Ghost In The Shell

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-05-29/ghost-in-the-shell-manga-gets-vr-noh-stage-play-in-august/.160086

Meanwhile, GITS Noh play.

Watch 2045 now. And man, did they get the work on Teito as the PM. Reminds me of Tsurunen when he got elected in the Diet.

Bennett the Sage REALLY didn't like SAC:2045.

So, I saw that new trailer for the Netflix show. Looks good and I love the music too. Waiting for the release of the season and the song will be agony. It's also super crazy how much has changed since the show was first released two years ago. In a way, I feel like its a time mark or something.

A link to the teaser trailer, for those interested.

Personally, I'm not optimistic about season 2. Even if the show managed to get a significant budget increase and fix the poor animation quality, the story and worldbuilding itself was rather weak. I'll most likely watch it when Netflix releases it, but I'll be keeping my hopes low.

I feel like something that is often lost in the discussion of Ghost in the Shell:Innocence (which tends to focus on the dialogue, with all its philosophy quotes, or the art-style, and how good/bad it is) is how it shows a post-Motoko Section 9.

We get this in the manga, but the tone is so different and the characters have simpler relationships, so that Motoko's absence isn't a big deal and she's pretty casual showing herself anyways. And the circumstances of her leave are a bit more negative as she gets into legal trouble near the original volume's end and escapes by faking her death as she is surrounded by police/authorities. So, you could say her legacy is that of good soldier who went crazy and had to be put down.

Stand Alone Complex has her gone (for a while), but all of the characters know that she just quit and left. They are clearly upset by it, but it's no big deal really all things considered.

Meanwhile in Innocence, as far as anyone but Batou (and later sort of Togusa) are concerned, Motoko is dead. Aramaki says that she vanished and Ishikawa speaks of her as if she's dead and Batou is still mourning her. Even Togusa is the same in the beginning, with how he speaks of her. It's really quite interesting to me, as it really shows the ramifications of someone, who was highly regarded, just up and vanishing without trace.

Additionally, Innocence makes Motoko's "ascension" much more mystical in feeling and even the music and some of the philosophical quotes more or less act as motifs to show Motoko as something like a god-like figure who lives in the heavens. Which fits in with the film treating it as if she died. Which is true in a way, since she mentions that she really isn't Motoko or the Puppeteer anymore, at the end of the first film.

And this is a smaller detail, but I like how Aramaki ditches the suit for a what I can only describe as a Nehru Jacket? It's white and has a collar that is buttoned up, and he wears white pants and slippers I think. But it is quite the interesting look. It takes away the old man in a suit look he had going for something I guess slightly more "Eastern". The movie defintiely does show a more traditional side of the world with its parade scene, as well as the mansion having a look you'd see more in the 19th century I think. Even the cars look old, having a more early 20th century look. Yet, everything is advanced too with the same retro looking cars having a camera that allows it to make sure they aren't being tailed.

All in all, I think Innocence is pretty underrated as a part of the franchise, especially since it adds a unique flavor to it by its aesthetics and motifs. I'd say that only the end of the original Ghost in the Shell manga as well as the sequel, that follows new character Motoko Aramaki, ever touch a more mystical side of the franchise that is often ignored in favor of pure science fiction.

New trailer for 2045 season 2 is out.

Spoiled a few things here and there.

And a premiere date too, May 23. Something I hate about Netflix is that when they give a date that is a certain month or a certain season (like Spring), what often ends up being the case is that it's at the end of those months or seasons that end up being the final date.

So, the above if from the Ghost in the Shell (2017) YMMV page, and I'm questioning if it should be changed or even outright removed. Because first off, I and some others can give several arguments as to why the claim of whitewashing isn't flimsy, but the article acts too much from the assumption that they aren't. It's also straight up wrong, as I have seen just about nearly every GITS product, and nowhere are Batou and Ishikawa suggested to be foreigners, if the opposite since they act so distantly from the plight of foreigners. And it's last sentence definitely comes off as confrontational in my view.

The 2045 Sustainable War movie compilation has some new scenes on what happened to Togusa.

Good, I might watch that one hours before season 2 comes out next week (currently rewatching season 1 by watching one episode a day).

This season was super good, but also holy shit!

I have to say that Motoko came off as her most immoral here. For me, her bringing back Purin was fucked up. And Purin's situation is also fucked up. And they aren't even ambiguous about it, Purin is dead and the new one is more or less a clone, a robot. And that ending is definitely a mind screw. Jesus, I haven't felt this Serial Experiments Lain, which has a similar ending if everything being reset, but also not exactly.

Having finished season 2, I must ask: who here liked Ezaki's backstory being tied to SAC season 1's episode 10 and that it's what inspired her to join Section 9?

I liked it. I originally thought that she was a Tachikoma that managed to become a human, but this is so much better. Seeing Batou's old design with the new graphics was also pretty cool and highly solified to me that this was essentially season 3 of Stand Alone Complex.

Thinking about it, when did Batou approach Ezaki? Before or after he arrested Marco Amoretti? If it was before, would meeting Ezaki have been a factor as to why Batou opted to arrest Amoretti?

Edited by HallowHawk on May 25th 2022 at 8:08:18 AM

I feel like it would have to be after, since he would have been to busy hunting Marco down, if it was before.

I just realized that the title of 2045 could be a reference to Blade Runner:2049 in terms of the titles being sequels and representing the year they take place in.

I just also realized that Motoko in Arise could be based off of Priss from Bubblegum Crisis, in terms of being a red leather clothes wearing motor cyclist in a cyberpunk setting.

Looking back, there's probably supposed to be thematic significance in all of the Matrix references throughout SAC 2045. This also seems to be the grand finale for the SAC timeline - there's just no way to go forward from this ending, ambiguity notwithstanding. Big Spoilers ahead, of course.

The American Agent basically being a near-perfect stand in for Agent Smith (even having the same name), the antagonist wearing a trenchcoat outfit similar to Neo, the stadium's worth of pods in the sub hangar, the entire grand scheme basically being a recreation of the Matrix's virtual world except painted in a somewhat more positive light - well, GITS was a major inspiration for the Matrix franchise after all. Except this particular "world of N" built by Takashi and the posthumans sounds like it's eventually doomed to fail due to contradictions piling up, or somebody who's not cybernetically augmented simply falling through the cracks of this new world's system. I know Takashi mentioned he was enacting plans to find and integrate these offline individuals, but they're almost certainly bound to fight back.

And personally, I believe the Major refused to pull the cords to end Takashi's plan. That Purin was reintegrated back into Section 9 and how Togusa magically got back with his family seems to indicate this.

Edited by SgtRicko on Jun 10th 2022 at 9:48:17 AM

While I can't explain how Purin managed to get back into Section 9, I don't think Togusa necessarily got back with his family. Afterall, divorced parents often still see their ex-spouses and children. I figure he's just on better terms with them. As for whether Motoko pulled the cords? I lean towards that she did, but I can believe that she didn't. What I'm still trying to understand is what is meant by her being a "romantic"? I know from a doyalist POV, that she needs to be the only one unaffected, since she's the protagonist, but I still am trying to tie my head around the in-universe justification.

Still checking the OST for 2045.

For now, I like this track.

Anywho, was able to finish 2045 and listen to the OS Ts.

Can offer recommendations on the music. Love the jazz.

For those who want to read up on more GITS manga wise, there's The Ghost in the Shell: The Human Algorithm.

Mainly starts after the events of 1.5. S9 picks up a new recruit at least.

William Frederick Knight passed away on November 8. He was 88 years old.

PS - He voiced Aramaki.

I'm re-reading Human-Error Processor, for the first time in several years and after having re-read Man-Machine Interface, and I'm shocked at just how much of the GITS franchise's adaptions owe their aesthetics to Shirow's original mangas. I mean the first manga is mostly known for being a case of Early-Installment Weirdness and only a minor video game ever adapted Shirow's art style and sense of humor, but his sequel mangas really provided the bones for Stand Alone Complex to be built from. Even Proto is a character who originated in Human-Error Processor. Motoko's Chroma identity too originated from the sequels (though there is a bit of an internal error as to whether Chroma belongs to Motoko Kusanagi or Motoko Aramaki, the latter of whom is a completely different character).

Also, I'm realizing how important Motoko and Batou are to the franchise, which isn't to say it wasn't obvious to me before. But I'm reading Human-Error Processor, in which Motoko only appears for a very small chunk, and in which Batou is gone for the first fourth, and Section 9 is boring without them. Togusa can't carry the series without them and it shows. He lacks charisma and personality, at least in the manga, as he is either grumpy or just really straight-forward to the point of being plain. Meanwhile Azuma, who he is partnered with, is just unpleasant to read and look at, making Togusa's sections in the manga also unpleasant.