GITS:Stand Alone Complex......imo......most underated anime.

IndividualEleven · Post by **IndividualEleven** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 1:26 am

Can anyone pose a argument? I don't think so. When it comes to anime I look for story and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex has the greatest story and dialogue ever done in a anime. I don't understand how this can't be the most popular in America right now.

You probably already guessed that my favorite anime series is Ghost in the Shell (the series,mangas and the movies). So I can understand people thinking I may be a little biased. But nobody can claim a anime to have better scripting and character developement (and don't let me get started on the soundtrack) then GITS:SAC. Maybe and I do mean maybe Evangelion, but to be honest (considering how they kind of botched things in the end) I really don't think so.

It has the perfect setting, the perfect mix of action and dialogue, argubaly Yoko Kanno's greatest score, and superb top notch voice acting that has been heard since Cowboy Bebop.

bum · Post by **bum** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 6:15 am

IndividualEleven wrote:But nobody can claim a anime to have better scripting and character developement (and don't let me get started on the soundtrack) then GITS:SAC.

Actualy they can and their oppinion will be just as valid as yours. SAC isnt perfect. I could write a whole essay just on how bad motoko's character redesign is. I could also nit pick though some other flaws in the first 3 epps I've seen so far. If you come here shouting out how some anime is the greatest everything ever then its dead obvios that you've seen relatively little anime. Most seasoned anime fans reaise that no single series has the best of all aspects. Personaly I think Berserk has the best character development, evangelion rules far as music goes and Escaflone has the most solid story I've seen in an anime. If you think that any one single anime is the greatest everything even you turn into a fanboy and risk puting people off watching the series rather than encouraging them to see it. Broaden your horizons and watch a few series before you go preaching one as the geratest thing ever. You'l probably enjoy Witch Hunter Robin. It's similar to SAC in style, but with a witch/magic type theme. It feels like some of the more out their epps of the xfiles.

Oh and I could argue that nip/tuck does the best everything that it does and nothing compares to it, but its not anime so I'l make that argument on another board.

IndividualEleven · Post by **IndividualEleven** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:35 am

If you can write a whole essay on how bad Motoko's design is, then do so and send it to me. You are definitely the first person I've ever heard say something like that. I'm so fustrated I can't think straight. Where to begin....

Your right that it is my opinion but I made note of that in my rant. How you can come up with the conclusion that I not a seasoned anime veteran based off of my message I just don't know!!!!! I can already tell that I have seen more anime than you have based off the fact that you actually thought Berserk had good character development. A anime series that didn't even finish it's story in it's OAV and only continued in the manga....but whatever. I also mentioned that I probably seemed a little biased and that was because I am a fanboy. Since when did being a fanboy of an anime turn people away.

I could write a whole essay on how Escaflowne's story isn't even close to being the greatest and it happens to be one of my favorite anime! Broaden my horizons......I own LAIN, Outlaw Star, Azumanga Daioh, Nadesico,etc. and that isn't even the tip of my collection. I meant no harm in what I said and I know it was all my opinion. But the series does not get recognition it deserves by a long shot and I would defend that statement to the death.

PS. I've seen all of Witch Hunter Robin and I don't see your comparison in the least bit.

Bardiel13 · Post by **Bardiel13** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 4:05 pm

I kind of agree that GITS:SAC was kind of underrated, but I can't say it's PERFECT. Don't get me wrong I liked it a lot. The reason it wasn't as popular is probably because it aired on the adult swim. Do you really expect the same people who watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force will actually want to watch a show discussing the definition of human?

Evil, moron zombies! ATHF should perish!

Solaria735 · Post by **Solaria735** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 4:42 pm

I liked it a lot. It did have good scripting and plot, and I actually like the new character designs. It has amazing music and the best opening sequence (IMO) of anything I've ever seen.

However, especially compared to the movies, the character development felt lacking to me. I really just didn't feel as though the characters were progressing very much until the last couple of episodes of the series... but then it ended, and I was left feeling that the tachikomas got better character development than the humans. It was disappointing because in the last few episodes, I saw so much growth in Motoko, Batou, and Togusa, and to a lesser degree Aramaki, that I wanted to continue and wished I could have felt closer to the beginning.

To be fair, the movies were really incredible in the department of character development. However, the series had a lot more time in which they could have lived up to the films. I haven't watched the second season yet, but I really do hope it has better character development than the little I saw in the first season.

IndividualEleven · Post by **IndividualEleven** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 6:46 pm

I went to AWA this year and one of my many purchases was GITS:SAC 2nd Gig and with out trying to be to much of a fanboy........it was freakin awesome. I actually might like the 2nd season better than the first.

For those who didn't think there was as much character development as the first season, let me just say that you won't be dissapointed. You get one episode on each character and how they became involved in section 9 (like how Motoko lost her body, why she hand picked Togusa, and the badass squaring off of Saito and Major at their first confrontation.) They even hint a little more about Motoko and her vaguely showing of attraction to the female race (seriously, she shows strong signs of being a lesbian and in case you are wondering, her body is fully capable of sexual operations but you would only know that from the manga)!

Also, unlike the first season, the second season has three types of episodes denoting the type of episode. Each episode has two names, a proper title and a subtitle. The DI/IN/DU nomenclature denotes DI=Dividual, IN=Individual, and DU=Dual (episodes designated DI are stand alone episodes not strongly tied with the other storylines, while those designated IN are tied in with the Individual Eleven storyline, and those designated with DU are tied with the Cabinet Intelligence Service & Gouda storyline).

There were 4 episodes on the 1st dvd and two are already some of my all time favorites. Episode 1 pays some badass homage to the 1st Movie! Also, episode 2 just completely reaffirmed the fact that Production I.G. are masters at the art of story telling.

DTJB · Post by **DTJB** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:22 pm

I personally found Stand Alone Complex to be a well done series, better than the movies, but that's mostly because of a bias attitude against Oshii's style of adaptation. I can understand how some people would have missed out on some of the series, especially if they haven't had any prior introduction to the characters or the setting. What I really liked about it was that it was a nice combination of both the original manga and Oshii's movies. You got a gentle flow of the story with little emphasis on the action and you also got some good references to the original manga with a nice bit of comedy tossed in once in a while. Highly recommended, just learn a little bit about the characters beforehand.

IndividualEleven · Post by **IndividualEleven** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:55 pm

Thank's so much for your opinion. If I seem a little bit obsessive on this post its because I have seen so much anime in my time and none have ever made me feel this way. I actually thought I might be drifting away from the anime scene because nothing had been original. I was truly tired of everything being the same. Then I watched GITS:SAC and I started to gain a little more confidence in the industry I adore so much.

I just can't help feeling so strongly about a series that should be ruling the industry right now. Anime companies have a prime example of a method that had been done before (cyber punk detective stories like patlabor, appleseed, GITS movies, artimage, etc. ), that was so heavily modified that it became almost a new type of sensation that anime hadn't offered in such a long time.

I know there are FullMetal Alchemist fans and Naruto fans that think what they are watching is very original and they are to some degree, but they still fit in the action category of anime like almost everything else with out really defining the genre itself.

HyperTails · Post by **HyperTails** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 8:10 pm

I would have to disagree about GITS: SAC being the most underrated anime. I've seen a lot more people who loved it than hated it. I could name a few animes that are probably much more underrated.

Solaria735 · Post by **Solaria735** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:24 pm

IndividualEleven wrote:I went to AWA this year and one of my many purchases was GITS:SAC 2nd Gig and with out trying to be to much of a fanboy........it was freakin awesome. I actually might like the 2nd season better than the first.

For those who didn't think there was as much character development as the first season, let me just say that you won't be dissapointed. You get one episode on each character and how they became involved in section 9 (like how Motoko lost her body, why she hand picked Togusa, and the badass squaring off of Saito and Major at their first confrontation.) They even hint a little more about Motoko and her vaguely showing of attraction to the female race (seriously, she shows strong signs of being a lesbian and in case you are wondering, her body is fully capable of sexual operations but you would only know that from the manga)!

This makes me really happy then, because the lack of character development was really the most disappointing and unfulfilling thing in the first season, IMO. I'd love to learn more about the backstories of some of the characters, especially Motoko's past. I'll have to check this out when I finish the current series I'm watching.

As for Motoko's possible lesbianism... I never really thought about or cared about her sex life... but... Batou... I don't know, I've just always liked his barely concealed longing for her. It's definitely an interesting issue considering she has no "real" body... although according to what you've said, that doesn't really matter.

But it ties into the whole question of what makes a human a human that permeates GITS.

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GITS:Stand Alone Complex......imo......most underated anime.

GITS:Stand Alone Complex......imo......most underated anime.

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