Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex
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| 4/5 Episode quite demanding on the front of the intellect, the narrative is so intricate that without knowing it you get to the end of the episode, following a long dialogue of people connected in chat, in which only one person does the right questions. Not bad, but not very exciting. |
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| Was a decent episode. Nice take on forums. I think the whole purpose of this is to just give you the answer but jumble it with so much shit you have no idea :D Enjoying the series so much, can't wait for tomorrow so i can watch more of this. Lots of possibilities, let's wait and see which one is correct. This is like an extreme hardcore version of CSI. |
| Does anyone else need a doctor to confirm that someone without a head is dead? |
| Interesting episode. Didn't find it boring, it's not like the information/theories presented were useless. |
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insan3Inquisitor said: You Know, it's odd how what you guys call "boring" I felt was very entertaining. I find the Laughing Man a very interesting character, so this episode is and was one of my favorites. That's what I like about GITS, it doesn't pander to the attention depraved modern anime watcher. It's a genuinely intelligent show that relies as much on words, as it does action. And, I love it for it. Most of the time I don't say anything, but thank you for giving me something interesting to read in so many old and little posted in threads. For me, this was the most engaging episode so far. I was completely invested in the conversation; part of what made it so interesting was the outside perspective. It's like... well, people swapping theories and thoughts here, in a way. Except in this case, we're in a futuristic virtual reality chat room with characters who have in-universe context. Paying attention to what was being said pegged the older man quite early as the chatter to keep an eye on; everything he said seemed logical and in line with what we've seen so far. The reveal that he was peeping on the security guard's cyberbrain hack was made all the more satisfying thanks to his prior tone and comments. In a way I was disappointed that he didn't get to reveal that the police were behind it to the other chatters, but I suppose it's unreasonable to expect Motoko to let that happen when she's present. I really don't understand why others found this boring. It was an excellent dialogue-driven episode. I completely agree with Insan3's sentiment that this doesn't pander to modern viewers with short attention spans, and I appreciate that the story doesn't. To be totally honest, it was probably trying to coax viewers into thinking more deeply about the Laughing Man situation if they haven't already, and it did a fine job of that as well. |
| Dayum, this was episode was a huge change of pace from the last episode. Pretty intriguing, I enjoyed it. |
| the official MAL hall of fame/cursed comments is now open for business - you are welcome to PM me any potential quotes to include |
| I dont really like episodes with too much talking but I really enjoyed this episode. I actually thought the original laughing man was a fake all this time. |
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| "Complex" episode indeed. |
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| Awesome episode. I perceive a slight resemblance to Paranoia Agent. The mystery around Shounen Bat and The Laughing Man have a similar vibe, for me. |
| Looks like we are back to The Laughing Man case. 6 years later from the previous episodes it seems. I liked the idea of the virtual chat room with the different people giving speculations about who the actual Laughing man is. Though there wasn't anything in terms of action there was a lot to move the plot forward for this case. |
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| Certainly a very intelectually demanding episode and to be fair, I got quite lost in the entire Laughing Man plot. I probably feel like I know something, but if I were to take something like a test from it, I wouldn't be able to pass it. Gmancam said: Looks like we are back to The Laughing Man case. 6 years later from the previous episodes it seems. Also, you got it wrong. The six years in the past they're talking about is the six years before the events in Stand Alone Complex. (But since your entry is from May, I guess you had probably already figured that out!) |
| booooooring The movies were way better I'm disappointed in this franchise Dropped 4/10 |
CnonJul 4, 2015 10:00 AM
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| It's a good thing I decided to watch the English dub for this series. It hasn't disappointed me (unlike most other English dubs), and it makes protracted discussions like the one in this episode far more engaging. |
| Although this episode was slow, it had a very good analysis on the Case of the Laughing man. This episode was more complicated than the previous episodes. Good Episode. |
| A bit too much talking since the other episodes had a good amount of action. Still interesting. |
| Whenever I see the Laughing Man icon I can't help but..well...laugh. Boy that was a melting pot of speculation. It could get very tedious to keep up with the various theories and dialogues, but I still found myself drawn in. It was interesting to see how people outside of the know were delving into the Laughing Man case. Also shows how resourceful the Major is, throwing in her own two cents to reap priceless intel. I could be wrong but what I took away from this episode is that the kidnapping and death threat were linked to the same LM whereas the various corporation take downs were staged either by copycats or the companies themselves to manipulate stock prices, possibly the one that had a consistent value for the duration of the corporation incidents. |
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| Different episode, I like their approach to keep the mystery surrounding the laughing man going, sort of like a futuristic sci-fi chatroom. There's not much new added to what you as a watcher weren't already thinking on the other hand. Gives you a thirst for more in any case |
| I'm not opposed to dialogue or intrigue, but there has to be something /else/ to keep you interested, like unique directing/cinematography, fascinating performances, expressive characterization, etc. And unfortunately, there was nothing of that sort that really stood out, other than the superficial "Motoko's avatar was hot, yay." |
| 0/5, chat room didn't feature at least ten bots screaming, looking to hook up. Seriously though, that was an excellent take on chatrooms of the future. Even my gripe can be countered with the fact that bots will be far, far more intelligent in the GIS-verse. There's a subtle hint at how people can take on appearances quite different from their real ones, since Major looks different, but just the fact that people are talking to other human faces and not just lines of text, makes them more civil and thoughtful than an average chat room today. The ending was pretty cryptic, because I don't get why the Laughing Man (copycat or not) had to make an interference right then. Idle speculation cannot possibly be a threat. |
| Before coming here to right my post here I thought it was just me who thought this was boring but my guess was wrong seems like a lot of people disliked this boring episode I mostly fast forward it. |
| Wow, that chapter more entertaining !. And to think that in 2003 there existed the fraces "sauce" "Source". I am from Argentina and recently those fraces became famous by Latin America in facebook  |
| An absolutely wonderful episode, and the best up to this point. Forgot how cool this one was. |
| What an interesting episode. My problem with the show was not knowing what was going on.. and this episode kept that momentum going.. but this time I actually WANTED to understand what I was watching. I re-watched a few scenes to make more sense of it and it helped. The first couple episodes before this made me want to put the time in. I like the chat room set up and apparently the women in the virtual chat had no panties on.. a good touch. |
| This was really an engaging episode. Listening to all the speculations and theories regarding the Laughing Man provoked me to think a bit more in depth about this case. Usually I agree that a whole episode dedicated to a conversation would be boring, but they did a good job here. |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
| With VRChat we are a little bit closer to this episode being in reality. |
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| This is my favorite episode so far! Despite the fact that the world-building and thematic ideas behind the standalone episodes are great, I find the narrative in those is usually weak, which wouldn't be a problem but given the standard action stories we are given aren't always as epic as you might expect. This was just a bunch of nerds arguing amongst themselves about a character and plot line we know very little about. It was great precisely because it mirrors the kind of discussion the audience might have in their heads. Not to mention that the one dimensional personalities of the chat room goers were done excellently - I found myself genuinely engaged and even laughing a few times! Great, great episode. |
| observing a woman's body |
| Cringe episode. You are an absolute brainlet if you didn't already suspect some of these theories on your own. |
| ok that was one of the more unusual episodes I have watched... but I like it! Everyone discussing what they thought of the Laughing Man incidents. The characters and dialogue all feel so real haha |
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| Nice representation of virtual chat rooms, at first I thought the older guy was Togusa's avatar pretending to be someone else lol. Also, I wish the text we see everywhere in the chat room was translated |
| Reminds me of the first episode of Dance in the Vampire Bund. The discussion here ended up being notably less productive or impactful in comparison, but it wasn't boring. The guy in white (the chatroom host?) having a kid's voice is very jarring. Didn't at all expect that. |
  ｲ乇刀乇乃尺ﾑ乇 ╔⏤═⏤╝   ╚⏤═⏤╗☽ Shaded Horizon ☾ |
| A lot of theories floating around about the laughing man. Even if the majority of the cases involving him were fake and just copycats, I don't think the multiple laughing man's concept is wrong. Maybe an inherited moniker? Guess I'll just have to wait and find out. |
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| Buncha rando fans talking about some hacker i barely know. 1/10 |
| Major's vrchat model looks fuckin stupid |
| Shounentards in the comments can't stomach 20 minutes of talking. Idk why would you watch such a complex story if you're not interested in mystery and politics. |
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