Spotlight Anime: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG MAL Anime Information Page: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG MAL Score 8.59 (by 11268 users) Ranked - #41 Popularity - #176 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the anime that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate an anime: Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Animation - insert rating Sound - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Animation - discuss any pros and cons of the animation styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Sound - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to the music and sound effects used in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 5 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to watching this discussion unfold. *Due to voting rule changes, this series is permanently inducted from its first poll data. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG was inducted into the club Anime list: 50 Yes - 94.3% 3 No - 5.7% 47 Don't know this anime - 46.5% of the total number polled 1 Abstained - 0.9% of the total number polled On 07/09/2010 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG will be voted on for a second and final time[/b] |
Orion1Jun 8, 2014 3:03 PM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| so epic and awesome and amazing and buildup and deliciousness. I never thought I'd be entertained so thoroughly by something so complex, but everything about it is so well done and interesting. The world of GitS is the best thing about the show, but the characters all have their little quirks that take them out of the 2D realm, and the story itself is pretty fantastic. |
| I started watching this on a movie theatre. The first 10 episodes, then I had to leave. It was the most amazing graphic experience I've ever had in a movie. The rest I watched at home. Sick with 39º of fever after an asthma attack. It was the most amazing story telling of an intricate plot I've ever experienced. I'm not sure if it was due to the fever, though. Anyway, yes. Plus, I' haven't watched the original SAC. xD |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| Didn't impress me as much as the first series, possibly because I'm far more interested in the technological rather than political aspects of the show. Regardless, I'll probably be voting "yes". |
| Did not impress me at all. Minus the Tachikomas, I found nothing special about it, the story moved at a crawl, the stand alone episodes were boring, and the artwork was really nothing fantastic (especially not in the way that people gush about how it has the best art of any series). |
Confucius say man who stand on toilet is high on pot. |
| I really enjoyed this series, its a truely complex show, with deep characters and is visually incredible! Its even got a good soundtrack to boot! |
| It's been said that 2nd Gig is a marked improvement over the first SAC, and as it addresses many of the perceived shortcomings of the latter it's easy to see why: the story is more focused and tight, the social and moral issues brought up are less experimental in nature and there is far more attention to the characters and their development. Me, I do not share the opinion that 2nd Gig is better, mainly because the story is more focused, the social and moral issues brought up are less experimental and there is far more attention to the characters and their development. In other words, there was a bit of a trade-off, the series losing breadth (not so much depth) and gaining accessibility. It cannot be denied that 2nd Gid is more focused as regards it story-line. The more or less stand-alone (ha!) episodes that portrayed life in an almost wholly interconnected society that by touching on so many different notions exemplified much of what the Laughing Man was pointing at have been replaced by a story with notions that are more recognisable (politics never change, now do they?) and adversaries that are more tangible, and thus with dialogue and action that seems far more to-the-point. Without a doubt, 2nd Gig is an installment in the GitS franchise, delving into questions of the results of connectedness of people and of people and machines. As is evident from the title of one of the major subplots, 'individuality', always an important concept within the series, and all that this concept entails, is once more a mainstay. In the same way, 'Stand Alone Complex', the idea that non-organised, individual actions can create copies and end up resulting in a spontaneous mass-movement is still central to the plot: mass outrage against perceived untruthfulness is replaced by mass outrage against perceived threats. And, while there was less in the way of techno-babble, its role was taken over by equally pompous political theorising. In this regard, the stronger focus on a direct plot instead of having the portrayed itself be more or less the story, is only a shift in portrayal, not content. Yet by doing away with the somewhat ephemeral comments and notions on how a bit of free will and spread of information can affect society, 2nd Gig starts to feel a bit too much like any other science-fiction story since Asimov first became famous with his ideas on robotics. The issue of what constitutes humanity and the role of emotion therein really hasn't changed since the world was introduced to Caliban, Deckard or even HAL9000 and was already convincingly explored in the first GitS film. The principles or riling up a population against a perceived enemy to make the whole stronger comes straight out of late 19th century, mainly politicised Marxist, doctrine. The issue of retaining 'nationalism' within an ever more connected world was an interesting one, but remained under-explored. Instead, we got character development. Whole episodes of it, lifting many Section 9 members into the spotlight for a while. Which was a remarkably bad choice: the GitS series has never been about the characters portrayed, with especially Mamoru Oshii opting in both films for portraying roles before actual characters. Many of the supporting cast members (Saitou, Pazu and suchlike) were added in the original manga to look cool and have some nifty combat gadget, but they certainly weren't meant to be fleshed-out characters. As a result, while some background is shown about these characters, it's completely without impact or purpose and feels like filler. The same goes for the main characters: much is once more made of how important 'justice' is to Togusa and Batou (though 'fairness' would perhaps be the better word for the latter), but it's a known quantity. (That said, though, come to think of it it's interesting to see how these two, Kusanagi and Aramaki all embody a different view on 'justice' - something for a blog somewhere.) Even Motoko doesn't escape: we're shown parts about her past that may to some extent explain some of here thoughts, but it remains wholly unfitting for her character and in the end really doesn't have any true purpose. Graphically, 2nd Gig is more of the same, which is to say, definitive design, both of world and of characters, some issues with character movement and somewhat oversimplified facial structures, and a lot of CG of the type that feels outdated pretty soon. Though certainly not the best show in terms of technical prowess (even if it was pretty good for 2004), its graphical flaws are made up for by the consistency of mood and design. Aurally, as well, the show very strongly is a continuation of the first SAC, though, interestingly enough, there are fewer guitars and more techno this time around, even if the story calls for it less. Of course, being a GitS fanboy I was still mightily enthusiastic about this series when watching it and am still in love with many of the little comments about the world portrayed, but I feel it was far more of an actual commentary about the world as it is than an exploration of what it could be. Still, if I stop comparing it to the first SAC and look at it as a show on its own its merits and flaws are almost exactly the same as those I voiced with regard to its prequel, meaning that I should want to induct this one, too, even if doing so nags a bit: it is, after all, a well though-out and well-executed show that stands far above most of the competition as far as the underlying design goes. Yet it does feel a bit cheap. |
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| SAC2 might as well have been auto-inducted with SAC and should just be considered SAC ep. 27-52. I know MAL splits them up but they fallow the same source, have the same production values, aired only 3 months apart and obviously setup for the other's existence. It's not like some series where season two was completely dependent on the success of season one and the differentiation is justified; they were clearly both intended from the start and splitting them up simply because MAL does seems retarded to me. I will be voting yes on principle alone. |
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