Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Difference between revisions

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''Stand Alone Complex'' is visually stunning (it features beautiful digital cel animation which was produced in full widescreen) and audibly mesmerizing (its soundtrack was handled by none other than [[Yoko Kanno]] herself). Its plot and characterization are both exceptionally deep, with philosophical discussions of dehumanization through technology and synthetic life -- as well as intense political intrigue -- existing alongside plenty of high-octane action scenes.

 

 

 

As noted above, the ''Ghost in the Shell'' franchise has three [[Broad Strokes|separate but equally legitimate continuities]]: that of the manga itself, that of [[Mamoru Oshii]]'s films -- which themselves are recreations of specific parts of the manga [[Compressed Adaptation|compressed]] into movie form -- and that of ''Stand Alone Complex''. No continuity has any direct relation to another aside from setting and characters -- though both movies and ''Stand Alone Complex'' make references to/offer recreations of specific scenes from the manga.

In 2011, Kodansha Comics released a ''Stand Alone Complex'' [[Recursive Adaptation|manga]] written by Yu Kinutani. Volume One is a shot-for-shot manga interpretation of the first episode, and Volume Two is a retelling of the second episode, "Testation".

 

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=== This show contains examples of: ===

* [[Ambiguously Human]]: Some of the cyborgs are closer to robots than full-body replacement shells.

** {{spoiler|[[Meaningful Name|Proto]]}} is a prototype [[Appleseed|bioroid.]]

** {{spoiler|The Major loses her left arm when fighting Gayle.}}

* [[And I Must Scream]]: In the episode ''MAKE UP'', the villain took a woman's brain out of her cybernetic body, and dumped it in the trash. Apparently, she was quite alive at the time, but without a body, it's not like she can call for help.

* [[Cyberspace]], specifically of the [[Metaverse]] variety (see the episode where Major Kusanagi visits a chat room, for an example), though not the central theme.

* [[Cyberpunk Is Techno]]: Played straight and subverted with the soundtrack, which also includes Jazz, Punk Rock, Folk, Easy Listening, Hip-Hop, and Funk, among other genres.

* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: The Umibozu commander in the endgame of SAC, who counters ''every single play'' Section Nine throws at him.

* [[David Versus Goliath]]: In the ''Stand Alone Complex'' manga's ''Tachikomatic Days'' bonus chapter, the Tachikomas are sent to a construction site to earn more experience and learn. They decide to challenge a gigantic Power Loader commonly found in strip mining pits in protest to doing menial labor. The boss shows up in a smaller version commonly found in construction sites, and [[Curb Stomp Battle|proceeds to instantly beat them all.]] Played for laughs of course.

* [[Dead Man Writing]]: The clues Yamaguchi leaves to Togusa in the Interceptor case.

* [[Deadly Doctor]]: Sano in the episode ''SCANDAL''.

* [[Designated Girl Fight]]: Rarely for the series. The Major enters a hotel room in pursuit of Marcelo Jarti and has to fight his two android [[Bodyguard Babes]], whom he left behind to delay her while he escapes.

* [[Design Student's Orgasm]]: Some depictions of cyberspace, such as the beginning of the first season finale {{spoiler|when the Major exists online in an incorporeal state}}. See [[Extreme Graphical Representation]].

* [[Digital Avatar]]: See [[Cyberspace]] example above. Actually called attention to by the Tachikomas in one episode. While they use full avatars, most of the team use a generic "labeled triangle in circle" to identify themselves.

* [[Dirty Communists]]: Fem, the radical leftist villain from ''¥€$''.

* [[Dramatic Gun Cock]]: It seems to be a rule that nobody can load a weapon in this show (or even point it at someone else) without noisily chambering a round.

* [[Dress Hits Floor]]: Motoko pulls this off in ''Cash Eye''. [[Fridge Logic|How she managed to conceal a full body suit underneath an evening dress is anyone's guess.]]

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: One politician attempts to commit "cyberbrain suicide" over the scandal over cyberbrain sclerosis coming to light.

* [[Eagle Land]]: Type 2, Americans aren't depicted very well in the series. [[Appleseed|Established in other]] [[Shirow Masamune]] works, The United States has been split up into 3 individual countries:

** The United States of America now consists of the states of Washington, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Utah, New Mexico, and Wisconsin.

* [[Fetish]]: In-canon; in ''Cash Eye'', the leader of a bank corporation admits he has a fetish for having sex with women who have fully-prosthetic bodies. He'd rather do it while said bodies are running, but the women inside are inactive.

** The first episode of the first season has an elderly minister who likes swapping his brain into that of a sexy geisha whenever he gets drunk. Unfortunately this sets him up as a prime candidate for a [[Grand Theft Me]] when his brain's exposed.

* [[Firing One-Handed]]: Togusa does it with an assault rifle in ''NOT EQUAL'', although it isn't shown that he ''hits'' anything either.

** In ''RE-VIEW'', Gayle (the head of the DEA squad that storms the Sunflower Society's offices) also does it, although in this case it's a hint that {{spoiler|he's actually a full-body cyborg, and Togusa is no match for him}}.

* [[Foreign Language Theme]]: The opening and ending themes for both seasons and ''Solid State Society'' are either performed in Russian and English (with a little Latin in the first season's opener) or entirely in English.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: Listen closely to the conversation between Aramaki and Gohda in episode four of 2nd Gig. That seemingly unimportant line: "...And of course, the occasional manipulation of public opinion" during Gohda's description of CIS duties becomes very important later on.

* [[Friendly Enemy]]: Zaitsev becomes friends with Batou, unaware the whole time that Batou is tailing him on suspicion of espionage.

* [[The Future Is Noir]]

* [[Icon of Rebellion]]: The Laughing Man's symbol.

* [[Idiot Ball]]: An offscreen moment for Gohda in ''2nd Gig'' that gets him into a lot of trouble down the line. When manufacturing your own terrorist group, it's generally a good idea to give them [[Terrorists Without a Cause|something remotely resembling a coherent ideology.]]

* [[I Know You Know I Know]]: When Batou is tailing Zaitsev, both begin to suspect the other of being up to something suspicious. {{spoiler|They both are - Batou is under orders to investigate him for espionage.}}

** In the episode ''POKER FACE'', Saito thinks that the Major doesn't have control software installed for mid-range aiming, based on her shooting. {{spoiler|It turns out that was deliberately being inefficient to mislead him, allowing her to blind him with a sort-of [[Scope Snipe]].}}

* [[Knife Nut]]: Cruzkowa has blades hidden in her cybernetic arms which she uses as melee weapons.

* [[Laser Sight]]: Used to the hilt - and often. There's even a scene where a runaway tank produces its own lasers to baffle other laser targeting systems.

* [[Let's Split Up, Gang!]]: Kusanagi's plan for {{spoiler|evacuating Section 9 headquarters and sending the team into hiding.}}

* [[Life Imitates Art]]: ''Ghost in the Shell'' has directly inspired Japanese scientists to develop actual "thermoptic camouflage" cloaking technology (that works by bending light around the wearer) and a functioning Tachikoma prototype (a 4 wheel vehicle with a segmented body that gives a visual feed to the driver through cameras.) Advances in prosthetic limb technology has also advanced significantly over the last few decades.

** The lighthearted "Tachikomatic Days" shorts at the end of each episode are much lighter in tone than the rest of the series and indeed the rest of the franchise. They're meant as humour to lighten the mood of the viewers after watching the episode.

* [[Littlest Cancer Patient]]: The girl from ''MISSING HEARTS'' who recently had a heart transplant. She seems to exist mainly so Motoko can bring up her [[Dark and Troubled Past]] and also [[Pet the Dog]] a little.

** Played for laughs in a ''2nd Gig'' episode where a street kid is enthusing about the Major's body - the camera angle makes it look like he's staring at her breasts, when he's actually referring to her cybernetic modifications.

* [[Malevolent Masked Men]]: The Umibozu.

** Marcelo Jarti turns out to be an unconscious man on life support who directs his body doubles to do his bidding from an iron lung.

* [[Matrix Raining Code]]: Subtle usage from time to time.

* [[More Dakka]]: Batou loves this trope. Also, some of the gunfights can go in this direction, especially if [[Powered Armor]] or gunships are involved.

** The Tachikomas have [[Gatling Good|miniguns]] which can spray ridiculous amounts of dakka at targets.

* [[Mundane Utility]]: It's well-established that thermoptic camouflage is foiled by water. So how does the Major deal with the cloaked Umibozu troops? {{spoiler|She turns on the fire sprinklers.}}

* [[Musical Spoiler]]: In the episode ''TRIAL'', the instrumental intro of ''I Can't be Cool'' is played over a speech by Togusa. ''I Can't be Cool'' is usually played when {{spoiler|The Major is hacking. Later in the episode it's revealed that she hacked Togusa's brain to deliver that speech.}}

** In the second season, Batou exclaims that dogs don't like him much.

** In episode 25 there is a [[Call Back]] to the scene in the film with {{spoiler|Motoko/Puppetmaster's new body, only this time with Motoko's younger-self puppet in her high-rise safehouse.}}

* [[Named After Somebody Famous]]: Section 9 is named after real-life German counter-terrorism unit GSG9 (Border Guard, Unit 9).

** It's likely that Prime Minister Kayabuki's surname is a reference to Margaret Thatcher - the kanji used translates as 'reed thatch'.

* [[Ninja Maid]]: The android maids at the mansion in ''¥ € $'' also serve as security. They have hidden weapons built into their arms and are programmed to respond to threats.

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: The ''Stand Alone Complex'' video game is subject to this. Particularly because, like the anime, it assumes that [[Viewers Are Geniuses]] and subjects the player to some serious [[Trial and Error Gameplay]] (such as the first level, where the only real way to gauge if a distance is short enough to not get sniped is to attempt it), a control scheme comparable to Halo with no in-game learning curve (the tutorial is off of the main menu, and the first level assumes you've completely memorized and mastered every single aspect), frequent checkpoints but very infrequent save points, and all while other characters will talk at the bottom of the screen about very important things in the level and plot that won't be repeated if you happened to miss it because you were busy trying not to die. It doesn't help that the dialogue itself assumes not only once again that [[Viewers Are Geniuses]], but that their full attention is dedicated to listening.

* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: Eka Turkuro (a girl kidnapped by a terrorist group who becomes a member of it) is clearly based on the infamous case of Patty Hearst. There is even a shot of her holding a gun which is similar to a famous photo of Hearst.

* [[No Communities Were Harmed]]: Niihama is visually based on Hong Kong, although viewers may mistake it for Tokyo as well.

* [[Noisy Guns]]: Averted for the majority of the series, but played straight in some episodes of the 2nd season.

* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: The Major absolutely flips out on Gayle. Considering that he blew off her arm, tried to crush her head in, and nearly killed {{spoiler|Togusa}}, it's hardly surprising.

* [[Odango Hair]]: Fem wears her hair this way.

* [[Oh Crap]]: When Ishikawa finally decodes the faces of the last three members of the narc squad, {{spoiler|he realizes they're the two friendly-looking "hobos" talking to the chief in the refugee district. Another one from the viewer when it's revealed the third is the doctor performing the body-swap on the Major.}}

* [[Pin Pulling Teeth]]: Batou does this a couple of times during the shootout in Kusanagi's mansion, though as a full-body cyborg his teeth might be a lot tougher than those of an ordinary person.

** He also does it in ''NOT EQUAL'' when fighting the Human Liberation Front.

* [[Positive Discrimination]]: The team are all specialists who are world-class in their field. Except for Motoko Kusanagi, the only female, who is usually better than anybody at everything. If she's not better, she'll just change the rules of engagement.

* [[Powered Armour]]: Called "Armed Suits" in-universe, the Umibozu use these to go after the Major, and later Batou. Other varieties make appearances later on.

* [[Save Sat]]: In the final episode, {{spoiler|the Tachikomas ram the satellite containing their [[A Is]] into a nuclear missile to save the lives of Section 9 as well as 40,000 refugees and soldiers, all while singing a happy children's song that celebrates the importance of life, showing that they understood the concept of death, and weren't afraid to die for a good cause.}}

* [[Say My Name]]: Batou, after {{spoiler|the Major is shot in the head}}: "MOTOKOOOOOOO!". When {{spoiler|she gets better}}, the other Section 9 operatives [[Crowning Moment of Funny|mock him for it.]]

** At the beginning of ''ERASER'', the Major does it when she and Aramaki burst into the operating room to see {{spoiler|Togusa, who's been shot}}.

* [[Scary Shiny Glasses]]: Sano has them.

* [[Shoot the Money]]: ''Stand Alone Complex'' probably set a budgetary record working on all the CGI effects, and it ''really'' shows.

* [[Shown Their Work]]: All the time. When the series ''is'' inaccurate with regard to physics or technology, it's more a matter of [[Rule of Cool]] than [[Did Not Do the Research]].

* [[Shout-Out]]: In a couple episodes, [[Appleseed|Landmate suits]] are seen.

* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: The Laughing Man.

* [[Sliding Scale of Robot Intelligence]]: The Tachikoma are Human-level. The humanoid Operators superficially appear to be Human-level, but malfunction and shut down when presented with a [[Logic Bomb|logical paradox]] by the Tachikoma.

* [[Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb]]: We find out that Borma specializes in bomb analysis and defusing in ''2nd Gig''. His talents are called in later into the season when an entire city is evacuated when a supposed nuclear bomb is discovered in a skyscraper.

** Batou / Bateau (the former is the correct spelling, though the later would be more correct if spoken by a French speaker.)

** Bouma / Borma (pronounced as the former, but written as the latter.)

* [[State Sec]]: Public Security Section Nine. Well armed with military equipment and staffed with ex-military operatives, they conducted intelligence ops and law enforcement. Operating with great autonomy and great leeway, they only answer to the Prime Minister or the Minster of Home Affairs. They are also one of the few heroic examples of this trope.

* [[Storming the Castle]]: Multiple examples, such as the raid on the restaurant in the series opening.

* [[Supercop]]: All of Section 9, but especially Motoko and Batou.

* [[Super Window Jump]]: Batou bursts through the window of a hotel room to rescue Imakurusu from the DEA. {{spoiler|He gets assassinated at the end of the episode though.}}

* [[Surprisingly Good English]]: The lyrics of both seasons' opening theme has this, along with surprisingly good Russian, thanks to Origa.

* [[Sympathetic Criminal]]: Many, including {{spoiler|the Laughing Man himself.}}

* [[Talking Is a Free Action]]: Exploited in ''¥€$''. {{spoiler|Fem thinks that she's all alone in the bedroom of the man she had been hired to kill, and decides to monologue out loud about the problems of capitalism before she kills him. Motoko takes this time to sneak up and arrest her.}}

{{quote| '''Motoko:''' "A ''smarter'' hitman would have shot first."}}

* [[Talking to Himself]]: In the original Japanese version, both Togusa and the Laughing Man are played by [[Koichi Yamadera]].

* [[Techno Babble]]

* [[Terrorists Without a Cause]]: The Individual Eleven's ideology makes ''absolutely no sense''. {{spoiler|Picking up on this is what allows Kuze to escape the group's programming in time.}}

** When the Major regains control of her body and overpowers Sano in ''SCANDAL'' (with a little help from the Laughing Man), "Flashback Memory Stick", a remix of "Inner Universe" plays.

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: Justified in that due to prosthetics, people can sometimes withstand ''a lot'' of firepower. Tragically averted in several cases where someone was able to cause a final act of killing because they weren't shot enough to actually kill them.

* [[Throw-Away Guns]]: Batou seems to do this a lot, such as in ''ANNIHILATION'' when he exhausts all the ammo in his minigun and simply abandons it.

* [[Tomato Surprise]]: Played for humor in "C: The Man Who Dwells in the Shadows of the Net – CHAT! CHAT! CHAT!" is both a sort of recap episode, and actually advances the plot. It consists largely of Motoko, as her avatar, discussing the case in an online chatroom that consists of fully 3D environments with user characters, spectators, and is more like a cyberspace talk-show than IRC. The ending reveals that Motoko, in reality, has been ''driving a car'' for the duration of the episode, much to Batou's horror when he realizes, as he's been sitting in the passenger seat of said car.

* [[Transhuman]]: Just about everyone in the series.

* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: Kuze to Gohda, and {{spoiler|Gohda to Kuze}}

* [[Used Future]]: The world is recovering from two world wars. Society in Japan seems fairly normal, though it has its fair share of problems relating to the rest of the world. Not every machine or building is in pristine condition. In fact, the Refugee Districts are buildings built upon other buildings, just adding on more and more on top of the decay.

* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]: Tons of philosophy and literary references tossed about. And they rarely repeat themselves. They won't spell out many things (like the {{spoiler|Bitten green apple at the end of season 2, which is supposed to show that Kuze was left-handed - implying many things -}} or the {{spoiler|locked car door at the end of the first season, which has been interpreted as a cyber-brain hack, a bomb, and simply indicating that the guy's car was broken into}}) as they assume the audience memorized everything in the Complex episodes beforehand.

** In-universe, this is justified by widespread cybernetics. How deep and cool could ''you'' sound if you had high-speed internet [[Unusual User Interface|in your head]]? They even [[Lampshade]] it:

{{quote| '''Aramaki''': "I've been listening in for a while, but without an external memory device, I can't follow your conversation at all."}}

* [[Visible Invisibility]]: Transitions between total invisibility and translucent distortion invisibility. There's at least one instance where the Major seems able to see a cloaked mech suit even when it is using its optical camouflage, and the narc squad in the same episode is explicitly stated as using cloaking technology that isn't perfect, so it seems that both types are viable. The protagonists usually don't employ their invisibility for long periods of time, presumably because it drains the batteries quickly.

* [[Voices Are Mental]]: The cyber-telepathic "voices" of the characters sound just like their speaking voices with an electronic reverb added.

* [[Watching the Sunset]]: The Major does it quite a bit.

* [[Wax On, Wax Off]]: The Tachikomas in the ''Stand Alone Complex'' manga are sent to a construction site to earn more experience points by observing and learning more about the environment. They get tasked with shoveling dirt, which they protest because they're far more advanced and capable of doing more advanced tasks. They decide to challenge a power loader to prove they're worthy of stronger tasks, but all become overconfident and are easily beaten by the site foreman. They go back to shoveling dirt with a new appreciation for the task they're doing.

** The Laughing Man does this in live action by hacking into the cyberbrains of anyone who witnesses anything he does and makes them see the infamous logo or otherwise erases himself out of the viewer's eyesight, such as what he did to Batou.

*** Batou himself does almost exactly the same thing afterwards; hacking a mech pilot's eyes to show his (Batou's) decapitated body where the pilot was expecting it to be. In the future, Adobe is clearly the world's most powerful corporation.