Newport City, 2027AD.
Major Motoko Kusinagi returns home from an assignment only to learn that
her unit leader and mentor has been murdered.
Determined to find the killer, Motoko begins her own investigation,
leading her into a labyrinth of deceit, lies and false memories. It is an age when the line between man and
machines has begun to blur. But what
happens when the line between reality and illusion begins to merge as well? What awaits Motoko at the end of this case is
a hard truth that will set her free. And
along the way, she will cross paths with a Public Security officer named
Aramaki, a man who is destined to change Motoko’s life forever.
Ghost in the Shell Arise, or as I tend to think of it,
Section 9 Begins. This is a brand new
take on the GITS mythos, looking back at the origins of our favorite band of
cyber cops and how they all came to work together at Section 9. This is a totally separate iteration from the
early 2000’s Stand Alone Complex saga, much like that series was separate from
the Oshii movies, so hope that avoids some confusion looking at this series.
So yes, the is the beginning and it’s an area we haven’t really
seen much of in this franchise. Normally
we come in with Section 9 already together and doing their thing. That being said, it was fun seeing the casts
first interactions together. Motoko
slowly pulling in outside help on her case from familiar, if differently
designed, faces offered a lot of smiles.
I’m really happy mostly with Paz’s depiction here. This is an area I think is improved greatly
over Stand Alone Complex. Paz has more
backstory, personality and moments to shine in Episode 1 alone than he had in
the entirety of SAC. So hopefully a
couple other characters I found a bit lack in that incarnation can get the same
treatment when they eventually come on board.
It is a little strange yet chuckle worthy to see Aramaki handle himself
in a fight with a remote control puppet.
It’s also almost strange to see Motoko and Batou pointing guns at each
other and theyre NOT on the same side.
Guess this becomes a bit of an in joke between them when we see this
traditional moment in later stories.
This is still Motoko’s show and I loved this take on
her. Not only is her Akira costume
design really cool and hot but this is far from the Motoko we’ve seen before:
younger and uncertain but still a sure fired hot head and no nonsense taker
like we know her to be. The Mamuro
mystery is a great occasion to show Motoko not at her lowest but at her most disadvantaged. Her mind is being warped and she cant figure
out even her own past or her phantom pain because of it. I enjoy stories like this if only because
characters become so much stronger once they’ve conquered their greatest
trials. And man does Motoko ever get put
through the ringer. I get that she’s a cyborg
and cant really feel much pain if she doesn’t want to. But still, some of the blows she takes in
this premiere episode look like they hurt, a lot. I’m not certain how close to the source
material her “birth” actually is since I never read the manga and it could
divide fans, knowing how Motoko came to be.
Still, the concept of Motoko coming into the world is fascinating to me
and I wonder what others will think of.
Animation wise, this series looks pretty good. It gets a little wonky in some of the fight
scenes, some characters looking a bit cartoony and wobbly in their
movements. The quality of animation
Production IG puts into it’s other Ghost in the Shell entries is still there
though. The soundtrack well…I’ll be
honest I still think Yoko Kanno’s ground breaking score for Stand Alone Complex
cannot be topped. The music for Arise is
more technological than Kanno’s techno punk meets classical fusion. It adds a more cyberized feel to the world of
Arise. It’s not bad but it’s not Stand
Alone Complex either.
One episode in and I’m sold. There’s more to keep viewers interested as
Motoko goes her own way, supposedly to start the building of her team. And we haven’t even seen Ishikawa and Borma
yet so we have their appearance to look forward to. So far though, Ghost in the Shell Arise is a
nice new take on a franchise I enjoy and is treating it just as right as all
the others.
See you next week for Border 2-Ghost Whispers.
Special Note:
Though I decided to run with Ghost in the Shell Arise for
the December final feature, a snag is still in effect. I have access to the first three episodes of
the series (Part 1 and 2 on Blu Ray and Part 3 on Netflix). I am assuming I’ll have Part 4 by Xmas but I don’t
want to run the risk that I might now. I’ll
look into it but if worst comes to worse, I have a potential compromise worked
out and I’ll share that in an extra note at the end of Border 2 if it comes to
that. Til then…
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