Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig Part 4 Episodes 13-16

A group of men claiming to be the Individual Eleven commit a horrific act of mass suicide atop a radio tower on national television.  There was only one survivor: Hideo Kuze and he may be the key to ending the web of conspiracy surrounding the Refugees, Goda and the CIS.  But Section 9’s main team isn’t alone in their investigation, the Tachikomas are beginning to form their own theories around these transpiring events.  Some case leads even hit too close to home for certain members of the team.  The story continues to unravel and the backstory of the world of Section 9 is about to unfold before all.

This weeks episodes could be considered the Wiki of the entire world of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.  Ok, that’s a bit of a stretch but still, there was enough fascinating backstory and detail to wet anyones appetite for such feasts of information.  Even if some parts were lacking, here’s looking at you Pazu, overall this week was solid on most fronts.

 

Honestly, I could just dedicate this entire review to one episode and one episode alone.  “Poker Face” is hands down not just my favorite episode of the season but of the series as a whole.  Saito is def one of the three characters, alongside Pazu and Borma, who never gets a lot of screentime.  Still, ive noted that his skill set at least makes him more useful than the other two.  And in this flashback to when he met The Major, we got to see it in spades as we saw his time as a gun for hire during a war torn period.  The pacing of the story, Saito’s narraration and honestly seeing Motoko, Ishikawa and a wet behind the ears rookie Batou before they all became an official team were just plain perfect.  Motoko is just as much a bad ass then as she was now and her little Ripley shirted stand off with Saito at the end was chill worthy.  You knew Saito would obviously make it out but I bet you didn’t expect that his arm and cybernetic eye were needed because Motoko took him down and relayed her first order to him, “From now on you’re mine.”  Even if Saito does fall into the background again, he got this episode, a solid entertaining and informative one and that works just fine with me.

The same cant be said about Pazu’s episode, which honestly I felt was just shoehorned in to give him something to do…kind of like Borma even though he’s just fine after his run in with the Individual Eleven virus last week.  Why a girl would even want to impersonate and become Pazu is a bit of a stretch for me…he’s just so boring.  I might buy it a bit more if he was featured more often and given the chance to prove he’s a smooth customer.  But in the end my thoughts reflect Batous when Motoko asks him if the “real Pazu” won the duel at the end of the episode…yeah probably.  And really I could care less.  Actually, one thing that does bug me, why does Batou care about what happens to Pazu?  If anyone should be most concerned about him getting framed, it should be Borma, the guy Pazu seems to be partnered with the most.  This episode was a missed opportunity to delve into that wordless bond they have but it’s only given a brief wordless glance between them briefly at the beginning of the episode…sigh, what a waste.

It’s hard for me to say whether or not I liked this seasons Tachikoma discussion centered episode over the Season One equivalent.  In a way, it’s deeper than it’s predecessor but at the same time, I still think too many Tachikoma’s talking existentialism in the same room is borderline annoying.  It is cool that they have their own chatroom to have discussions in, ill give it that.  But the big part of this episode came from Section 9’s brief chase after one Professor Asuda, who turns out to be the creator of the Tach’s AI’s.  It’s sad in a deep way to see the lone Tachikoma call this man its father and even sadder that he cannot get recognition for his accomplishments everywhere but Japan, hence his attempt to defect.  Motoko notes that Asuda is pretty much government property, much like most of Section 9 herself included, something I believe was echoed in the Mamoru Oshii Ghost in the Shell films once or twice.

Finally, we get a boat load of Kuze backstory.  His history with his PKF unit during a skirmish after the last World War was fascinating and im sure history buffs, for whom this episode could be heavily catered to, will love the allusions and nods to other military incidents that had…less than stellar results.  As for Kuze, what is the man’s draw?  I mean sure, cudos to him for leading his elite unit in to kick the crap out of an enemy slaughtering a village.  But what is it about him that makes him both instantly approachable and instantly likeable?  Just seeing all the people of the village he was stationed at gravitate to him might be the biggest mystery of the season yet.  I don’t think its too big a stretch to say it’s connected to the “Hub Cyberbrain” theory that Motoko shares with the PM in the same episode: the mind of one individual being a sole go to place for the minds of 3 million people.  Tie that in with the revelation of Kuze being in Dejima aka the Refugee District, and you can theorize where this might all be going.

Even if we were light on action this week, there was solid work on world building and even some good character histories for both Kuze and surprisingly Saito and the Tachikomas.  Pazu may still be left in the dust but then again did anyone ever really notice he was there?  Oh and Aramaki being into younger, more attractive women?  His apparent affection for Kayabuki earned Motoko a stern, “You’re just now noticing?” from Aramaki that definitely almost stole the spotlight entirely.  Who doesn’t want to see the Chief have a girlfriend at some point?

See ya next week.