Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Who knows Anime, knows Ghost In The Shell. Obviously. If you don’t know it, let me briefly explain. It’s not too far in the future, around 2030. The Internet is practically the core of the nation, people have implants to improve certain things or add functionality. For example, memories of each person can be accessed via cable (if the government requires to do so). Or people have direct access to the web using their brains alone. This also enabled wireless communication between people, sort of a telepathic thing. But then, also, this spawned a whole new generation of crimes and hackers. And to top it off, there are entirely robotic bodies which can be run by a human soul – or “Ghost” in the shell.

Section 9, a secret anti-crime department of the Japanese government, employs 8 of the finest people when it comes to crime-fighting. Run by a wise man Aramaki, the group has to deal with pretty tough stuff. Since they are on the top of the government chain, Section 9 has access to the latest and greatest feats in technology – and one of those feats are “Tachikomas”. Super advanced defence robots, that also serve as “think” tanks. They seem to have individuality of sorts, seem to enjoy their existence and are always happy to help.

The core cast of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Eventually the crew is confronted with a truly mind-boggling case. They come across a super-hacker, with never-before seen abilities. Able to pull off stunts so incredible that it almost seems unreal to them. Six years ago, there has been an assault on a certain member of the government. The person responsible managed to hack the eyes of all people around him live and in real-time, disguising himself only with a logo… The logo of himself, who then became known as The Laughing Man. But he never referred to himself as that – it was the media who coined that name for him. Manipulating the streams of cameras and people, all at the same time, simultaneously, has never been seen before, or after – and Section 9 and their crew is about to make one startling, and truly mind-boggling discovery of the truth.

“I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes”. The Laughing Man logo.

I finished watching it last night, and this has been another great masterpiece of the mind from Shirow Masamune, the creator this one and many others. The music, again, was scored and composed by Yoko Kanno. The voice acting was fantastic and works phenomenally nice on this one, in English.

If you don’t have it – get it. Buy it. Torrent it. Watch it. It really is worth your while.