GHOST IN THE SHELL ARISE YES HERE WE ARE SUPER HAPPY GHOST IN THE SHELL FUN TIMES
For some reason God has cursed me on this episode and I have no sound, but hey I got subtitles and the animation is pretty so I’m all set! Lolz, the basic premise of this is “HOW THEY MET DUDADADADA” and it’s actually astoundingly interesting given I’m into the world. This story has all the puzzle pieces of a boring anime but somehow comes together to be really interesting and attention grabbing? I’m going to say it’s because of Motoko and how perfect she is. Yup. This is back in the day before boobie cyborg Motoko became a thing, and given how she is called a ‘tomboy’ I suspect the series might actually subtly hint that she detests that people see her as trying to be manly, thus explaining her later provocative outfit and how she could give two shits less what anyone thinks of it.
The story begins with the murder of Motoko’s superior and the subsequent case around it, primarily that he is also accused of bribe taking and general seedy business. Motoko knows this is not the case and so does the mysterious Section 9, who she encounters while trying to investigate the case. They offer her the chance to help them after they run in with a cyborg trap where the murder victim was supposed to be buried, and the rest of the episode focuses on how this could have happened.
As usual Motoko’s investigation skills are superior – and we learn some interesting things from this installment. The Major’s place as a cyborg is far more tentative than they really showed in the original series. Because of her highly enhanced body the military is basically forcing her to be their puppet and exist under their wing in every form. She had no real option if you recall in the original series, because her health was poor and most of her enhancements are not something she had a real piece in. It’s how she survived. And now to repay that debt she is basically made into a subhuman forced to do whatever she needs. To further explain the tragedy of this; the murdered man was her superior who had promised her financial autonomy. The government, basically, is telling her everytime she even opens her wallet she is subject to verifying her identity, showing she is a cyborg, and in general forcing her into approval for every action. How EREGERW’ed up is that??
Naturally, it’s suspicious that the murdered man who is known as a good cop was sticking up for her, yet now there are charges levied against him. The strong implication is that because he was going to allow her freedom and autonomy despite being a cyborg caused his death. This is solidified in the movie when CAPTAIN DOUCHEBAG (he is not a captain, he is just a douchebag) comes into play.
LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, CAPTAIN DOUCHEBAG
IF THERE IS A GUY BEING A DOUCHEBAG IN THIS MOVIE TO MOKOTO, IT’S EITHER THE GOVERNMENT OR THIS GUY. WE CAN PRETTY MUCH JUST CALL HIM VARIOUS ITERATIONS OF CAPTAIN DOUCHEBAG AND CALL IT A DAY. JUST. LOOK AT HIM. HE JUST SCREAMS DOUCHEBAG. WHAT WHITE GUY GOES OUT OF THEIR WAY TO DYE THEIR HAIR BLUE AND THEN MAKE IT INTO DREADS? OR ASIAN GUY? I MEAN? THE EFFORT HE HAS TO PUT INTO HIS APPEARANCE IN ORDER TO LOOK LIKE SUCH A DOUCHEBAG IS ASTRONOMICAL. I HAVE A HARD TIME THINKING OF WAYS FOR HIM TO LOOK MORE STUPID AND DOUCHEY. HOLD ON A SECOND.
Ah there we go. SO SIR PIMP DOUCHE IS THE ONE WHO CLARIFIES BASICALLY “You’re a cyborg, and if you step out of line you’ll die.” And tells her the Captains death was an inevitability. Meanwhile Mokoto’s body is going haywire in a sense with pain she shouldn’t be feeling, and she is constantly seeing the face of the android who was in place of the murdered man’s body.
And guys. Guys. I don’t want to give too much away but Batou and Motoko HAVE A FUCKING FIGHT AND IT’S INTENSE SHIT OH MY GOD IT WAS LIKE WATCHING MY DREAMS COME TRUE THEM BITCHSLAPPING EACH OTHER WITH CYBORG STRENGTH /BREATHES HEAVILY.
OH SHIT ORIGIN INFORMATION I DID NOT KNOW REVEALED. Remember how I mentioned Motoko was young when she got her body? YOUNGER. THAN I. ANTICIPATED. You’ll see. Damn. sobs. And we learn from this that it is IMPOSSIBLE for Motoko to have this pain she’s feeling, so what can be causing it? Only fake memories. In fact, every clue is leading to the Major being the one who killed her superior! But she just returned to Japan 3 days ago, so what could be the cause? AND THEN
HOLY SHIT
HOLY SHIT
THIS WHOLE MOVIE IS A LIE
HOLY SHIT
THIS IS MY SHIT
DAMMIT
OH MAN
CRAP!!!
I CANT EVEN RUIN THIS FOR YOU GO WATCH IT SHIT I JUST WHAT OH MY BRAIN MY BRAAAAAIN
What ends up happening is the reveal of a cover up with Motoko at the center – and she must fix it lest she be the target of an arrest herself. She gets to kick the ass of Captain Douchebag and the finale is FUCKING GREAT OKAY FUCKING GREAT AND I WOULD SCREAM ABOUT HOW AMAZING IT IS BUT YOU NEED TO WATCH IT SO LETS JUST DO THE FIRST LOOK OKAY OKAY
ART: IT’S AMAZING THE ANIMATION IS STUNNING AND THE ACTION IS FUN AND THE WHOLE THING STAYS CONSISTENTLY GOOD DESPITE SOME WEIRD FACES THAT ARE ANATOMICALLY CORRECT BUT TRAUMATIZING
CHARACTERS: THERE’S THE TACHIKOMA PROTOTYPE LOGIKOMA: EVERYTHING IS FLAWLESS AND NOTHING HURTS MAJOR AND BATOU GET A KICKASS FIGHT SCENE
ACTION: CAPTAIN DOUCHEBAG GETS HIS ARM EFFED UP, OH MY GAWD
STORY: IT’S GHOST IN THE SHELL IT’S RIVETING HOLY CRAP
MUSIC: I DIDN’T HAVE VOLUME SO I CAN’T REALLY TELL YOU MAN!
OVERALL: SEE YOU GUYS FOR THE NEXT THING BECAUSE HOLY SHIT MY EYES ARE EXPLODING FROM AMAZING I JUST HOLY SHIT I can’t. Even.
9/10
ps: IT’S A PREQUEL SO ANYONE CAN SEE IT GO TO IT
Oki
I still didn’t get this part fully, can someone please read the spoiler box and clarify for me? thank you
[spoiler]from what I understand, the vice-minister of defense made an illegal arms deal with a third world country in order to protect the armies finances,.. and the lieutenant knew about it from investigating the vice-minister’s prostitute and ranger driver, and wanted to go public with the info, so the vice-minister ordered the captain with the blue hair to solve the situation, but the encounter in the end with motoko and her superior… who are those six spies they killed? and what did she mean by “if it weren’t for his memory virus we could’ve saved him” and who is this “enemy” she is talking about?… can someone please clarify for me those things if they know.. thanks~ [/spoiler]
She was explaining, basically, that the entirety of the government in Japan is their enemy out to stop them and dismantle their program. I think she was referring to this incident solely because the government itself would have shut them down for whistleblowing their selling of arms to third world countries. And they couldn’t stop the man who was murdered from telling or communicate with him because of his memory virus, otherwise they might have saved him.
i see i see,.. so the government itself kind of hate unit 501 and want to dismantle them and they need any dirt on them… so let me get this straight tho, what did motoko mean when she accused kurusu of using her? and what was the purpose of that money that she put in motoko’s account… and who actually pulled the trigger on the leautenant? sorry that I am asking those many questions :/ AND THANK YOU FOR REPLYING SO MUCH!! LOVE YOU~!