Forum SettingsEpisode Information
Forums
New
What did you think of this episode?
DO NOT discuss the source material beyond this episode. If you want to discuss future events or theories, please use separate threads.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
Pages (3) « 1 2 [3]
Oct 14, 2017 8:35 AM
Offline
Sep 2016
4
Motoko's backstory outta nowhere :-O

A very peaceful and kinda poetic episode, loved it.
Dec 9, 2017 5:17 PM

Offline
Apr 2017
139
perfect
5/5

My take is that Motoko got hacked. But it doesn't explain why Batou, or the recruits, couldn't find Motoko's body. Maybe she got hacked AND kidnapped? Maybe everyone who is in that street is being eyes-hacked like Laughing Man did?

.......................................

I have a better theory:

- The sphere ball is a device needed for hacking, or which facilitates hacking.
- Motoko was hacked by the shop owner lady.
- Everyone on that street got eyed-hacked so they cannot see Motoko


That way it would explain why she cannot contact Batou, and why nobody sees her there.
But it fails to explain how someone as prolific in information security as Motoko was hacked without her noticing. I guess the level of hacking is beyond even Laughing Man.
argentino_kekDec 9, 2017 5:22 PM
--------
Jan 12, 2018 11:37 PM

Offline
May 2016
6306
That was such fantastic episode very touching and unique loved every part of the back story, Motoka confessed her love for the boy too wow, this by far my favorite episode of GITS series.
Mar 24, 2018 7:34 PM
Offline
Jun 2013
1218
That was exceptional. So I guess that's why she always chose that appearance whenever she changed bodies...
Apr 26, 2018 5:38 PM
Offline
Jul 2017
3
Beautiful episode. That made me cry...
Nov 21, 2018 6:45 AM

Offline
Nov 2013
564
Great episode, probably the best of this season even though not much happened !
Mar 24, 2019 1:03 PM

Offline
Mar 2018
815
One of my favourite episodes because it is so different when it comes to pacing yet it is incredibly touching. Everything fits so well together and it is so heart-breaking.
Nov 19, 2019 5:42 PM

Offline
Sep 2017
3431
Fantastic episode indeed, it was really subtle and touching, directly one of my favourite SAC episode !
Dec 14, 2019 3:47 PM

Offline
Nov 2016
32917
This was different than anything else I've seen. Truly a beautiful episode.

And nice how Motkos experience with folding paper cranes served as the cause to give the recruits a second chance, or at least that's how the viewers should perceive. Always love it when episodes get tied up like this.

I still wonder if she's going to meet her first love again or not and if this episode will turn out to be plot relevant as well.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron


Feb 6, 2020 6:45 AM
The Shrike

Offline
Nov 2009
11901
Memorable episode this one. This is how you do a one-episode backstory without unnecessary dramatics. The OST and the production values were insane too. The major looked absolutely beautiful in every frame.
"Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii

There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

Mar 30, 2020 7:46 PM
Offline
Nov 2018
432
That was sweet, more backstory on major.
Aug 20, 2020 11:13 AM
長鳥真 / ナガトリマコト

Offline
Jun 2017
8202
Wow, this was honestly a beautiful episode outta nowhere! Possibly my favourite episode of the series so far nevertheless and one of the most unique love tale.

First love, huh? Major's backstory is devastating as I'd imagined it to be. Hopefully, the two will reunite someday...

I find it amazing how I didn't understand a thing for a good while but then everything just added up! Only question though is who's the old lady.

Edit: Couldn't help but re-watch it (roughly 12 hours away). Still enchanted by this episode, everything was just perfect. I'm surprised I didn't mention about that insert song earlier but it was really fantastic, took the whole backstory to another level.
_MushiRock11_Aug 20, 2020 11:47 PM
#Anime4Life be my Life Motto! #PrayForKyoAni


Dec 29, 2020 2:05 PM

Offline
Sep 2011
438
Wow. I remember putting this song to my MP3 player, it was around 10 years ago when I was a sophomore in the collage. Probably one of my friends from anime club recommended the song. It has been years since the last time I listened. And I have totally forgotten the song was a Ghost in the Shell OST...

Time flies...
Nov 3, 2021 11:36 PM

Offline
Aug 2015
964
Great episode, we get a glimpse of motoko's past and find out about her first love. I do wonder though, how long can people live with cybernetics and prosthetics?
Jul 1, 2022 11:13 PM

Offline
Mar 2007
1831
There's an old folk tale that says if you fold a thousand paper cranes with intention you may get to see a wish come true. Perhaps his wish was to meet the little girl again.

Such a touching story. I wonder where the boy is now.

Sep 7, 2022 12:46 AM

Offline
Jun 2016
1932
This episode turned me into a big GitS fan.
Jan 4, 2023 8:29 PM
Offline
Oct 2017
357

Did anybody notice the insane amount of drip the Major had this episode???

And wow, I was a bit uninterested the last couple of episodes but this episode made me shed a tear!! It was amazing to see the origin story of Major and Batou. While I think The Trial didn't made me feel too many things with its narrative about prosthetic bodies. (It was a lawyer trying to create fake discrimination based on cyborg bodies, it is more about thinking and less about feeling) this one just showed all the things that come with a change of body, the rehabilitation and the pain of loss, first love and hope for the future in a world with advanced prosthetics. 

Why she didn't tell the boy? Well, I think I understand her to a degree, what if the boy became disappointed in what became of her after the prosthetic? What if he rather remember the way she did, as the girl who died with a normal human body? It is a feeling that comes when you do a big change in your life, what if people miss the way you were before? If there was a possibility that he got dissapointed, now that she couldn't even fold paper cranes, it would be better if she didn't tell him at all so he could continue giving her tribute, because losing a bit of your humanity hurts, and the change is not perfect, things are never perfect, and it hurts, it hurts so much.

I'm so sure the boy is Batou, in a way, or well, at least, I have a hunch. If he is, I am glad they are back again working together, and while I know Major has her own lovers, they both care deeply about each other. I have seen Batou get worried for Matoko's wellbeing.

What a nice heartwarming friendship. This is now probably in my top 3 episodes of the series overall.
HazamelisJan 4, 2023 8:40 PM
Jun 12, 2023 11:06 AM

Offline
Dec 2022
5909
I wonder who or where the origami crane boy is. Just a backstory character that's ultimately irrelevant to the plot, or will he show up again?


╔⏤═⏤╝ ╚⏤═⏤╗
Shaded Horizon


Oct 18, 2023 7:54 PM
Fantasy lover

Offline
Aug 2017
1298
Damn I did not expect Motoko‘s backstory after the trial. Probably my favourite episode so far. I hope she‘ll find the boy and realises it D:
Mar 1, 2024 9:36 PM
Offline
Dec 2018
117
It is not very enjoyable. I do not know why you rate the episode so high. There are many episodes better than this episode 2،10،9, such as the episode and

I think this episode is the least interesting this season, but I won't rush it because it may have an important connection to Motoko's character.
Nov 19, 2024 3:45 AM

Offline
May 2015
3220
The Majors parkour off the buildings at the start was awesome! I didn't expect them to go all out like that. I appreciate the scenery as well with the major walking through that alley.

What a good flashback that was, two kids who lost everything but found hope from one another. I hope Motoko is able to find that boy.
Dec 17, 2024 9:55 PM

Offline
Feb 2016
56
My favorite episode so far, trully beautiful.
Jan 20, 4:30 PM
Offline
Dec 2019
950
Is there supposed to be any sort of ambiguity about this being Motoko and Kuze? I mean, it seems extremely obvious and I think that it being the Major is supposed to be pretty clear but its also clearly Kuze.
Feb 2, 2:08 PM

Offline
Aug 2017
215
Excellent. The plot holes aren't as everyone can just be hacked to walk around and not see Motoko, who isn't very good at communicating with sentient beings. 8.5/10

Actually good Tachikomatic Days ep as well. Both could be a JoJo reference.
XCT3Feb 2, 2:21 PM
Feb 27, 5:22 PM
Offline
Oct 2017
63
OMG! She's that girl!
Mar 27, 2:18 PM
Offline
Feb 2025
1
Finally joined to post on this episode. I loved it and think it was important for Mokoto's character development. It is not essential to the plot of the series beyond being essential to Mokoto's character to begin with! Of all the back stories presented in the franchise so far, including the manga and the live action film, this to me was the best. WWIII is mentioned in the English dubbed version. Mokoto never saw the boy with her own eyes because of her grave injuries. Only after she got her prosthetic body could she see him. I think the boy was killed in the war OR could have survived as Batou. But I think the loss of the boy after all that transpired is a good explanation of her current personal state. She says, he was the first boy she ever loved. That might mean the only one. She leaves a crane for him in the car, made from the sugar cube wrapper provided to her by the shop keeper. I think it was a glitch or a hack in the training simulation. It unlocked a repressed memory or linked her to a repressed memory awakened by the shopkeeper. The ball was a great link but wasn't necessarily a hack. There is a ball in the active alley when the kids are playing. There was also a ball in the hospital. As a child's toy, it's a powerful symbolic device.

I'm a professional Teen Services Librarian at my metro public library. I'm also a trained musicologist, music librarian, and sang professionally for almost 20 years at our metro choir school. Anime club is our strongest club at our branch and we've been going strong for 15 years. I want to thank MyAnimeList for being such a great resource. I should post more often now that I finally joined up. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was my first major series as a fan. I wrote on it in when I went back to school to qualify for Teen Services (Young Adult Libraries). Our kids have responded very well to the genre and many have gone on to college from our urban neighborhood. Thank you all!
May 2, 10:42 PM

Offline
Dec 2014
399
quite powerful episode for a backstory of the main character. I can only imagine the effort that went into planning & executing the one handed(left) animation of making a paper crane. Beautifully pieced all elements be it the airplane (major gazes around the start of the episode and again at the end of the episode, the turning point perhaps), the ball being the point where the boy speaks up for the first time with the girl and therefore triggered the nostalgia trip & later was let go off, the paper crane...



Pages (3) « 1 2 [3]

More topics from this board

Poll: » Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 )

aero - Sep 19, 2008

64 by DarkSageRK »»
Sep 27, 7:44 PM

Poll: » Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 )

aero - Sep 13, 2008

66 by childisharmenzo »»
Aug 9, 3:13 PM

Poll: » Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG Episode 26 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 )

aero - Oct 9, 2008

174 by Niveen_Sleem »»
Jul 30, 3:07 AM

Poll: » Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 )

aero - Sep 9, 2008

97 by patamushka228 »»
Jun 26, 10:19 AM

Poll: » Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 )

aero - Sep 8, 2008

76 by Niveen_Sleem »»
Jun 23, 2:57 AM
It’s time to ditch the text file.
Keep track of your anime easily by creating your own list.
Sign Up Login