Monday, December 14, 2015

Ghost in the Shell: Arise Part 2

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.

No comments:

Post a Comment