Monday, February 22, 2016

Ghost in the Shell: Arise Part 3

Part 3-Border 3-Ghost Tears
Life should be pretty good for Major Motoko Kusinagi.  She’s not only got the unit made to her perfect specs, but she’s also found herself a nice boyfriend in the form of Akira Hose.  So what’s the downside?  Beside Firestarter still at large, Motoko is still short one team member to get her unit recognized.  Plus she’s got a terrorist attack on a Water Dam and the death of a detective to investigate.  And the prime suspect in both incidents?  Akira.  Motoko seems a totally different person around this man.  Will she be able to separate her desires from her duty?

Kept you all waiting huh?  Well here it is at long last, the first of the final two episodes of the Ghost in the Shell prequel.  And I think we got one of the much stronger, character driven episodes than anything we’ve gotten in either the movies or the Stand Alone Complex saga.

What made this episode special for me is Motoko.  Arise has given me probably my favorite interpretation of the character: younger, flawed but learning, tough and beautiful.  But Ghost Tears showed us a side to Motoko we’ve never really seen before: Motoko in love.  Every scene she shares with Akira is a new experience.  Motoko is happy, practically glowing and will take no crap from Batou for teasing.  There’s a much more human feel to Motoko seeing her in a capacity other than law enforcer or soldier.  I mean just look at her in the dress she wears to Akira’s friends wedding…damn.  And what’s more is that Akira really seems to care about Motoko just as much.  He’s genuinely a good guy, which is something Motoko never thought she deserved.  Now we’ve seen teases of Motoko romances in the past with Batou and especially Kuze in 2nd Gig.  But those always played second fiddle to Motoko being all about business.  Here, she was enjoying pleasure…even if one of those mini vacations was only 5 hours and 7 minutes long.  It’s a welcome sight that I wish could have lasted a lot longer.

Another aspect that seems to place this adaptation above SAC is the comradere between Motoko’s Proto Section 9 team.  There’s a nice bit of humor and welcome to the group, different to the totally cold depiction of the team in SAC.  Heck one bit of humor from the manga that only showed up once in SAC is Motoko making Batou punch himself when he gets out of line.  She does that to him twice and no one even bats an eye.  It’s just another day for the team. 

After sitting out last episode entirely, Togusa came back to the fold.  I really like this take on his character.  He’s eager, eccentric and a lot of things Motoko and her unit are not.  And I like how he eventually wins Motoko over and she recruits him to be the final key team member.  His reaction comes perfectly timed with the announcement of his wife going into labor.  The human element Togusa brings is very welcome.  Aramaki even reiterates something Motoko herself spoke in the Ghost in the Shell movie, “Overspecialize and you breed in weakness, it’s slow death.”  Togusa’s detective instincts and humanity will definitely give Motoko’s unit an unexpected edge for sure.

The Firestarter Arc of this series did have a couple of extra players thrown in to keep the mystery going alongside the main story of the episode.  Hozumi, much like Godha in 2nd Gig, just screams obvious bad guy with her whole Darth Vader mask get up.  Dr. Thied’s story wasn’t totally wrapped up this episode so I’m sure we’ll see her again next episode.  But more puzzling is Krutzu’s apparent new protegee for Unit 501.  One short meeting with Motoko and this young one is confident she can take Motoko?  There wasn’t a lot of focus on Fire Starter but the pieces are moving into place slowly.  Should make for an interesting finale next week.

Ghost Tears was a solid episode if only for how well the characters were done.  The action was ok but not as good as Episode 2.  The main draw was Motoko in a world of romance and the tragedy it brought to her world in the end.  Will this change her down the line and will we see any of this affect her with one more episode left in this little series?  Sucks to say but as quickly as it has returned, Ghost in the Shell Arise concludes next week with a nice little nod of a title: Ghost Stands Alone.

Catch ya next time.

PS
Having caught a couple of new-ish titles at Katsucon last weekend, I have an idea for a new feature on the Anime Corner.  Keep an eye out Friday for a special debut that I hope everyone will enjoy.

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