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Ghost in the Shell SAC underlining concept




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Wolf X



Joined: 27 Nov 2005
Posts: 93
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:10 am Reply with quote
In the Ghost in the Shell SAC there were many different themes of modern day issues like: terrorism, corruption, individualism vs conformity, and various other concepts. The question is what is the underlining and primary concept that the creators were trying to get at. Unlike the original movie the concept that was suppossed to be seen was seen but the series the concepts changed often and sometimes from episode to episode. I am just curious to see what other people have to say about it.
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DarkTenshi90



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Nebraska
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 7:58 am Reply with quote
Wolf X wrote:
In the Ghost in the Shell SAC there were many different themes of modern day issues like: terrorism, corruption, individualism vs conformity, and various other concepts. The question is what is the underlining and primary concept that the creators were trying to get at. Unlike the original movie the concept that was suppossed to be seen was seen but the series the concepts changed often and sometimes from episode to episode. I am just curious to see what other people have to say about it.


I know there is a high number of terrorist cases in the first season, them mainly being about the Laughing Man case. There's a plot along the series, just give the show time... I think around episode 11-ish or earlier? That's when he really begins making more rapid appearances.
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Wolf X



Joined: 27 Nov 2005
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 10:26 am Reply with quote
I have already seen the entire first season but I couldn't put my fingure on the overall underlining concept that was shown in the laughing man cases.
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Chiroptera Rex



Joined: 08 Mar 2005
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Location: The Batcave, Gotham City, Wisconsin.
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:20 am Reply with quote
There are a lot of themes to the series. GitS:SAC is just dealing with real-world situations in a futuristic setting. The introduction lines at the beginning of "SECTION-9", which echo the introduction at the beginning of the 1995 movie, show that even though the world has advanced technologically, not much else has changed in terms of the way humans treat one another.

As for the Laughing Man episodes, it's just the story of one man who tried to expose the truth spoiler[about micromachine treatments] to the world.
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Wolf X



Joined: 27 Nov 2005
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 12:36 pm Reply with quote
Was it just a jumble of themes or was there a single theme that had several subsections?
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DarkTenshi90



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
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Location: Nebraska
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:34 pm Reply with quote
Wolf X wrote:
Was it just a jumble of themes or was there a single theme that had several subsections?


Kinda of a jumble. Not every single episode was about the Laughing Man case. Like in episode three (sorry, I can't remember the name of it off the bat), the theme was something around, I think anyway, how obsessing over one thing can cause more trouble than what it may be worth. This is what I got from it though, so others may feel differently.
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Wolf X



Joined: 27 Nov 2005
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 7:08 pm Reply with quote
I understand that the movie and the series are to seperate things, but I was always surprised by the fact that you could see the idea and phylosophy behind the original movie but it was hard to find, if it is even there, in the series.
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DarkTenshi90



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 440
Location: Nebraska
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:28 pm Reply with quote
Wolf X wrote:
I understand that the movie and the series are to seperate things, but I was always surprised by the fact that you could see the idea and phylosophy behind the original movie but it was hard to find, if it is even there, in the series.
Huh... Confused Maybe it's just me then, but, I think every story line has a moral... Anime catgrin + sweatdrop
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Wolf X



Joined: 27 Nov 2005
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
PostPosted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:46 pm Reply with quote
Well I agree that there is a moral behind each episode but most other animes have a single moral or message that is the base to the story line off set by other little ones by episode. GItS SAC I didn't see a larger concept... Confused
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abunai
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Joined: 05 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:34 pm Reply with quote
Actually, I think GITS:SAC has multiple underlying themes. The most important one, obviously, is the question of identity, and where the line between machine and sentient being can be drawn. It's a hard point to miss, of course, as the concept of "ghost" runs through the series like a red thread. It's even made the subject of jokes - remember the scene where the tachikomas spoiler[discover that they don't have local brains]?

But other themes are freedom vs. central authority; surface appearance vs. truth; secrecy vs. openness and alienation vs. socialisation.

If you point at any one arc of the two GITS:SAC series, you will find that most of these themes are present in it. They're all there in the Laughing Man arc, for instance.

One thing that most people fail to grasp is that "Stand Alone Complex" doesn't refer to the series being "stand-alone" with regard to the movies - it refers to the idea of the individual being somehow divorced from society, standing alone in the midst of a crowd of people. This sense of alienation is the core ideology of the "Individualist Eleven" (even though there is a further underlying concept of spoiler[betrayal and manipulation] there, as well as a solid dose of irony, since they spoiler[act as brainwashed cultists, in direct contradiction of the "individualist" manifesto]).

The theme of alienation is also strongly present in the final episodes of the first season, especially with regard to Togusa's situation as a spoiler[potential "lone gunman"].

- abunai
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