Familiar faces and cases are everywhere for Section 9,
especially for Chief Aramaki. A visit to
London leads the Chief back to an old flame and a bad case of “in the wrong
place at the wrong time” when her shop is caught in the middle of a
robbery. Back in Japan, matters
concerning an old friend might lead to Aramaki making a choice he cannot fully
accept. And just when the Laughing Man
case seems to hit a dead end, Togusa makes a breakthrough…and opens up
Pandora’s Box in the process.
Well, it looked like this week was the big one for Stand
Alone cases. Because if the Complex
episode in this set was any indication, we may have seen the last of them this
season.
Firstly, this was a big Aramaki set and his two featured
episodes were great. Daisuke Aramaki is
the boss every job should have: gruff, wise, quick thinking, direct and
honorable to a fault. Most of these
qualities are on display in Episode 17, which has an episode in another
country, England. Not only do we get to
see Motoko rock some nice styles and work without Section 9 back up, but
Aramaki takes full charge of a hostage situation gone awry, making sure
everyone, even the would be hostage takers, get out alive while figuring out a
deeper mystery at work. And we even get
a glimpse into the Chief’s love life, or past love life I should say. Old and wise and still able to charm a lady,
he is the man. And I don’t think it’s
any real surprise, but any scene shared with Motoko and Aramaki is pure
gold. Their relationship may seem purely
professional and business like most of the time but it’s obvious to see the
deeper bond between these two. They
aren’t just partners or mentor and mentee, they’re family.
Aramaki’s second centered episode was a bit sadder as he
dealt with the loss of an old friend and the possibility of said friends son
becoming a potential assassin. It’s kind
of scary to see how the technology of this world can see the influence of one
well past death affect those still living.
We’ve seen it in earlier episodes of this season but never to this
extent or this personal. To see young Yu
slowly lose the person he was to his fathers vengeful will and memories is
heartbreaking (kudos too to Yoko Kanno and that one track playing throughout
the episode that fit the sorrowful and downbeat mood of the entire
episode). You really feel for Aramaki at
the end of the episode, when he feels that it’s twice now he’s had to say
goodbye to a dear friend, the second time under worse circumstances.
The final Stand Alone episode of the season was a bit
less exciting to be honest. Even with a
tense showdown between the Ex-Russian Soldier and Motoko, it still felt a bit
more like a filler episode than any of the other stand alone stories this
season. Wish it would have been a bit
stronger and less boring but that’s just me.
Of course, then we get to the big one, the Complex
episode that will run the Laughing Man case right to the end of the
season. Togusa takes point again and
manages to find possibly the most important piece of the Laughing Man
puzzle. I did enjoy his rooftop chat
with Motoko, who apparently like to feel the wind at the edge of a rooftop
while sharing theories and philosophies with her subordinates (oh and actually
digging her new jeans look, it looks way better than her outfit from earlier in
the season). You can see the admiration
Motoko has for Togusa in her face and in their conversations. There’s a great deal of respect between these
two, not unlike Motoko and Aramaki.
Togusa’s will and investigative mind are his strongest assets,
especially for not being fully cyberized like most of Section 9. And while that did help him discover a file
regarding the recipients of a vaccine that could prevent a deadly cyberized
disease, lack of cyberization may end up being his downfall. Granted Togusa is a bad ass for taking on a
Narc Squad single handidly, but he’s in rough shape at episodes end, bleeding
into the rain. Apparently this list is
worth killing for…but hopefully Togusa isn’t on the receiving end yet.
Togusa’s mystery file is key to the Laughing Man mystery
and it’s possible it’s what even started the whole affair. With this much blood and bullets being
spilled to find it, it would surprise me if we didn’t see the Laughing Man
return in some way to respond to the escalating conflict. As it rains on Togusa’s bleeding and
unconscious form, it’s not hard to see the analogy to the storm headed Section
9’s way. The Stand Alone’s are over and
the Complex Case is about to get a lot more dangerous and Complex.
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