Part 2-Border 2-Ghost Whispers
A decorated Colonel faces trial for horrific war
crimes. Desperate to reveal the truth,
that he was set up, he prepares to unleash a threat upon Japan that will send
it back to the stone age. Now free from
her commitment to Unit 501, Motoko is recruited by Aramaki as an outside
liaison for Section 9. Her first
mission: investigate the hacking of a Section 9 Logicoma, who may or may not be
connected to this plot. Finding herself
up against a military unit of familiar faces, Motoko teams up with a beautiful
American agent and some old allies to crack the mystery.
Moving into Episode 2 of GITS: Arise, I knew we still had
some building up to do. We hadn’t seen
the rest of the team yet nor had we seen Motoko even start to make her unit a
reality. Hearing her be a bit picky
about how she was going to form her team was interesting. “It’s got to be perfect,” she says. We;; she def learned her lesson this time
around with not one but two betrayals.
But I’ll get more into that momentarily.
Whereas Episode 1 was more of a mystery story with action
elements, Episode 2 was a straight up action fest from beginning to end. And it was some good action at that. Motoko teaming up with Logicoma for several
fights was straight out of the Manga drawings of Shirow Masamune. The first battle on the highway was my
personal favorite, if only because Motoko drove a bike through a truck. Paz even got some good action in with his
knives. Who would’ve thought the fight
between him and Ishikawa wouldn’t be so one sided. Everyone’s favorite old
timer tech made his appearance and was a mouthy bad ass. Plus Batou gets to use some big guns at one
point in a definite Batou Scene Stealing moment.
The story had potential but I was a little disappointed
we jumped back to fake memories again.
Especially since they were the focal point of Episode 1 I was hoping for
something different behind the mass hack of the traffic control units. There’s definite gravity to the situation
that brings other players like Saito, Borma and Ishikawa into Motoko’s
orbit. But overall, the plot could have
been a bit better and felt short changed for sake of the action. And about one
of those betrayals, how does Saito survive the wrath of Motoko when he
backstabs her? Last I checked, Sniper
Rifle and chopper do not beat a pissed off/hot cyborg on a motorcycle with a
rocket launcher.
The new players (or familiar ones for many of us) are
also hit and miss. Whereas I loved the
new personalities given to Saito and Ishikawa, Borma is once again left as the
odd guy out. He doesn’t have as defined
a role as the former two, even in Batou’s unit.
He’s just…kind of there, much like he was in Stand Alone Complex. And then there’s V.V., the guest star of this
tale. She’s beautiful, flirty and at
glance of her skills a good match for Motoko.
Had things gone another way, I could have seen her joining the
Proto-Section 9. However, you cant help
but feel there’s more to her in her look that gives off an untrustworthy
vibe. Besides being hot, the only real
credit I can give V.V. is that she does tells us where Motoko’s infamous “my
ghost is whispering to me” quote came from.
Also, no Togusa this time around and I suppose that’s a good thing with
such a jammed cast and plot as is. I
guess we’ll see more of him in Episode 3.
If you like your Ghost in the Shell action packed, then
Episode 2 is for you. If you like your
mystery and action well balanced…this wasn’t the best. And the animation still has its less than
polished moments. Arise is working out
it’s kinks and will hopefully learn from some of the missteps here. Though something tells me we wont see the
Section 9 we know and love all together until the last episode, shame.
Ghost in the Shell: Arise will return February 2016 with
it’s final two episodes.
See you all next week for the first part of Mobile Suit
Gundam Unicorn.
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