A message from Togusa sends Motoko and the rest of
Section 9 heading for the ruins of Tokyo, where three million individuals are
seemingly gathering under the will of Takashi Shimamura. Declaring themselves the Nation of “N”,
Takashi and Suzuka Mizukane hijack a nuclear submarine to fulfill their true
intentions. With time running out,
Section 9 launches into their most desperate mission, unaware that a couple of
old friends are also coming along for the ride.
While it may be one of my personal favorite Anime films
of all time, I hear a lot of people have a problem with Ghost in the Shell 2:
Innocence.
No one can deny it’s a visual
feast but it’s story and character potrayals have had a more mixed reception.
Some find the heavy handed and forced
philosophical quotes to be too much while others cant stand the more somber
presentation of the normally cheerful and upbeat Batou.
Personally, yeah the quotes can go over my
head but I’m ok with how Batou is handled in the wake of Motoko vanishing and
the story can be followed just fine if youre paying attention.
I say this because for all the criticisms
Innocence gets, it’s wayyyy easier to follow than anything going on in this set
of episodes of SAC_2045.
What should be
setup as a close to worst case scenario for Section 9 feels only a little bit
like it.
There’s a lot of build up but
it’s insanely slow.
And we still have
zero insight as to the overall goals and agenda of Takashi and the Post
Humans.
All of that adds up to what I
can only think of as the most frustratingly annoying set of episodes so far for
this season and it makes me dread how this is all going to wrap up.
First things first, let’s go over what went
down in this set and try to piece some things together.
Togusa finally returned to the series after sitting out
the opening of the second half.
Turns
out he’s been missing for two months and stuck in a virtual memory that he
thought was his own but turns out it wasn’t.
Wait what?
I know they discussed
the usage of a virus program that triggers nostalgic memories but it was
implied by Borma and Purin when they tried it that they experienced their own
memories.
Togusa sharing an experience
with a stranger on a train isn’t properly explained.
The end result of the experience is a bit
more laughable.
Apparently, after
reliving that traumatic undercover cop opertation gone wrong, both Togusa and
his friendly stranger found themselves “purified and free”.
So, let me get this straight: Reliving a
traumatic memory, facing it head on and coming out the other side some kind of
enlightend?
Yeah if youre a hardcore
Star Trek fan, this sounds dangerously close to the power of the “villain” of
Star Trek V.
Wow I cant believe that
Ghost in the Shell went that route and much like Sybok’s poorly explained
capabilities, the how and why the Miniluv Memory Program works isn’t clear
either, not a great way to start things off.
The bulk of the episode set found Section 9 slowly making
their way to the ruins of Tokyo to confront the Post Humans.
This is where things started to drag and pad
out.
I feel like a lot of what happens
could have been condensed into one or two episodes.
But in the span of three, it feels like Batou
and his team have barely made any progress besides finding Togusa (which I’m
happy to see Motoko prioritized that over anything else…not that she would ever
let on she’s happy to see Togusa when a mission is in effect).
They mostly just hang around and exposit info
we’ve already learned in different scenes or listen to the ramblings
of…sigh…Stan…FREAKING STAN!
Why the heck
is this guy back in the series?
It’s so
forced too.
Stan is sent in with a
doomed NSA team to basically be sacrificial lambs to confirm a theory about
Post Humans needing to sleep.
It doesn’t
do Mizukane’s character any favors when she can off the entire team without
raising a finger but Stan somehow survives…lady you had one way to earn some
favor with me and you blew it.
Ugh, I
haven’t missed this guy and he still thinks he’s the coolest dude on the show
for some reason.
Have I mentioned how
worried I am about this season not sticking the landing, cause that’s two
strikes now (Togusa’s memory trip and Stan).
As for the Post Humans, yeah they’re just standing around
not doing much.
Well Mizukane was busy
3D printing her body onto an American Nuclear Sub to slaughter the crew and
steal it for the Post Human cause.
Ok,
that’s a nifty infiltration but then Mizukane is shown sitting naked and cross
legged on the bridge of the ship with a smug look on her face like she’s
taunting everyone with what she’s accomplished.
Have I mentioned already that the Post Humans are acting like children,
because they are.
As for Takashi, he’s
just standing around in a black jacket and brooding, not talking, just
brooding.
Seriously, the Laughing Man
had an attention grabbing mystery and Kuze had charm and a magnetic
presence.
Takashi is just standing in
one place and staring.
What’s his
goal?
Is his reason for anything still
because he lost his schoolgirl crush (who by the way is for some reason leading
Togusa on a Mirror’s Edge style run through N as a ghost for some reason)?
I don’t deny Takashi has a sad backstory but
that’s all he has.
He has no character,
no depth, nothing to explain his actions or motivations.
He’s just an edgy kid trying to be Cyberpunk
Sasuke from Naruto.
Also, considering
their God Mode like capabilities, why haven’t the Post Humans just wiped
everything off the map in Japan?
It’s
not like any real attempts to stop or capture them have worked.
And even testing that sleeping theory barely
yeidled results as Mizukane woke up and made Stan’s team laugh themselves into
a friendly fire incident.
Sigh, I can
just see the finale giving me plenty to rant about when and if we find out what
the hell is going on with these would be edgelords.
The only good thing to come out of this episode set was
the return of Purin.
Reborn, totally
naked (except for her glasses.
Seriously, same thing happened with Mizukane’s 3D printed clone, what’s
up with that Kamiyama?) Purin quickly pieced together what happened to her and
I like how the series did take a minute to let that properly sink in before
Purin pulled herself together and got back on the case.
She might not have done much besides catch a
ride to Tokyo and get a sexy new outfit but I’m glad Purin’s optimism and
energeticness haven’t been erased at all.
Couple of things though.
As much
as I like Purin’s outfit, the way she comes by it is kind of creepy (her ride
had it in his van and was holding onto it incase he ever found a girlfriend who
would cosplay it for him…weird.
It
really is just an excuse to have her, Motoko and Mizukane all in skintight
black outfits for the final act).
Also,
Purin commandeering the poor suckers car and his 3D printed gun is easily in my
Top 5 Favorite Purin moments…that and Purin trying to contact the Tachikoma’s only
to freak them out and make them start praying to Buddah.
Here’s hoping whatever the finale probably
gets wrong, Purin will still have a vital role to play that wont ruin her
character.
While it looks like the pieces are in place for an epic
finale, a lot of this episode set makes me doubt it’s going to be any
good.
Section 9 is up against nearly
invincible enemies who have access to a nuke and have yet to issue any demands
beyond “Don’t come near our nation of N or we’ll launch Nukes”.
And said enemies are brooding, posing and
smirking so hard you’d think they’ve won without doing anything at all.
I hate to say it but for the first time, I’m
actually frustrated with a Ghost in the Shell Anime.
It feels like none of the smart and thought
provoking writing from the first two seasons or Solid State Society are present
and this was really just an excuse to see everyone in CG Animation for one or
two decent action scenes.
I feel like
I’m pre ranting.
Hopefully I wont have
to do a full one as we arrive at the Season (or maybe overall series) Finale of
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 This Friday at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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