding to personally discredit people in high places.
A good series is made in large part by its characters, and GitS: SAC is no exception to this rule. The core of the team at Section 9 is one of the most interesting ensembles I've ever seen. Leading them is Daisuke Aramaki, an elderly man who gives the impression of having spent more years in covert government service than anyone else in the unit has spent breathing. Aramkai is implacable and incorruptible - like Elliott Ness might have been if he'd run the FBI when he was old enough to have seen his grandkids. There's the hulking, sardonic Batou, who wastes his pay on exercise equipment his cybernetic body doesn't need; and there's Togusa, a family man who is almost all flesh and blood and seems relaxingly normal beside everyone else. But most arresting of all is Motoko Kusangai, or "the Major" to her subordinates. Motoko is iconic - quite literally, as she is the most recognizable figure of the franchise and the primary vehicle by which the original story explored its deeper ideas. She seems to have been faithfully adapted here; everything looks right, from her hair and clothes down to the details of her unconventional romantic life, and her personality comes across in all its compelling force. The Major alone is reason to watch the show; her interactions with Aramaki, Batou, and Togusa is a wonderful bonus. She serves as both the field leader and primary combatant for the Section, and does both jobs exceedingly well.
Production I.G.'s animation work here is simply first rate. Not one frame on these two discs is objectionable to me. Everything here is eye candy, from the Major herself to the Tachikomas, artificially intelligent miniature tanks the Section makes use of. The audio is also splendid. I love Atsuko Tanaka's throaty voice, for which reason I prefer the sub, but there is no reason whatsoever apart from that to steer clear of Melissa Williamson's performance in the dub. Every volume so far has had a series of interesting extras as well, notably the interviews with Tanaka on volume 1 and Osamu Saka (on playing Aramaki and giving interesting insights into his character) on volume 2.
GitS: SAC is not quite perfect. Its failing lies in its fragmented plot. As I said, some of the episodes are essentially filler. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are bad - though some so far have had mediocre content - but they really don't compare to the Laughing Man episodes in any way. A certain amount of this has to be expected with any series, but so far the stand-alone episodes are running neck and neck with the Laughing Man episodes, two each per disc. I wish there was more to the substantive, intriguing main plot, even if it would have limited the series' run to a mere thirteen episodes. But it's a small price to pay, in the end. The show has proven popular enough in Japan to get a second season, which is allegedly superior to this one, so it looks like things only get better from here.
Bottom line, a 9.5/10
