Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex

In the not so distant future, mankind has advanced to a state where complete body transplants from flesh to machine is possible. This allows for great increases in both physical and cybernetic prowess and blurring the lines between the two worlds. However, criminals can also make full use of such technology, leading to new and sometimes, very dangerous crimes. In response to such innovative new methods, the Japanese Government has established Section 9, an independently operating police unit which deals with such highly sensitive crimes.

Led by Daisuke Aramaki and Motoko Kusanagi, Section 9 deals with such crimes over the entire social spectrum, usually with success. However, when faced with a new A level hacker nicknamed "The Laughing Man," the team is thrown into a dangerous cat and mouse game, following the hacker's trail as it leaves its mark on Japan.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Winner of the Excellence Award on the 6th Japan Media Arts Festival.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex, Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex, Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man
Alternative setting:	Koukaku Kidoutai
Sequel:	Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG
Spin-off:	Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - Tachikoma na Hibi
Summary:	Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man
Side story:	Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - Tachikoma na Hibi - Interval

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kusanagi, Motoko

Main

Tanaka, Atsuko
Japanese

Batou

Main

Ootsuka, Akio
Japanese

Togusa

Main

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Aramaki, Daisuke

Main

Saka, Osamu
Japanese

Tachikoma

Supporting

Tamagawa, Sakiko
Japanese

The Laughing Man

Supporting

Saito

Supporting

Ookawa, Tooru
Japanese

Ishikawa

Supporting

Nakano, Yutaka
Japanese

Aoi

Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Pazu

Supporting

Onozuka, Takashi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Maseba, Yutaka

Producer

Kamiyama, Kenji

Director, Script, Storyboard, Series Composition, Series Production Director

Wakabayashi, Kazuhiro

Sound Director

Nakamura, Ryuutarou

Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

	1: "Inner Universe" by Origa
	2: "GET9" by Jillmax (Japanese Terrestrial Broadcast)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Lithium Flower" by Scott Matthew
	2: "I Do" by Ilaria Graziano (Japanese Terrestrial Broadcast)

Reviews

Sep 28, 2009

Archaeon

Recommended

Many anime fans consider the 1995 movie "Ghost in the Shell" to be a classic of the first order so when the Stand Alone Complex series was released six years later, many were sceptical as to how good it would actually be (and I will admit to being one of those people). Production I.G. managed to put everyone's fears to rest though, just not in the way we all expected (I'll explain in a bit).

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a series that really doesn't need any introduction. The original movie proposed a disturbingly plausible future for mankind that is akin to the ...

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Apr 27, 2008

klemon_qhap

Mixed Feelings

I haven't written any reviews for any anime so this may be a bit rocky. -.-

Story:
Stand Alone Complex is definetly not your normal anime. Just the name should give away the fact that this is a different kind of anime. What i have to say about the story of Ghost in the Shell is that it is really confusing. If you are looking for an anime that you can sleep through then keep looking because even if you are able to read the subs (i like to watch only subbed anime =) then there is still a high possibility that you won't get what's going ... on. The reason I didn't give GITS a high score in the story category was mainly because the plot wasn't steady as it should have been. I actually didn't even know what the plot was until the very end of the show. Instead what i got was a bunch of random episodes that mostly didn't correspond with each other. Its just not that enjoyable...

Art:
Hmm...what do I say about art? Art these days usually doesn't have the major mistakes it used to back in the old days. I gave art a 7 because although it didn't have anything wrong with it, I still didn't like it. The art in this show is more realistic than that of others (as in if you see an old guy you also see every wrinkle on that old guy...). The thing is I just couldn't fully accept the style of this anime's animation.

Sound:
If by sound does that mean sound effects, voices, or music? In any case I would still give it a 8. I didn't notice much in sound effects besides what would sound normal in reality (guns, footsteps, ect). As for voices for the characters, I thought all suited the characters exceptionally well. The main reason I gave this category a 8 was because of the music and background music. The main theme song turned out to be one of the best anime songs I have heard. It also really set the mood for what this show was trying to be.

Character:
The characters in this show did not do much of a job in any development. Mostly they were just there and none of them had much of a story. What I look for in a character is a sense of attachment which is exactly what i didn't get in GITS. Instead I felt like I didn't care what happened to any of them and actually felt like the show would be better without some. One character I did like was Tachikoma, but that was only because it was a giant fighting robot with machine guns and rocket launchers that had the personality of a child (who doesn't find that funny?)

Enjoyment:
Well this series did have its ups and downs (mostly downs) and i ended up feeling like it would have been better if i didn't waste my time. The fact is I couldn't get into this show because there was no character development, little plot, and it made cyborgs sound boring and useless. If your looking for a show where you can't wait for the next episode to begin then i suggest that you don't watch this show...

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May 19, 2010

no_forehead

Not Recommended

There are several things I don't appreciate in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Spoilers included by necessity:

I found it really disappointig that the final solutions to the main mysteries didn't actually have anything to do with the technology of GITS's world like would have expected. Why not explore the chance that, for example, the EXACT replicability of things electronic input/output to brain allows could result in different minds processing the raw thoughts to a same conclusion as the results of human minds being at some level identical? Instead the "copies without original" were explained through memetics, despite the fact that the concept of memes ... doesn't have much to do with random people deciding to do the same thing randomly after witnessing some event.

This reminds me much about the reasons why I don't like Paranoia Agent - making a work that involves psychological and sociological dynamics, but then exaggerating the phenomenon to totally unplausible levels causes it to not deliver any real message, or illustrate the workings of these theories in educational sense. Some may find it brilliancy, but I find it as a lacking sense of reality and/or poor grasp of the concepts it is all about. It's even more frustrating when it's offered as a solution to a mystery the whole series is based upon.

Also, what's up with the Major's outfit? Nobody wears clothes like that, that's pure fanservice. It's up to you to decide whether or not this cheapens the work (GITS is not a character-driven show to begin with after all), as long as you aren't a hypocrite and think that in the case of Code Geass it does but in the case of Ghost in the Shell doesn't.

Some praise the difficulty of the plot to follow, such as mentioning a important, relating case in one episode in the beginning when one has not a clue of the whole picture of what the series is about, and then casually referring to it later on. I can't see how this is a positive thing and somehow adding 'depth' into it and not different from just bad storytelling.

My strong opinion is, mindfuck for the sake of it is never good, it should be used only as a tool to serve a purpose, to deliver the message of the work if it cannot be effectively delivered any other way (such as in Paprika, in which it is fun to guess whether what's happening is a dream or real event, or to a lesser extent in Serial Experiments Lain, which uses uncertainty and inconsistency as a metaphor for the layman's defective understanding of the nature of modern technology and detachedness from the world's clockwork functions).

Overall, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex is pretty average and unrealistic cyberpunk that has nothing that is actually worth a honest thought of 'what if this happened in reality' and you haven't seen somewhere else already. And by this I mean most of the Stand Alone episodes are based onto recycled cyberpunk ideas.

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Poll: Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Episode 26 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) OranSolus - Jul 17, 2008	153 replies	by MineFord_gurme »» Apr 5, 7:53 AM
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Poll: Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Episode 25 Discussion ( 1 2 ) OranSolus - Jul 17, 2008	88 replies	by MajedM1999 »» Feb 17, 5:33 AM
Poll: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 ) aero - Sep 8, 2008	50 replies	by MajedM1999 »» Feb 17, 5:32 AM
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Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex

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Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex

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Synopsis

Background

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Staff

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Ending Theme

Reviews

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