Monday, May 25, 2015

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig Part 3 Episodes 9-12


The Refugee Policy powder keg explodes with the appearance of several suicide bombers.  As Section 9 desperatley tries to prevent more catastrophes, Motoko heads right into the lions den of the CIS to get some answers regarding their most recent pain in the butt, Kazundo Goda.  Meanwhile Togusa finds himself on trial and Motoko discovers something she’d never thought she’d see again.  And just when the team finally gets a breather from the Individual Eleven case…the most terrifying and unexpected act of the illusive terrorist group sends the whole country realing.

You know, for Motoko’s “We have zero in the wins” column remark, I actually think some of this week had a couple of small wins for Section 9.  It may not seem like they got much out of Goda’s memory, we still don’t know what his final agenda is.  But we did get better insight into his mind and his life’s greatest wish: to be the Producer behind a hero created by the chaotic times within the state.  Plus how cool was it to see Motoko single handidly (Well with Tachikoma support) infiltrate the CIS?  It’s not much but it’s something right?

Togusa got some good material this week too as he is forced to trial.  The main reason was because he fired his gun while off duty.  However, the defense attorney of the douche Togusa tried to stop from killing a poor girl but failed, turned it into an ethics issue.  Wow, way to blow things out of proportion guy.  It’s kind of hard to believe that anyone would believe the attorney’s arguments against Togusa’s actions, especially he tried to imply Togusa was kind of a racist towards cyborgs…you know the people he works with everyday and doesn’t even complain about.  Honestly, I knew Togusa would be ok and I couldn’t wait to see Togusa get proper justice, which he got it nicely via a not so subtle hack from Motoko, who managed to uncover information about the lawyer and cases similar to this that were a bit shady.  I love Togusa’s reaction when he realizes Motoko took him over for a second, but come on dude, she can be cold but no way Motoko was just going to throw her subordinate to the wolves like that…TEAM MOTOGUSA (yeah yeah but a guy can dream right?)  Also like the hint that the lawyer got what was coming to him with some hand of Section 9 interfearence…hehehehe.

Speaking of Motoko, how shocking was it that we’d get to learn anything about her past during this series?  The fact that she was cyberized from a very young age makes her tale all the more tragic.  But for me, it was when she was trying to convince the boy who was in the same accident that she was to undergo the same procedure.  Unfortunately, she was unable to do so and it was so heartbreaking when the boy realized that it was the same girl who had been comatose next to him for months who was in that cute girls body.  Will Motoko ever find that boy again?  And if she does will she even recognize him?  Who would’ve thought Ghost in the Shell could inject a nice bit of tragic romance into the mix of things and do it so well.

And how about that finale?  Well the Individual Eleven situation heated up real fast as Kuze returned and took part in a mass roof suicide on national TV.  Well not fully mass roof suicide as Kuze was able to fend off his would be killer and escape.  How’s that possible?  Well we’ve known from his first appearance that Kuze was special, not just because of his prosthetic body but also for Goda’s interest in him.  This will no doubt push Kuze to the forefront of things.  And speaking of being brought to the forefront, Borma actually got to have some decent material this week at long last: first with his knowledge of incendiaries and bombs and then when he almost died uncovering the Individual Eleven virus’s activation code.  Credit where credit is due but still feels like Motoko, Batou, Togusa and Ishikawa still dominate the investigative side of things more than anyone else. 

Special mention of a scene goes to Togusa and Batou dealing with a young girl suicide bomber, something that gets brought up in Togusa’s trial actually.  Togusa tries to talk the girl down only for Batou to come in and swiftly shoot out the girls prosthetic mouth to yank out the hidden detonator…brutal stuff.  Togusa’s heart was in the right place trying to keep the situation form escalating but Batou made the tough call and saved everyone.  That being said, how can DOUCHE LAWYER (he has a name im sure but this is better than other names I have in mind for him) judge Togusa’s dealing with a young girl compared to an out of wack sociopath?  Some things about the justice system I’ll never get. 

This was a solid week for SAC 2nd Gig with plenty of escalation and even some unexpected backstory.  Now that Kuze is back on the radar and the Individual Eleven has taken an extreme right turn, how long before things get really out of hand.

PS cudos for keeping Goda limited to one episode this time.  Having him not pop up to rub Section 9’s faces in the mud all the time was a very welcome change.

No comments:

Post a Comment