Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex

I am a big fan of the movie, and was pleased to see it made the transition into a series.

It's very well done, with well-balanced action and with the same characters we all know from the movie, plus some more.

Though the episodes trickle out very slowly, I'm always looking forward to each one. This series should be in any animewatchers collection, and even if one does not usually watch anime.

This is a beautifully animated series format derived from the characters of the philosophically oriented movie 'Ghost in the Shell'. The animation is closer to the original concepts for the manga and adds amazingly gorgeous music to produce a show that is an instant draw. The characters draw some of the aspects familiar in the movie... Motoko's commitment to her job, Batou's casual-tough guy attitude, etc... though it adds some surprisingly refreshing characters like the blue child-like mini tanks Section 9 rides around in so much.

The same philosophical elements of the movie -consciousness in a cyber-oriented world- are present, but definitely take a back seat to plots focused on political wranglings, terrorism, and general lawlessness. The series seems to be more "all in a days work" themed than the cerebral current of the first film.

Overall I highly recommend this series to all fans, though hope they watch the movies as well.

I was very skeptic about this show. Like most of the people I already watched and was a huge fan of the movies and its philosophical themes, so all the talking about this show being a CSI-like anime didn't give me a good felling. The different look and outfit of Major Motoko Kusanagi didn't help too much either.

And indeed, the first three episodes were pretty boring and they have increased my fears about this show, mostly because the creators tried to put too much in a runtime of only twenty minutes. Fortunately, when the main plot was introduced everything changed and started to become better and better. After a seven episodes long ending of the first season my mind was blown, and the second season was even better because it has almost none standalone episodes. All standalone episodes are nothing special except the ones who are about the past of some characters, and the 18th episode of the second season which is a undisputed master-piece.

The animation is amazing. Along with Cowboy Bebop, this show is one of the best animated ones ever, and even now after more than ten years it still looks like it was released today.

I also recommend this show in English dub, although the Japanese dub is way better. The thing is this show is mostly "talk" than action. If you choose Japanese dub you will find yourself reading subtitles all the time and that can affect your personal enjoyment.

Stand Alone Complex is definitely not for little kids, not because it's violent or contains nudity, but because it's very intelligent and complicated and requires some knowledge of history and culture in general to be fully understand. This is not your usual police-detective show. This is something much much more.

I couldn't believe that someone compared the series with the movie and found it lacking. It is true that it transforms the very cool idea of Ghost in the Shell into a police series, but the underlying idea of Stand Alone Complex is very consistent with the one in the movie: the evolution of the soul.

Now I don't mean to sound too smart and start explaining the series. It is well done, with nice music and interesting suspense technique. Any GITS lover should watch it, that is for sure. As any movie transformed into series it does have its faults. Sometimes the plot is described by the characters talking to each other and there are inconsistencies in the way the technology is used, but taking into account it is a 2 season of 26 episodes each anime, it does well.

I do feel that the second season was so disconnected from the first that it almost becomes a separate series. I didn't like that. Fill-up episodes when nothing pertaining to the main story is happening also did not make me enjoy it more, but the atmosphere and the world of GITS is detailed enough to keep you waiting for what is going to happen next.

I am not fanatic enough to kill someone if they don't continue either the series or the movies, but I am close enough. :D Get to work! Good work, that is.

One of the best new series around (not just anime), Stand Alone Complex follows the investigations of Section 9 as they attempt to stop futuristic terrorism. Helping Section 9 Chief Aramaki are the child-like Tachikoma robots and a team with expertise in hacking the virtual world called the 'Internet' to locate criminals, led by Major Motoko Kusanagi.

Though all the characters from the Ghost in the Shell movie are here, this film has absolutely nothing to do with the feature, instead establishing itself as a well-written and directed anime in its own right. There are also some creative decisions that seem to be aimed at making Stand Alone Complex more mainstream (for example, Motoko no longer has to be undressed to become invisible). The addition of the Tachikoma (from the original manga) may annoy some Ghost in the Shell purists at first, but despite their 'cute' sounding nature, the Tachikoma are ultimately the most emotional and touching characters of the series.

Roughly half the episodes are 'Stand Alone', in that they basically follow the 'case-of-the-week' format, and the other half deal with the 'Laughing Man', a mysterious vigilante-type hacker who seems determined to rid the world of corruption.

Since the glory days of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Trigun and Cowboy Bebop, all slowly aging extremely gracefully, most of the good anime has come from movies, with TV series being left by the wayside. It's therefore refreshing to see a well-budgeted TV series that mixes the best of CSI and the Matrix, and actually being fun to watch, with the occasional cliff-hanger ending that leaves you wanting more!

10/10