Ghost In The Shell: SAC, Motion Pictures, and more!

[Flexor the Mighty!]

My favorite character's would have to be Togusa and Batou.

Mine as well, in addition to the Tachikoma of course.

I want a Tachikoma for Christmas!

 

[JEL]

I love Ghost In The Shell. I saw the first movie in 1998 and I was blown away. I had seen the Dark Horse comic series in 94-95 and paid it little mind as it was well into the series run.

Then the movie in 98. Wow. Real spook storylines in an incredible battle of a robotic future.

I like the TV series too. I thought: "20 minutes, wtf?" Then I sit down with 3 episodes and it rocks. Not a huge production as the movies but really well thought out storywise.

I ask you, is the 2nd movie up to the bar set by the first or does it lack? Referring to "GITS2 - Innocence" ... I wonder about that storyline if the Major gets permastuck in the kid frame.

Let this be the GITS fanpeoples thread.

The first Ghost in the Shell movie was very weak and really not that good, IMO. Innocence, on the other hand, is just amazing. An excellent story, good pacing (Oshii breaks out of his normal mode for this film), good animation and awesome music. It does follow the movie continuity, which means it's only tangentally related to the manga or the TV series. I highly recommend it, but make sure you get the corrected DVD and not the first pressing. Or better yet, see it in a theater if at all possible.

As for Ghost in the Shell in general, the TV series is my favorite iteration. Honestly, I don't care for the manga. The art tends to drift and Shirow isn't much of a story teller. One of the things that I especially like about the TV series is that the Major really isn't the main character. I agree with others that she isn't that good as a character (Shirow has this thing for mary-sue main characters) and cutting her role back was a great decision on the staff''s part. I like that it focuses on the group as a whole and uses Togusa as the audience perspective character. My only complaint about the TV series is that they should have stuck with the Fuchikoma design. It looks way better than the Tachikoma.

 

[Dog Moon]

Originally posted by Flexor the Mighty!
Mine as well, in addition to the Tachikoma of course.

I want a Tachikoma for Christmas!

Are there plush tachikomas or anything like that? I would so want one if I could. Might not compare to the real thing, but I'd take it nonetheless.

 

[Volaran]

My only complaint about the TV series is that they should have stuck with the Fuchikoma design. It looks way better than the Tachikoma.

My only advice based on this is to keep watching.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

So is Second Gig already done or are they airing the episodes on TV still? I notice that two discs of that series are available on Netflix already. Got the last two discs of season 1 due today!

 

[Rackhir]

So is Second Gig already done or are they airing the episodes on TV still? I notice that two discs of that series are available on Netflix already. Got the last two discs of season 1 due today!

They're only up to vol.2 of Second GIG. Vol.3 I don't think is out until some time in Jan.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Cool, I'll be caught up.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Well I finished the first season and while I am not sure about how good the final episode was I know the ones leading up to it were great. I nearly got emotional when

Spoiler

the three Tachikoma sacrificed themselves to save Batou. I get the feeling that we will see them again though based on the scene with the Major holding up the memory chip from the Tachikoma

Now for 2nd Gig!

 

[Joker]

The first Ghost in the Shell movie was very weak and really not that good, IMO.

AAAAAAAAH. HERETIC!!!!

 

[Sir Brennen]

For those die-hard fans, I noticed this over on Amazon:

SAC Official Log 1

Sort of like those episode guides for television shows one finds in bookstores, but in DVD format. Interesting.

I saw the original GitS years ago, shortly after it was available in the States, and was really impressed with the animation style, pacing and existential musings. It felt like a different cultural perspective on the themes brought up in Bladerunner (especially if one has also read the book.)

Unfortunately, on later viewings, I find it doesn't quite hold up, but I think this is partly due to the fact that GitS raised the bar for later anime, which then grew beyond it. This might also be why newer viewers are... umm... unimpressed.

GitS: Innocence I would definitely include in the "beyond" category, as it is a beautiful piece of animation. Unfortunately, the exposition in Innocence kind of takes over at some points (even more than the original), interrupting the flow of the story, and some of the metaphysical issues start to feel a little cliche by today's standards.

However, the manga Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface (Amazon Link) covers these topics with a bit more freshness, as well as other socio-technological and political issues. While also highly expositional in nature, it feels a little more natural in printed form. I'd recommend it even for those who don't normally read manga. Also, the artwork is amazing, with most of the book in full color and using a ton of computer graphic art to supplement/enhance the more traditional drawings.

SAC is cool in that it was allowed to have a bit more complex over-arching plot in the way that only a tv series can, while also having the occassional episodic... ah... episode. I really liked the computer animation opening, and was sorry to see it replaced for 2nd Gig.

Has anyone else been tempted to buy the soundtrack CD?