And Now, For Something (Almost) Totally Awesome…

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex makes

heavy use of CGI in it's openning sequence.

There are some shows out there that are widely regarded as must see series in the North American Anime community. Shows like Cowboy Bebop, Full Metal Alchemist, and Neon Genesis Evangelion have huge followings in the fandom, and are widely considered to be at the pinnacle of what anime is capable of. I have to admit however, that I haven’t seen all of these ‘pinnacle’ shows, and have in fact been somewhat sceptical of them. Cowboy Bebop for instance proved not to be worthy of its hype (though it was still an excellent series) and many of the others really failed to interest me enough to have gotten around to watching them yet. That being said, just because the great Cowboy Bebop failed to live up to its awesome reputation doesn’t mean that there aren’t other pinnacle shows that are worthy of their hype, and having just finished the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex yesterday, I’m happy to report that I’ve found a show that may be truly worthy of its formidable reputation.

In the near future world Stand Alone Complex is set in, forays
into cyberspace are part of everyday life for much of the populace.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a sci fi anime set in the (relatively) near future, when many human beings have been cyberized, allowing them to personally link up with computer networks and other cyberized humans. This technology has many possibilities, and not all of them are benevolent. Thus security agencies have their work cut out for them as protecting the public has taken on a whole new dimension: cyberspace.

Members of the elite Public Security Section 9.

Enter Public Security Section 9, an elite, low profile unit with top notch training and equipment. Made up of a diverse group of people with varying levels of cyberization (ranging from Togusa, the unit’s only fully human operative, to Major Motoko, who has had a completely cybernetic body since childhood) this unit regularly deals with difficult, high risk assignments. Even they may be getting in a bit over their heads however when they become involved in the Laughing Man Case –an unsolved mystery involving a super hacker, corporate blackmail, and a conspiracy that reaches to very high levels. This complex storyline (hey, did I just make an unintentional pun?) runs throughout most of the First Season, starting with the Fourth Episode and continuing until the end of the series, though it is broken up by self contained stand alone episodes (you may all groan now).

Despite some big action scenes, Stand Alone Complex
is definitely a series that takes some thought to follow.

One thing viewers of Ghost in the Shell should be aware of is that it can be a rather heavy going series. Sure, there are episodes where Section 9 cracks out the big guns and let’s loose on the baddies, but this definitely isn’t a series in the big, dumb action fest genre. Aside from the philosophical undertones present in some of the episodes, the Laughing Man arc takes active viewing on the part of the viewer to properly follow. In fact, it takes very active viewing on the part of the viewer. I’ve heard it suggested that Starship Operators takes active viewing to follow, but Starship Operators seems downright simplistic in comparison to Stand Alone Complex. Even I don’t have that solid a grasp of the Laughing Man arc in some respects, though the fact that there was a big gap between when I saw the first seven episodes and the rest of the series may have something to do with that.

Motoko, Togusa, and Batou all get some decent characterisation in
Stand Alone Complex, but not everyone in the cast fairs so well.

Does Stand Along Complex have any flaws? It has a few. As with many story driven shows with quite a few characters, not everyone gets a lot of development, though there’s certainly some good characterisation present in the series. Also, while the artwork is pretty slick overall, it’s not entirely consistent, with some bits looking great while other bits looking kind of off. And finally, we have the matter of the Major Motoko fan service. Ghost in the Shell isn’t exactly a huge fan service series, but it does have some involving the Major, and what there is kind of detracts from the series. I’m not entirely opposed to fan service in anime –I actually sometimes enjoy it in moderation (keywords ‘sometimes’ and ‘moderation’)- but it needs to be done right in order to work, and Motoko’s outfits and fan servicy scenes just weren’t that good for the most part. In her case, I think the animators could have done better with some less revealing clothes. If they’d handled things properly they could probably have made her extremely sexy without her outfits detracting from the series. As it is, they kind of managed to get the worst of both worlds.

The thing this little girl has attached her dog leash to is the key
for the safety cover on the Tachikoma's grenade launcher...

Anyway, I’m just about ready to wrap this review up, but before I do, there’s one more thing that I’d like to mention, and that’s the Tachikomas. It’s common practice in anime series to have a cute character or characters who provide comic relief. In Stand Alone Complex Season One, this role falls to the Tachikomas –the small, spider-like combat robots/personal armoured vehicles with learning AIs and high pitched voices, and I think we can be glad it does. Stand Alone Complex is a serious series, and it would be problematic if it became too goofy. Somehow though, the Tachikomas don’t seem to cause too many problems for the series, even when one of them runs away from home and ends up helping a little girl try to find her ‘lost’ dog. My compliments to the writers for handling these cute little machines so well.

Stand Alone Complex is a series that really deserves a thumbs up.

Anyway, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex may not be one of my top favorite shows, because it hasn’t clicked for me the way that some shows like Full Metal Panic! and Ah! My Goddess have, but its still an impressive series and well worth watching. Some of the other top rated shows out there don’t live up to their hype, but this one sure does!