Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone

The fourth border (episode) in the Arise series, opens with spirited Christmas carols, sung on decorated streets, while, at the same time, a mob of protesters angrily voice their opinions at the partnership of a massive technology company and a water supplier. Aramaki, whose voice, again, proves difficult to acclimatize to after having being serenaded by his aging dialogue in previous Ghost in the Shell franchises, begins a major cyber-brain sweep of the entire area, to halter any potential attacks. Focusing his attention on the protesters, Aramaki and Section 9, are caught unaware when riot troops, without warning, open fire on the protesters, the originally blissful spirit of Christmas being crippled with the screams of innocent civilians. During the slaughter, Major Kusanagi, who still objects to joining Section 9, preferring to isolate her team, hunts down the culprit responsible, and upon the chaos having come to an end, her team manages to apprehend a teenage girl, who is connected to the atrocity.

The opening of the fourth episode, Ghost Stands Alone, is potentially the most powerful yet, and works on incorporating our fears of having one of our most celebrated occasions, marred by violence. What's more, the action oriented opening is sure to immediately grasp the attention of viewers, this episode being more action packed than the third, returning viewers to the excitement of the second episode, which is, by far, the most entertaining.

As with the other borders in the series, the animation is very beautiful, and unlike the third episode, where certain aspects of the animation seemed, at times, blurry, Ghost Stands Alone is more solid and crisp. Moreover, the design of New Port City will certainly bring viewers melancholic memories of Stand Alone Complex.

Continuing with the investigation raised in the third border, Ghost Stands Alone brings back characters not only from the third episode, but from the first, and reunites us with members of the 501st that Major Kusanagi was originally affiliated with. Perhaps this was deliberately written in to bring closure to the franchise, by bringing story-lines back around a full 360 degrees, however, by the end, Arise feels incomplete, pivotal aspects of the plot remaining unanswered; perhaps a deliberate strategy to make room for the new movie.

During the episode, Major Kusanagi appears largely impatient, which is a direct contrast with her character in Stand Alone Complex, her attitude causing Batou to question whether he should be leading the operation, resulting in more than a couple of humorous occasions that helps break up the seriousness of the story. Furthermore, the use of humor will potentially remind viewers of the Major's attitude during the original Manga.

Much like with Stand Alone Complex and the original Ghost in the Shell feature, the Major at one point goes up against a massive four legged tank, and though the scene provides viewers with entertainment, it steals a little too much from the aforementioned titles, causing it to appear not as refreshing, which is something that could be said about the entire episode. The plot about the adolescent girl, Emma, will perhaps remind viewers a lot of the Puppet Master, and though there are differences in the story, these are not explored greatly enough as to make us emotionally involved.

Ghost Stands Alone is therefore a lot like the other three borders in the Arise series; as stand alone episodes, they are entertaining enough, with philosophical intrigue, chase sequences, and good battle scenes. However, these are still unable to measure up to the films and series' that came before.

I watched all four episodes of the new Arise series then went back and watched the classic 1995 film. The newer version, despite the advantage of visual technology and with 4 hours to do express itself, still could not touch the original film. The clarity and depth of the storyline, as well as the rich dialogue, is what makes the original GITS a masterpiece that's clearly not easy to replicate. The original version makes it clear from the opening sequence that the major is a cyborg, consisting of ONE organic body part - her brain! The series dances around this clear fact, admitting it at times, and then seemingly contradicting it in other moments with the sexual innuendos. Don't get me wrong, the series was not a completely bad attempt to resurrect GITS; it just missed the opportunity to achieve something epic. The very definition of a classic is that it cannot (and should not) be replicated. Simply let it be. The Americans have decided to see if they can botch the franchise further with a non-animated version due in 2017. All I can do is SMFH!!

Story The story quite honestly feels like you have seen it before from Ghost in the Shell, not deviating from the ghost hacking concept that is present all throughout the franchise. However, despite staying in the "comfort zone" of the franchise it is still a fascinating universe being portrayed, and so it is still intriguing to follow Section 9 as they unravel a case even if the story concept isn't as unique as it once was when it was in the franchise. This particular movie felt as though it could fit right in with the Stand Alone Complex series as an episode that was stand alone from the over arching story. It is nothing new, but that isn't a bad thing because it can still tell an interesting and rewarding story which it does.

Art Production IG did a great job with the art in this series of movies combining vibrant colors and fluid animation that give this OVA series a unique and refreshing feel. It does a good job at making the world feel realistic, like the movements of the characters actually have weight and substance. I believe the cinematography could have been better when the show slows down to scenes of conversation between characters. Perhaps it was just the camera positioning in some of the shots, but they could have definitely made the more dialogue heavy and static scenes more interesting.

Sound The soundtrack is nothing to go crazy about, though it does fit the aesthetic of the Arise series quite well I believe. I can personally admire some of the music from a technical standing because I produce electronic music myself, but there aren't many memorable compositions in the soundtrack. The exception to this would be the opening theme which is an extremely soothing track with all kinds of interesting techniques and musical elements that feels like a breath of fresh air. Otherwise there are mainly standard songs that get the job done, but could be done better.

Characters These are the same characters of Section 9 that we have grown to enjoy from Ghost in the Shell and it comes as no surprise that the communication between them is entertaining, mainly Togusa, Batou, and the Major. The other characters don't get too much spotlight in this series which is a shame because we already know so much about these main characters that it would be nice to get some more development from the other characters in Section 9. That is more of a personal gripe that stems from how fond I am of the characters. There isn't much development of the characters in this series, it almost just seems shoved off for the last few minutes of each movie. Without any prior knowledge of the characters through previous iterations I would definitely have felt detached from the characters because of this lack of development.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise as a whole does not stand as tall as other Ghost in the Shells have but it stands with them at a comfortable level. It doesn't attempt anything new but it still has interesting cases for Section 9 to solve and I was on board for each one. It is a relaxing watch that won't make you think too hard but still keeps things seemingly complex with stories about ghost hacking and ghost dubbing. I enjoyed it, though I still much prefer the original movie and Stand Alone Complex over it.

I honestly had hopes left for the last installment of the Arise arc, I thought that maybe they'd want to end it properly by actually putting effort in developing something that didn't feel cheap, uninspired and forgettable.

Well I was wrong, Just like the other three episodes prior, it's amateurish, and feels like a dumbed down version of SAC, which in itself wasn't the greatest thing ever, but was enjoyable in its own way.

Soundtrack-wise it features weaksauce techno beats, the animation is poorly done and is borderline laughable. Scenes and lines are (poorly) rehashed from the 1995 film and as usual the character development is lacking.

This movie says a lot about the current state of anime as a whole and its target audience. I really have to go re-watch Mamoru Oshii's film to rinse the bitter taste this thing left on my mouth.