Ghost in the Shell Discussion *Spoilerific*

[Eiyuu_Kou]

Due to the great plot and artwork of Ghost in the Shell, I have created a discussion for it. In this you may talk about Ghost in the Shell related topics. For those who do not know what Ghost in the Shell is, I will explain. Ghost in the Shell is anime that is famous in Japan and America. It is about a future where humans replace their bodies of flesh with mechanical bodies. The essence that makes them human though is called the ghost. The story takes place in a special-op poliece district called Section 9. In the show you see them take on cyber criminals and political dissents. Sorry I cannot put in much more detail, but if you want to know more you should look it up. Enjoy.






Laughing Man is coming...

[chain2treechick]

so just say anything gits related? ok...
I CAN'T WAIT FOR ZE NEXT EPISODE ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!
ok so did that last episode throw anyone else for a loop??? so was the laughing man the major the entire time he was talking in the cafe??? can da major change her eye color? what was she trying to find out anyhow??? gah!! these last few episodes are really picking up though. the first like 20 or so were kinda torturous...so boring but sooo good and couldn't not watch, but they keep talking and talking and i don't know what the heck they're talking about but they look so cool. **drool** hehe. the laughing man is just so awesome and i'm thrilled to finally have him as a real part of the show now and not some mysterious head...which i love to death **drools at copy of that page from catcher on my wall...** ahhh...

also, does anyone have/ know anything about the soundtrack for the first gits movie? i loved that one song that kept playing when kusanagi (sp?) was gazing at the landscape of blue/green highrises or something... does anyone at least know what its called? tis kind of chanting-ish but sounds kind of like little children...hmmmm...very highpitched...i'm really sorry, its been a while since i've seen it.
i must sound pretty ignorant.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

I cant wait for the next episode too! Anyways, you know teh CD you mentioned? May i borrow it? Im sure to return it.

You mean the intro song about where the girl's body is made? Erm... My library has the special edition DVD of it, so ill see if it tells the name of the song.

[Hiltz]

I think this is what basically happend in the last episode.

The Laughing Man wants to have a talk with Mr. Serano who is the guy with the long gray hair. The Laughing Man invades his building and hacks the eyes of the cyborg security team and has an interceptor to help him do it so he appears invisible to the cameras.

In the previous episode Kusangi is tipped off by The Laughing Man because in order to prove what The Laughing Man wants to accomplish he wants Kusangi from Section 9 to believe for herself what is going on with Serano Genomics and why the Laughing Man is troubled by Mr. Serano's decision of not keeping his promise from the previous kidnapping 6 years ago by the Laughing Man.

Mr. Serano basically spilled the beans on everything he knew about the case to Kusanagi who at the time was pretending to be The Laughing Man .
It's hard to say when exactly the real Laughing Man and the copy cat Laughing Man (Kusanagi in disquise) made the switch without Mr. Serano being aware of it.


Mr. Serano was looking at Kusanagi's eyes during the cafe scene and that was a hint that it wasn't The real LAughing Man i think because he has different colored eyes but apparently either Mr. Serano didn't figure it out until it was too late or didn't care anymore about keeping it a secret after all these years.

The last few episodes are more action packed. :)

[chain2treechick]

wow, thanks hiltz. that's pretty much what i though i guess, except i didn't realize that the laughing man made the switch with kusanagi on purpose and wanted her to hear it. that makes so much more sense! HE IS SOOO COOL!!! ...hmmmm...i need a laughing man poster...
and t shirt
and...hat...ya!!!
but that thing about the eyes, i noticed how they were really emphasizing her eyes but that way you could get a good look at them and they didn't look at all like kusanagi's reddish eyes. and the hair color was the laughing man's too...hmph...
maybe cyborgs r just super special...

and eiyuu, waht u talking about???

[Aires]

I think it was the major the whole time, after all the laughing man did implant his memories into her during her body replacement operation, maybe he also implanted a bit of pyshce.

[Hiltz]

That may be another possibility since the major wasn't at the scene with Aramaki and Batou when they told the cyborg police security team who had Mr. Serano under house arrest/surviellence just moments before he left with the "supposedly "real Laughing Man in his car.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

The real Laughing Man is actually a female; which explains how the Major easily posed as her.

[chain2treechick]

what? are u serious?
but if the laughing man implanted his memories into the major already, why would she want to hear it from Serano? or just to record him saying it maybe?
and btw, who was that women who was trying to kill kusanagi during her body transplant? i mean, was she just on her own?

[Eiyuu_Kou]

No, she wasn't. She was apart of the NARQ squad that assassinated the Sunflower Company.

[chain2treechick]

i guess that was pretty obvious...

[Aires]

what? are u serious?
but if the laughing man implanted his memories into the major already, why would she want to hear it from Serano? or just to record him saying it maybe?



I believe that memories can not be used as evidence, thats why the needed the confession.


The laughing man is female? I'm going to wait before I say anything that will bite me on the ass

[Hiltz]

Kusangi was the copycat Laughing Man at the Starchild cafe.

Reasons to believe...

- At the end of the episode, Batou tells Kusanagi "that's one hell of an acting job" implying that Kusanagi did a good job of pretending to mimic the real Laughing Man during the Starchild cafe scene.

- Kusanagi tells Batou that it was all thanks to the tip off the Laughing Man gave her in the previous episode where Kusanagi was saved by the Laughing Man from the lesbian doctor by ghost hacking into her new body to linked up to Kusanagi's brain in order to give her vital information to use to Section 9's benefit by allowing Kusanagi to enter his "home on the web".

So just like Kusanagi, the Laughing Man is able to ghost hack.

Later on we learn the reason why the Laughing Man does what he does by a simple quote written on an object from "Catcher in the Rye". I think it simply translates to "protecting the innocent". By the looks of the quote.

I take it that it the quote is specifically meant for protecting the innocent children who have closed Cyberbrain Syndrome in the institution which further implies the symbolism with the Laughing Man's love of playing as a basebal catcher by keeping a baseball mit,ball, and cap with him during the episode of when Togusa goes undercover to investigate where the Laughing Man is shown in the wheel chair in episode "Portraitz".

Also, I think memories can be used as evidence since the main man behind the operation of the Sun Flower Society commited brain suicide by jamming that object into the back of his link connector that permanetly erased and scrambled much of his memories which Section 9 was intending to use as evidence when he was going to go to court to take the stand which is why Section 9 still had him in custody.



****POSSIBLE SPOILE Theory!!!!!!!!!********************


This leads me to believe that since the Laughing Man is obviously bound to a wheelchair he has "lost" his physical body which may be another reason why he can sympathize for Kusanagi since she had to go full cyborg when she lost her body in an accident at a "young age". So the Laughing Man spends much of his time in his home library on the net where he has collected a huge source of books and interesting material.


Being a cyborg,I think unlike the other members of Section 9, Kusanagi posesses a "double brain" and one of her abilities may be able to encrypt her voice and change it to mimic other voices just like show she did during the Laughing Man cafe scene.

I don't know if the Laughing Man has a double brain or not but he also uses different voices throughout his meetings with Mr. Serano. One example would be when he says the words, "Son of a Bitch" which didn't sound like his normal sounding voice and when he kidnapped Mr. Serano and held him hostage six years ago in front of a live camera crew, the Laughing Man suddenly changed his voice when he started to yell at Mr. Serano to tell the truth to the general public.

So basically, the Laughing Man realized that Kusanagi would make for an ideal and suitable Laughing Man copycat and he trusts her too.

Finally, it is also revealed later on that a fellow hacker, Section 9 member Ishikawa is a New York Yankees fan because he wears the baseball cap with the Yankee logo on it. So, fellow hackers Ishikawa and the Laughing Man share another hobby, baseball. To further illustrate the importance of the Laughing Man's baseball equipment that he has in the real world.

In the "Portraitz" episode Togusa suspects that the kid with the baseball equipment in the wheelchair is suspicious of something and leaves the institution before Togusa can arrest him before the Laughing Man has a chance to accomplish what he has set out to do.

Also just like Kusanagi, the Laughing Man can ghost hack meaning that he can take control of cyborg copies(basically empty shelled cyborgs that don't have a human host) as well as taking control of individual cyborgs and taking over their mind and body's just how like Kusanagi used her "double brain" against Batou when they fought and Kusanagi used her brain to take control over Batou's cyborg arm and punched himself in the face.

[Aires]

If so why wouldn't Kusangi just dump the memories given to her to section 9?

I believe the guy commited cyber brain suicide did it to protect himself. He was part of a commitee that has employed hit squads in the past so if anything he didn't want to be considered a liablity.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

not to be rude, but duh!

[Hiltz]

Yes, he did it to protect his own reputation even if it meant commiting cyber brain suicide. Since he has a cyberbrain his memories are stored and saved into his cyberbrain much how like a computer hardrive saves collected information.

The guy knew that he couldn't alter his saved memory since he was in custody of his involvment and knowledge of what he knows particular to the Laughing Man case and so in order to not endanger the people who are involved in the Laughing Man case and to keep his reputation from worsening he commits suicide so his memories are considered unreliable to be used as evidence.

In episode "Equinox" I think it was the Laughing Man who told Mr. Serano to not die before taking the stand on court for his involvement of his micromachines.

[Aires]

Eiyuu_Kou....Quiet You

Sorry Hiltz I was under the impression that cyber brain suicide only left a man with a permanent case of amnesia. I wasn't even sure it was lethal. Thanks for clearing it up.

Thing is, I'm wondering why he would die than to see the day his name was ruined. I know its harsh and all but geez

[Hiltz]

It's probably possible for him to have gotten amnesia but he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if the data were to be extracted from his cyber brain and his reputation and his job would be destroyed for life. Whatever obect he used to destroy the vital parts of his cyber brain basically killed him.

It looks like that the only thing that makes some cyborgs be considered human is the memories they still have and get implanted into cyber brains. Like when Kusanagi was fighting that guy in the mechanized power suit and she was pissed off at him when he began stomping on her head where her cyber brain is at and if the guy where to successfully destroy her cyberbrain then she would literally be nonexistant because her stored memories are the only thing that makes her be considered human despite her fully cyberized body. At the end Kusanagi uses Saito's new sniper rifle and shoots blasting at the guy in the cyberized suit because he was so close to killing her.

In one of the later episodes there's a similar situation dealing with someone's cyberbrain being shot at which would be the best way to kill off a cyborg(who has a cyber brain).

Although it is still possible for cyborgs to create copies of themselves like how that foreign revolutionary villain named Marcelo Jarti did in episode "IDOLATOR" but in his case the real Jarti was already dead while his cyberized clones were still proceeding with his deceptive intentions.


Ghost in the Shell:STA is too intellectual and political for it's own good. Hell, just trying to understand the philosophical distinction between man and machine is enough to confuse us. :crying:

[Cruiser18]

Should I be the ass now and tell you guys who the laughing man is :D

Nah I'll save you for that one. No reason to spoil a great series. Be sure to watch the second season as well.

[Hiltz]

Hehe.

Can't wait to see the second season.

[chain2treechick]

*tear* so beautiful. this show is awesome.

[Hiltz]

*tear* so beautiful. this show is awesome.

Confusing but awesome. :D

[Aires]

Well seeing a cop in a thong on duty can confuse anybody:)

not like i'm complaing or anything

[Hiltz]

Well seeing a cop in a thong on duty can confuse anybody:)
not like i'm complaing or anything
Lol, we know whatcha mean. ;)

Have to to admit that it does seem highly inappropriate but then again no one from Section 9 is complaining seeing that they are all male.

Kusanagi's biggest booty shot is when she opens the tachikoma's lid in the episode where Section 9 has to stop the giant-like military tachikoma. Too bad she can't fart.

[chain2treechick]

i hate to do this, but, for a serious lack of willpower, here goes...

lol

...gah...

[Mika]

What the hell happened yesterday?

What happend to the members of section 9 and who sold em out?

And was that hit squad the supplier of the narc sqaud?

[Eiyuu_Kou]

When the head of Section 9 was going to show the Prime Minister that he was going to get him in trouble, the Prime Minister sent his 'army' to assassinate Section 9. Thankfully the Major got warned and they escaped. (Some did anyways) Now the disbanded team is going to cancel their lifes as Section 9. I have no freaking idea how Section 9 will get back together again... Any ideas?

[the real bamph]

Speaking of... I'M GETTING Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex tomorrow!! awesome :D :D

[Hiltz]

Several memers of the Japanese government wanted Section 9 to be disbanned and so they tried to force Aramaki's hand despite Aramaki successfully obtaining the vital information from Mr. Serano while Kusanagi secretly disguised heself as a copycat Laughing Man.

So, Aramaki decided to purposely get Togusa arrested so that he would remain safe in a jail cell and Aramaki didn't inform Togusa of what was going on and that is why Togusa seemed so clueless when he was arrested so that he wouldn't inform the government officials who arrested him to give out any inform on the whereabouts or the intentions of the retaliating Section 9 members.

Aramaki told the cyborg members of Section 9 to go to the head quarters and prepare themselves for the special arm'ys assault. Aramaki wanted them to prolong their own capture and to resort to faking their own deaths if possible so that Aramaki could buy some time with the people he needed to get in touch with most likely the people in the Public Affairs so he could reinstablish Section 9 and bring the dirt on the officials who wanted Section 9 to be disbanned for suspicious and unlawful activity who were involved in the corruption of the Commision that rubber stamped Mr. Serano's micromachines. (I think that may be part of it but not all of it)

The reason why Aramaki had Togusa purposely arrested is because he figured that cyborgs stand more of a chance against the elite troops and soldiers of the specialy dispatched army that was sent to capture/kill the remaining members of Section 9.

Also, the tachikomas no longer are in Section 9 since they were relocated to different places while other tachikomas were in the lab being re-tested and the rest of the tachikoma's were already dismantled. This means that the retalitating members of Section 9 cannot use the tachikoma's to their advantage since they are no longer apart of Section 9 and have to use anything and everything at their disposal against the army's well prepared assault.

[chain2treechick]

omg you guys!!! that last episode was so sad!!! nobody understands me!!! i cried! SECTION 9 IS GONE!!!!!!!! o that was soooooo sad, and the major was so cold and poor poor togusa!!!! LET HIM GO YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and those other two section 9 guys died too!?
waaa.... but there are still like over 25 episodes left aren't there? so how can there be no more section 9!!???
i betcha the next episode with be just dandy wandy su and i'm gonna feel stupid for making such a fuss.
or maybe not
*tear*

i think a part of me just died.


why do i always sound so moronic when i read back over my replies???...

[Mika]

2 of them died?

I was under the impression that 1 was implied to have died and the other was just captured

[chain2treechick]

well, i'm really not sure. ok, so u remember the major and bateau (sp) got out together and then split up and that one guy was captured in the bar and then those other two guys (one of them had the red eye implants...if that helps...sry!) left together until the got to those steps by the water and then split up and right when they did, u caught a few glimpses of camuflaged soldiers behind em and then a banging noise which i refused to believe was a gunshot. but i told this to my friend and she laughed at me for my unwillingness to accept the inevitable...*sigh*
what do u think?

[Hiltz]

There are 26 episodes in total for the first season so there's like two more episodes left to be shown and don't worry about Section 9. ;)

Saito is the human with the red eye implant and sniper of Section 9.

Pazu was the one who was arrested at the bar and I think he is a resourceful information gather for Section 9 or something like that.

Boma is the bald guy with the cyborg eye implants. I think he was the first found by the army at the sound of gun fire but that can imply a misleading twist to whether or not he is still alive or dead. Boma tends to work with both Saito and Pazu and handles different tasks.


Saito, Ishikawa, Kusanagi, and Bateau are still on the run I believe.

Ishikawa is the second oldest member of Section 9 and he's the hacker.

[Tharrick]

Well, I've seen a chunk o' series 2 as well, but unless someone asks, I'm not gonna give spoilers

Or does this forum have a 'spoiler' tag that makes text invisible unless highlighted?

[Hiltz]

It's probably better if we just go from episode to episode.

[Tharrick]

Yeah. I need to dig out my CDs with my fansubs of the first series again, because it rocked
Before anyone says anything, I got 'em before it was licensed.

[chain2treechick]

so wait, is adult swim gonna show the second season?
if u say no, someone's gonna get hurt.

and hiltz, ur incredible with character names. its kinda funny though, when i read over them, i hear the major's voice calling their names. lol. tis freaky. ^-^

i hear voices!

[Eiyuu_Kou]

I want to move to Japan to see the whole season (And other reasons too)...

[Tharrick]

Don't forget, Saito's almost entirely human too - I think his only cybernetics are his right wrist/hand and the eye

[chain2treechick]

I want to move to Japan to see the whole season (And other reasons too)...

...
yep...

[Hiltz]

Tharrick's right.

Kusanagi is fully cyborgized.

Batou seems to be almost if not fully cyborgized. Eye implants, cyber brain at least one artificial hand and since he can jump so high his legs and feet must be cyborgized as well. Kusanagi makes that one comment about how ridiculous Batou is for buying weightlifting equiptment to improve his strength so maybe that she is implying he is a full cyborg.

Togusa only has a sub brain but it still very much human.

Pazu doesn't look like he has any cyborg components with the exception of a possible sub brain from what can be shown through his character. Although, that wouldn't explain why Aramaki only let Togusa remain safe in custody when he was caught because he was only a human unless Pazu has other cyborg components.

Bomu from what can be seen looks like he had a cyberbrain and eye implants and is most almost if not completely a full cyborg.

Aramaki looks like he only has a sub brain.

Ishikawa is hard to tell. He does at least have a sub brain if not a cyber brain.

Adult Swim will show the second season in September 2005 around the time Cowboy Bebop:The Movie will be shown too. JOY!


Not sure which is the correct way to spell it, either Batou or Bateau.
The other names are fairly easy to remember. :)

Also some news for you PSP handheld owners.

At this year's E3, Bandai will be promoting several new anime-based games including a new ghost in the shell stand alone complex game. Here's the summary of what it is.

Ghost in the Shell®: Stand Alone Complex™

"Section 9 returns to take out the latest terrorist cell in this futuristic first-person shooter coming to the PSP™ handheld entertainment system this summer. Use Motoko’s agility, Batou’s strength, Togusa’s stealth or Saito’s sniper skills to take out the terrorists. Train and customize Tachikoma to assist you in your missions and hack into enemies to obtain information crucial to your missions. Features wireless battles and communication – up to 4-players!"

[Aires]

I'm pretty sure amakari didn't have much choice when he ordered his team back to hq.
Togusa was just fortunate that he was driving the chief at the time.

Amakari just couldn't comprimise his position so he couldn't spare the less cyberized members.

The only member that I know that are full Cybers are Batou, Kusargi, and Bomu.

[Bloodstar]

Who are Bomu and Pazu?

[chain2treechick]

Adult Swim will show the second season in September 2005 around the time Cowboy Bebop:The Movie will be shown too. JOY!

thank god...

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!!:tear: :tear: :D :D

so there are what? 2 more episodes? 1 more?

i think i need a nice big poster of batou....ya....

[Hiltz]

Bomu is the bald headed guy with eye implants and wears a jacket.

Pazu is the guy with the slicked back black hair.

They are minor characters of Section 9 but they tend to work to gather information about missions and help out Batou, Saito, Ishikawa, and Aramaki when they are needed for actual missions.

[Krieock]

I have eps. 1-26 SAC and eps. 1-19 SAC:GiG2 :P I like the second season better, more interesting storylines.
I just watched GiTS: Innocense a few weeks ago - wasn't that impressed >.< I expected alot more.
And I'm not so sure how I feel about anime being combined with digital 3D images... They need to try to improve their roots instead of taking the easy way out and rendering all their bgs/vehicles/special affects with cg software...
Kamiyama swears that 3D will be the future of anime, I think that's a bunch of shit...

[Tharrick]

I'm pretty sure amakari didn't have much choice when he ordered his team back to hq.
Togusa was just fortunate that he was driving the chief at the time.


No, he was acting on orders from the head of state at the time. But then he could reassemble section 9 secretly and do exactly the same job for exactly the same people afterwards.
Politics is a wierd game...

[Hiltz]

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence was like the most confusing story plot I've ever seen. Heh, Batou and Togusa sound more like philospher's than police.

The animation quality for Stand Alone Complex is pretty darn good.

[Tharrick]

I've not seen Innocence

I love the animation for SAC, it just blew me away. The first one I saw was ep. 2, with the tank? Blimey, that's all I say.

[Hiltz]

Yeah, that tank episode was one of the best. :)

The most boring episode was probably Chat!Chat!Chat! where Kusanagi log into the net and went into an online chatroom discussing the current intentions of the Laughing Man's reappareance.

Innocence I think is only in Japanese voice acting but it should be available in english subtitles.

[Aires]

No, he was acting on orders from the head of state at the time. But then he could reassemble section 9 secretly and do exactly the same job for exactly the same people afterwards.
Politics is a wierd game...


thats what i meant when he had liitle choice

[Tharrick]

I was agreeing with you :P

[Krieock]

The best episode I've seen so far is SAC:GiG2 episode 11 "Affection" best storyline out of all the eps I've seen - but not too great for hardcore fighting action.

[Aires]

oh sorry tharrick, read it wrong :)

[Hiltz]

Krieock is laughingly tormenting us with the goodness of SAC:GiG2. :crying:

[Krieock]

Yes :) It's grand :)

[Eiyuu_Kou]

I never saw any episodes b4 Chat!Chat!Chat!... I haven't heard about the show until then.

Anyways, you know the original Ghost in the Shell movie? Does the ideals carry on to Innocence? If not, how does Major get a new body, get rid of her 'virus' and what happens to the thingie that go created when they combined? Also where is the Major in Innocence? I looked at the Innocence home page, but they didnt say anything about her in the movie...

[chain2treechick]

[QUOTE=Eiyuu_Kou]I never saw any episodes b4 Chat!Chat!Chat!... I haven't heard about the show until then.QUOTE]

are u serious?

btw, aires: am liking ur avatar:)

[Aires]

thanks, i'm currently trying to make it open its eyes, and otherwise make it look more evil.

Hey... Can someone refresh my memeroy? Was the femal lead in the ghost in the shell movie Kusarangi? Who was the persona that was target to be destroyed? And What was the relation to Innocence?

[Hiltz]

Kusanagi = the Major (just for reference)

Yes, Innocence is related and is the sequal to the first Ghost in the Shell movie.

In the first movie, Kusanagi accepted the offer to merge with the Puppet Master's ghost and doing so Kusanagi and the Puppet Master became the first true cyborg that isn't bound to an indivual body, they no longer exist in the real physical world but they exist on the net, in the virtual world.

At the end of the movie, Kusanagi and the Puppet Master merged but during the assault their cyborg bodies were destroyed but Batou was able to salvage and safely transplate Kusanagi's double brain into the empty cyborg body of a little girl that he had purchased on the black market.

Kusanagi wakes up in Batou's home and goes outside and says that she is going off on her own to experience the world , the virtual world. when Kusanagi leaves she basically quits Section 9 and dissappears without a trace. Despite the merge with the Puppet Master, I think and it seems to be that Kusanagi still has all of her memories still inact.

Lastly, Kusanagi's cyborg body and cyberbrain are military issued which means that Kusanagi's cyborg body and brain belong to the military. If she were to go work for Section 9 again with her new bound powers then the military would find a way to take control or possibly find a way to destroy Kusanagi since her new powers would be viewed as a threat since she acts on her own and no longer follows orders from her superior from Section 9.


In the beggining of the Innocence movie, Kusanagi is still missing from action and has not made contact with anyone in Section 9. Head of Section 9, Aramaki grows worried that Batou is still depressed over the loss of Kusanagi so Aramaki gives him a new partner named Togusa.
Togusa is totally different than Kusanagi, he is 100% human with the exception of a subbrain in order to communite through Section 9 from the net by a private telepathic connection.

Every day Batou waits for Kusanagi to give him a sign in order to know if she is okay or when she will be meeting Batou sooner or later. Finally, towards the end of the movie Kusanagi makes a brief appearence during the scene when Batou is fighting off the renegade gynoid sex dolls. Kusanagi basically uses her ghost hacking ability to take over and physically manipulate one of the gynoid dolls and helps Batou fight the other enemies off.

So where is Kusanagi?

She does not literally exist in the real physical world anymore since her new powers after merging with the Puppet Master's ghost allowed them to become the first true cyborg that isn't limited to being inside an individual cyborg. In virtual world, on the net, Kusanagi basically exists everwhere.

At the end of the movie she takes her leave and still doesn't come back to Section 9 and dissappears into cyberspace again.

If Kusanagi were to go back to Section 9 then the military would want to dismantle her and take control over her new powers obtained by merging with the Puppet Master's ghost so that is why Kusanagi only speaks with Batou because she is the only one she can safely trust.

In Ghost in the Shell :STA, this tv series is totally irrelevant to the two ghost in the shell movies because the tv series is basically"what if" story meaning what if happend in the last two movies never happend at all.

In Ghost in the Shell:STA, Kusanagi chooses Togusa as the newest Section 9 member by personally selecting him from his former work place. whereas in Ghost in the Shell 2:Innocece, Aramaki assigns Togusa as Batou's new partner. So if Kusanagi were to never merge with the Puppet Master then basically she would be like how she is in the Ghost in the Shell:STA series, just the same cyborg cop working for Section 9 and going on missions with the aid of the other Section 9 members.

I think Saito,Pazu, and Bomu never made any appearences in any of the ghost in the shell movies but Togusa and Ishikawa did. Those three characters I think were just created for be used for the tv series since the story heavily focuses on how Section 9 works and the experience and experts they have besides Kusanagi,Batou, and Togusa.

[Aires]

hence the name stand alone complex?

nice hiltz

[Hiltz]

Yes, hence the name of Stand Alone Complex.

"Stand Alone" means "operating or capable of operating independently of a computer system". The series is a recognized as a seperate individual so that it isn't recognized as being related to the previous ghost in the shell movies. There may be another meaning behind why it is called STA.

Thanks. :)

[chain2treechick]

aw man. u gotta be kidding me.
hughs and the major in the same night.
i cried like a baby...
the major can't be dead.
she just can't
BUT HUGHS ISN'T COMING BACK!!!!!!!!WAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!


btw: does the major have a thing for bateau?
maybe i'm just dense...
but u know, that could be really interesting. the major with **dun dun dun** EMOTIONS!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!

[Aires]

I cried when the tachikomas got the axe

damn

I think the major just used her body as a doll like she did earlier, probably using batou as bait with or without consent

[Krieock]

You want me to tell you how STA ends? ^^ or maybe what happens in STA:GiG2?? lol... j/p I'm evil.

[chain2treechick]

do, and i will kill u krieock!

and i didn't cry when the tachikomas died.
i wailed.

mabye they hacked bateau's eyes. or, ya, maybe that wasn't really the major. or maybe her cyberbrain wasn't destroyed and somehow can be salvaged and implanted in a new body. i don't know. anything. 's gotta be something.

and i've had Blue stuck in my head all morning, because that always happens to me when someone dies. and its down right depressing!!!

[Cian]

Ive never seen GITS before, but Im borrowing the movie off bigyellowlegoman on Tuesday. I hope it lives up to the hype.

[Hiltz]

The major and Batou had a complicated type of romance if it can even be called that. She usually tries to keep to herself and doesn't want to reveal any emotions but her watch represents the only external thing she has left of her human childhood.

I'm pretty sure The major had a second empty cyborg body that she used when she went with Batou to board the plane because she said that it is the only cyborg body that she likes. Remember when Batou gave the Major back her watch? Well, she wasn't wearing it when the helicopter sniper shot her and the camera focused on her hand with the pool of blood. Batou was arrested.

I'm not 100% certain but it looked as if the major faked her own death so that she wouldn't have to be on the run from the special force army any longer and she may or may not have told Batou about it so the situation would look more convincing if he really had thought that the major was dead when he screamed her name out.

As long as Kusanagi and and Batou were not captured or killed by the special force then they will continue to be hunted down until Aramaki could sort things out.

[Bloodstar]

BUT HUGHS ISN'T COMING BACK!!!!!!!!WAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! Who is that? I'm confused again.

That was cool how Ishikawa set off that bomb. It's too bad he got caught. That was also cool when Saito got caught and had all of the gun sights aimed at him.

I was waiting the whole time for the Tachikomas to come. I knew they were going to come back or something since they kept showing them in other episodes. When they showed Batou I knew they were going to come help him.

I think its pretty obvious the major didn't die. Her and Batou obviously have a plan. They wouldn't just kill off the main character. It has to be a remote body again.

[Hiltz]

Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/Hiltz/HUGHES.jpg

[chain2treechick]

Who is that? I'm confused again.

o i'm sorry. that was from FMA, which came on right before gits last night so i was still pretty worked up about it. he was always my favorite....

but that was random and has nothing to do with the gits episode. so please forgive me.

and hiltz, ur just too good.

[Tharrick]

SPOILER:

Yes, the major was remote-controlling a second body, which got shot, leaving her perfectly safe and unharmed

[Bloodstar]

o i'm sorry. that was from FMA, which came on right before gits last night so i was still pretty worked up about it. he was always my favorite.... Oh. I hate FMA so I don't watch it. That got me confused like I missed something again.

[chain2treechick]

o. sorry again.
i think its an ok show, but i don't see why it was so hyped up in japan and in the advertising here.

[Hiltz]

:)

Did anyone else notice that the name of the place Ishikawa was at before his capture was called "Ishikawa"?

I think FMA is great for one of the reasons that the series isn't just soley focused on Ed and Al but with all of the characters who have their own personal objectives and some of them aren't exactly who they appear to be.

[Bloodstar]

Yeah, Parlor Ishikawa I think. He must have owned it. Heh, I didn't figure him as the guy that would start a business or something. I thought he was hacking too much.

I'll just keep my thoughts on FMA secret for now to avoid starting an argument on it :D

[Hiltz]

I wonder if that Parlor is an actual real place in Japan or somewhere else seeing that many of the references found in Ghost in the Shell:STA are based on real events and stuff.

[chain2treechick]

i was going to ask about that but thought i might sound stupid for it. but, why on earth would he go to his own parlor when he's being tracked down? i mean, doesn't that sound kinda stupid? do u think the name could have been a coincidence. i mean, i don't know how popular the name ishikawa is.
was it maybe a way for other people in his "network" or something to relay information to him? i have no idea. i;m just spewing...

[Hiltz]

Yeah, Bloodstar is right, Ishikawa does own the place. Ishikawa named it after himself and it is a cyber-Pachinko parlor which is like a Japanese mixture between slot machine and pin ball but it also looked like there were some public terminals that give customer's access to the net which is what Ishikawa was doing before he got captured. when Ishikawa has freetime away from his Section 9 duties he runs that parlor.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/Hiltz/ishikawas.jpg

Did you notice the baseball cap Ishikawa was wearing when he walked out of the parlor ?

It's a symbolic link between him and the Laughing Man and a hacker's love for baseball. Ishikawa is a New York Yankees fan and the Laughing Man shown in the image below from a previous episode is holding onto his baseball memorabilia which further shows the reason of the appearance of the Laughing Man's logo which has a baseball hat on it and Catcher in the Rye quote that can be found revolving around the Laughing Man's logo too.

"A "catcher" as a protector is somewhat similar to a baseball catcher, who must call pitches and set defensive positions so as to protect his team from being hurt by hits from the other side, which may be why The Laughing Man likes to play baseball as the position of a catcher".

Ishikawa works as a hacker to gather information for his team, Section 9 . The Laughing Man is a hacker to exploit and gather information in attempt to protect his team, the children who suffer from Cyber brain Syndrome.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/Hiltz/catchersmittball.gif

[chain2treechick]

you're amazing

[Hiltz]

Just did some casual research on it. :)

I was hoping to find more information about the next episode and the last episode but its hard to come by.

Off topic REMINDER: Family Guy 4th Season & 350th episode of the Simpsons are being shown TONIGHT!!

[Krieock]

this isn't a spoiler but... Ishikawa has NOTHING to do with the Laughing Man.
Lol, thought i'd share that with you.

[Bloodstar]

Its too late Hiltz... I missed the Simpsons AND Family Guy. I was out to dinner.

[Hiltz]

There were two new episodes of the Simpsons.

The first was the 350th episode which featured Ray Romano as a guest star appearence and the second episode was about Bart getting fat and eating sweets and junk food. Everyone thought that Homer was going insane when they thought Ray was just a figment of Homer's imagination but it turned out that he was a real person and Homer had to go through electric shock therapy all for nothing.

Family Guy was about Peter and Lois going on a second honey moon in an attempt to improve their sexual bond between each other. It also involved Mel Gibson as a villain and a parody of a sequel to Passion of the Christ while Brian and Stewie took on the role of parents while having to babysit Chris and Meg.

[Snowfox]

Haha, microblackhole...

[dt45]

The ghost in the shell is my show.I look at it ever time it comes on.

[Bloodstar]

I hope there is going to be a rerun or something... probably not though...

Oh, and I think you mean you watch it, not look at it dt45.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

SPOILER:

Yes, the major was remote-controlling a second body, which got shot, leaving her perfectly safe and unharmed

I thought so, otherwize there wouldn't be a second season, I cant freaking wait til the second seasons for FMA and GITH:STC. I say fu to Adult Swim because they are ending the seasons at turning points, those bastards! Anyways, Hiltz you are the guru at Ghost in the Shell; can I have your autograph. :P

[chain2treechick]

Don't diss adult swim!!! tis bad karma!!! u should worship the building they claim to inhabit!

ah...makes me proud to be an atlantian, right dt45!

[Hiltz]

I was just as confused as everyone else until I watched the series again and did some research on some of the episodes to make more sense of it. Sometimes that is what it takes to understand a series by having to watch it over again because the first time it can easily be hard to understand some of the things that are going on when your really just focused on watching it for entertainment.

FMA is going to get a lot more interesting. So Adult Swim is ending the show soon? I wondered why their schedule strangely didn't show the date times for future episodes.

Autographs: $10 (Now accepting checks and credit cards- just kidding)

[Cian]

I just saw the movie and I must say Im more than a little confused.

[chain2treechick]

which movie?
personally, the first movie blew right over my head, and i think i like the series better. but then again, it is a pretty old movie and a lot of people don't acknowlege that when judging that "it wasn't all i thought it was gonna be". it takes a couple of re-watchings i think.
o, and hiltz, u don't know anything about the rest of the FMA episodes either?! if u don't then no one does and if AS isn't showing the rest then...
but that wouldn't happen...not to something that was so freakishly popular in japan. i think they even showed *dun, dun dun** RERUNS! there. god forbid.
so it must be good. :) and it is.

[Cian]

I saw the one that came out in 1995.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

The original? Yeah, I didn't get it at first neither.

[Hiltz]

The first Ghost in the Shell's Major Motoko Kusanagi had a really strange voice.

In Ghost in the Shell 2:Innocence, Batou and Togusa's dialogue made them sound more like philosopher's than officers of Section 9. The sequel was far more confusing than the first movie in my opinion.

I've seen all 51 episodes of the japanese FMA in english subtitles through the internet. The series gets better,wierder,and darker with the introduction to some new characters and more focus is put on the mystery behind the Philosopher's Stone, the alchemy created Homunculi, and the truth behind Scar's sacred right hand. It looks like Adult Swim will be showing reruns of FMA starting all the way over from episode 1 "To Challenge the Sun" sometime next week so enjoy the next new episode while you can. :(

[Aires]

Well considering I missed a few episodes I'm just going to look forward to it.

[chain2treechick]

shame, aires!
yuppers, dis is gonna be the last gits/FMA saturday for a very long time...***sob***

i really should be studying right now....badly. this thread is bad for me.
too addicting.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

Thanks to me!

[chain2treechick]

i'd say twas a good temporary wrap up.i'm just glad they're all okay. ^-^ makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

[Hiltz]

I just realized that some of the main characters of Section 9 share a specific sounding of a word in all of their names. The sound is of the word "toe". I have nothing else to do. :laugh:

Go ahead and pronounce their names. The underlined words make the sounding of the word "toe".

Motoko

Batou

Togusa

Saitou

Just thought it was kind of funny and maybe a coincidence.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

At the end of the season last saturday, I was shocked. If you recall in GITS 1, the Major went down from the top of the building to assassinate the scientist, and at the end of the episode, she was going to jump down from the top. I cant describe it well, but it all works out. Also I thought the Laughing Man was female until that episode. I hope this topic dosn't end with the first season...

[Hiltz]

I was mad that the Adult Swim version of Git:SAC left out the scene of the blue stair railing that had the words, "**** you" on it that Kusanagi puts her hands on. That had a huge meaning behind the quote in Laughing Man's logo. The meaning is from the Catcher in the Rye.

Wasn't the Laughing Man's name Aoi or something like that?

It went something like Section 9 wasn't supposed to exist to the general public. Since it's existence was found out and exploited Aramaki cleverly schemed the enivitable disban of Section 9 to make it look like it's existence was gone forever but then when Section 9 was reformed it re-establsihed itself as non-existent.

I don't remember that part in the movie. I'll have to watch it again some time. :confused:

When Batou witnessed the sniping of Kusanagi when she was boarding the plane in one of the previous episodes she didn't tell Batou that it wasn't really her. She used her new cyborg body and was manipulating it from a safe location with her double brain when the her new cyborg's head was sniped off.

When Section 9 was reformed I think it was Togusa who asked where Kusanagi was and Batou said , "I don't care where that bitch is".

Batou yelled out her name thinking that she was really dead in the sniping incident. Some of the members of Section 9 were laughing at Batou because he was his emotional side when he screamed Motoko's name when he thought Kusanagi was dead. :laugh:

[Eiyuu_Kou]

Motoko? Who is he/she? Kusanagi's first name?

[Cian]

Do you need to watch the series to understand the concept.

[Raziel_Doomgate]

ahh i feel so depreived.... cant get adult swim and only got 1-8 episoids but i've ordered 9-12 :)

[Hiltz]

Major Motoko Kusanagi is her full name.

However, she most often goes by her military rank name of "Major" or "The Major".

The concept itself is easy to understand but the problem is the series doesn't take the time to actually explain to the viewer about how the concept will be done. Either you know what is going on or you don't.

Most likely you'll need to see the series at least twice to get a better understanding of what is really going on in each episode. Although, there's so many political situations that the average viewer simply won't fully understand because we are not politicians lol.

[chain2treechick]

I just realized that some of the main characters of Section 9 share a specific sounding of a word in all of their names. The sound is of the word "toe". I have nothing else to do. :laugh: .

gah! i love it! ^-^

Although, there's so many political situations that the average viewer simply won't fully understand because we are not politicians lol.

from the lips of the gods spills truth...


Geeze, me loves zis show...no...this work of art (heart!)

tho i'm also rediculously excited about metropolis and champloo. and rediculously sad about the end of fma and gits. and sad to a lesser extent to the end of trigun and big O. but thats different. and also kinda be-latedly sad for the end of new inuyasha episodes. and also kinda sad that affections touching across time just happens to be the one and only IY movie i've already seen...waaa....
ok i'm over it.

WOLFWOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

[miggie2099]

The real Laughing Man is actually a female; which explains how the Major easily posed as her.
Homes The laughing man is a guy. The major put on the same jacket as him let her hair stick out. The reason she was able to fool Mr. Serano was because she and the laughing man did a sync so she gained his memories of what happened. Remember Mr. Serano thought he was reminiscing with the laughing man. :wave:

[Hiltz]

Well with the ending of several good anime series comes new anime series. :)

I think Adult Swim will just do reruns of FMA and Gits:sta unless they need to make room for more of the new shows coming onto their block.

[miggie2099]

Stand alone takes place 5 years before the first movie. What is interesting is that the book and the movie have a different squeal. The movie focus on Batou and how he copes without the Major and the book a woman with the same first name as the major is protagonist.

By the way does any think that the Batou and the Major had sex before she was "killed"? I think that was the reason he was so upset was that she slept with him and still didn't tell him that she was using a remote body.

[Bloodstar]

The major has a fully cybernetic body, and Batou I believe is almost all cybernetic as well. I don't think its possible. Unless they installed some brain stimulating crap or something.

[Hiltz]

The Major's body is fully artificial so all her body parts can feel an extent of sensation even though they are not organic. Think of a cyborg's body as a big computer chasis. :D

I don't know if Batou did anything with the Major but he was upset because the Major didn't tell him that she was going to use her newly fitted cyborg to manipulate it with her double brain body to fool the army to make it look like she faked her own death. Motoko complained at the end of the series that she almost "could have" been in danger at the moment the head of her cyborg body was sniped off which forced her disconnection to it from her double brain.


From what I can tell The real Laughing Man is a he and he is handicapped in a wheel chair and he carries his baseball catcher's mit and cap and his name is Aoi. He leaves the Closed Cyberbrain Syndrome institution for children and teenagers because Togusa was beginning to understand the clue he was given from the Laughing Man. Aoi took it upon himself to leave the institution because his work was done there and he had to move onto the next phase of his plans.

The funny thing is that Togusa's sub cyberbrain was ghost hacked by the Laughing Man when Togusa drew the Laughing Man's logo. When Aoi decided to leave the institution he ghost hacks everyone and erases their memories of him so that no one will try to find and locate him.

The teenager named Aoi is a deaf-mute just like it is written in the Laughin Man's logo. What does it mean? If you want to talk to him then you will have to write it on a piece of paper so that way he doesn't have to engage in conversation. Aoi was also nicknamed "The Leader" by the other kids in the Closed Cyberbrain institution. Aoi didn't say anything and if he did say anthing then it was extremely rare. I'll have to watch the episode again to see if he talks. The other kids in the institution for the most part seemed to talk for Aoi. Talk is cheap, taking action isn't.

What was ironic is that since Aoi is handicapped yet taking the disquise of the Laughing Man he is able to walk. The thing is I don't think Aoi was using a cyborg copycat but it was really him. He just needs to ghost hack the eyes of cyborgs so he cannot be seen by them like when Batou's eyes were hacked by Aoi. When Aoi meets Kusanagi and Aramaki at the end of the last episode that is in the real world, so I'm lead to believe that Aoi, the teenager from the Closed Cyberbrain Syndrome institution is the real Laughing Man. Although, I wouldn't be really surprised if Aoi really is a female seeing that Gits:STA is very clever series where anything can happen.

[Eiyuu_Kou]

Homes The laughing man is a guy. The major put on the same jacket as him let her hair stick out. The reason she was able to fool Mr. Serano was because she and the laughing man did a sync so she gained his memories of what happened. Remember Mr. Serano thought he was reminiscing with the laughing man. :wave:

I figured it out, duh!

[Eiyuu_Kou]

Major Motoko Kusanagi is her full name.

However, she most often goes by her military rank name of "Major" or "The Major".

The concept itself is easy to understand but the problem is the series doesn't take the time to actually explain to the viewer about how the concept will be done. Either you know what is going on or you don't.

Most likely you'll need to see the series at least twice to get a better understanding of what is really going on in each episode. Although, there's so many political situations that the average viewer simply won't fully understand because we are not politicians lol.

Sorry for double posting, but I also figured that. Wow, I cannot think...

[Hiltz]

Here are some straight facts about the episode "Portraitz" when I just finished watching it.

Aoi is undercover, he can speak and walk just fine but while he is undercover he pretends that he cannot speak or walk by going into deaf-mute and panic mode. The kids in the institution know Aoi is the Laughing Man but as long as they project him by keeping his secret identity as the Laughing Man a secret then Aoi will protect them.

His first act of protecting the kids is when Togusa first arrives at the Closed Cyberbrain Syndrome institution. When Togusa goes inside the network room an autistic kid is hiding under the computer desk. When two trainee employees are called in to take the boy away Aoi secretly ghost hacks their cyberbains and overloads their white connector bands that are on the back of their necks.

Aoi is nicknamed "The Chief" by the kids in the institution.

I found a noticable goof in this episode. When the Cyborg guard attacks Togusa in the director's office Togusa takes out his gun and shoots the guard in his torso 6 times but you can here 7 gun shots. You can see and clearly count the 6 bullet holes on the cyborg guard's damaged torso. However, later on when Major Motoko Kusanagi enters the office she sees Togusa unconscious and sees the deactivated cyborg guard who now has 7 bullet holes in him when there should really be 6 bullet holes.

When the female center's director named Martha/Marta finds Togusa spying in her office she knocks Togusa unconscious and connects to his cyberbrain. She learns of Section 9 but before she can go any deeper Aoi who is also in the office in his wheelchair ghost hacks her and renders Martha/Marta unconscious. Doing so he also erases her recently downloaded memories of Section 9.

Aoi then gets out of his wheelchair and walks on his legs. He tells the autistic kids in the institution that he has to leave because "Adults will be coming soon" which means he knows Major Motoko Kusanagi and Batou are infiltrating the institution when they're compter inside the vehicle was hacked by Aoi, the Laughing Man.

Before Aoi leaves the institution he multitasks and erases almost all traces of memory about him from the autistic children's and Togusa's minds so that there is no evidence of Aoi ever existing in their minds so basically no one will ever remember Aoi.

Aoi uses hacker abilities to leave the institution by hacking the eyes of the cyborg guards before Kusanagi and Batou can find him.

At the end of the episode, Ishikawa says that according to Togusa's testimony Aoi carried a "lefty's baseball catcher's mitt". Batou replies that a "lefty's catcher's mitt is net jargon for something that you think is real but isn't".

[Bloodstar]

From what I can tell The real Laughing Man is a he and he is handicapped in a wheel chair and he carries his baseball catcher's mit and cap and his name is Aoi. He leaves the Closed Cyberbrain Syndrome institution for children and teenagers [...]. But Aoi isn't the "real" laughing man. He found an e-mail on the net or something with the information of comparisons of the cyberbrain sclerosis(?) treatments, that would black-mail those involved. He only acted on it as far as I understand. Correct me if I'm wrong. I can't remember everything exactly.

[miggie2099]

I've seen all 51 episodes of the japanese FMA in english subtitles through the internet. The series gets better,wierder,and darker with the introduction to some new characters and more focus is put on the mystery behind the Philosopher's Stone, the alchemy created Homunculi, and the truth behind Scar's sacred right hand. It looks like Adult Swim will be showing reruns of FMA starting all the way over from episode 1 "To Challenge the Sun" sometime next week so enjoy the next new episode while you can. :([/QUOTE]

WHERE DID YOU SEE FULL METEAL? I like the book much more and I think the story is better but I do like the anime. Did you here that there is a movie coming out this summer in Japan and Ed gets a love interest. :eek:

[miggie2099]

You are correct! Who was that guy in the parking lot? The guy who approached Mr. Serano was he the real Laughing Man and did he blow up Mr. Serano car?

[Hiltz]

I'll have to watch that episode again about Mr. Serano's car.

Are you talking about the guy in the blue hooded jacket? If so then yes, that was the real laughing man and his name is Aoi.

The Laughing Man is such an incredible hacker that he is able to ghost hacks the eyes of cyborgs so that they cannot see him even if he is directly in from of them.

[Hiltz]

But Aoi isn't the "real" laughing man. He found an e-mail on the net or something with the information of comparisons of the cyberbrain sclerosis(?) treatments, that would black-mail those involved. He only acted on it as far as I understand. Correct me if I'm wrong. I can't remember everything exactly.

I believe that is how Aoi first learned of the corruption of the Genome micromachine corporation and of the Murai vaccine that he decided from there Aoi wanted to put a stop to the only way he knew how, acting as a cyber- -terrorist. but what he was really doing was acting as a hero and defender to the innocent children and teenagers who were victims of Closed Cyberbrain Syndrome.

Just like the in the book "Catcher in the Rye" the main character willingly wanted to act as a hero to the innocent children by protecting them from the evil in the world. Aoi wanted to exploit the involved corrupted corporations to the world but he eventually realized that he couldn't do it alone so he slowly was able to gain the trust of Section 9's Motoko Kusanagi to help him accomplish the goal he set out to do six years ago.

The FMA manga is said to be one of the best sellers of this year or something. Yeah, Many of us are well aware of the FMA movie lol not to mention some of the noticable movie trailer clip spoilers it contains for the FMA anime tv series. :D

We cannot post links or talk about in further detail of licensened anime series that are available for download through the internet.

[Bloodstar]

Closed Cyberbrain Syndrome. Yeah, that's what it was. I couldn't remember.

[chain2treechick]

do u own all the dvds hiltz?

[Hiltz]

Only volumes 1-3.

Let's just say I and some other members have seen the rest of the episodes through rather unorthodox methods via the internet. ;)

Unfortunetly, the Adult Swim version of Gits:sta is another victim to american editing. Nothing too bad but there were was one specfic scene missing from the last episode that I've mentioned in a previous comment. The only reason it was edited out is because it was written in grafitti with the words "F U C K YOU".

I'm still planning on buying volumes 4 once I save up enough money.

[chain2treechick]

o duh. sry.

btw.there are some incredible deals on the used section of amazon. haven't tried it yet tho.

[Hiltz]

Awesome. Thanks for the heads up. :)

[chain2treechick]

just depends on when u look. some days notin, other days somtin...
someone else recommended ebay and they're right.

[Hiltz]

Who was that guy in the parking lot? The guy who approached Mr. Serano was he the real Laughing Man and did he blow up Mr. Serano car?

After watching the last episode again I'm almost certain that it was not the Laughing Man who triggered the bomb in Mr. Serano's car because Aoi's goal to exploit the Secretary of Defense Yakashima and the defective micromachines of Mr. Serano as well as the trivial situation with the Murai vaccine's effectitiveness was a success.

Mr.Serano wanted to keep his promise to Aoi and ended up testifying against Yakashima because he wanted to let the truth be known despite Serano himself getting into trouble.

It seems that the man in the parking lot is most likely a new villain or rather a messanger sent by someone who we will be connected with in the second season of Ghost in the Shell:STA .

I think the Laughing Man's situation in season 1 actually has a lot to do with what will happen in season 2 of the anime series. My guess is that it may have been a secret order from Yakashima who wanted Serano to be killed after the trial.

If I remember correctly, it was during the episode "Equinox" when the Laughing Man or maybe it was when Motoko Kusanagi was pretending to be the Laughing Man when Mr. Serano said that he also wants Yakashima to be found guilty in his involvement in the evil scandal. The Laughing Man says that he hopes Mr. Serano won't be killed before he can testify implying that a hitman may come after him because Mr. Yakashima is a very powerful and evil man.

So it looks like Mr. Yakashima hired a hitman to plant a bomb inside Mr. Serano's car and it was activated by opening the car door's handle. I'm not 100% sure if was even a bomb but judging by the guy in the parking lot's response it seemed as it he were infact a hitman.

[Hiltz]

Some good news for those who don't know.


Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence English Dub

While Dreamworks never produced an English dub for their North American release of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Manga Entertainment UK has announced that they will work alongside Australia's Madman Entertainment to produce an English dub for the movie. The dub will feature the same actors as their release of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. - Anime News Network

I can hear my ghost whispering ...and it is happy. :)

[chain2treechick]

^-^

btw, sta is so much better watching it over again...
and i thought that tank episode was boring... i must've been tired or something. tis awesome, and now i recognize all the music from the soundtrack. ^-^
makes me happy to be alive...