Forum - View topicDetermining the Best Ghost in the Shell
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unitmikey
 Posts: 286 |
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At this point there is just a lot of Gits floating around everywhere, and while I love the movies and SAC, I haven't started arise yet because... there has already been so much of it. This is why I put off watching Psycho-pass because it has so many similarities to the fifty episodes of SAC I already watched.
The original movie is the best imo because I feel like it has more visual intensity than SAC. Although, SAC is still awesome, so yeah, overall as anime fans it looks like it was a good thing for most of us that the first movie came out. The manga... I have only read certain chapters and then the beginning of Gits 2 but Shirow is not the most entertaining writer when not looking at his overall concept. |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2261 |
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The original movie would be number #1 for me, followed by SAC 1&2.
If I recall my original impression right I thought SSS wasn't as good as SAC (felt just like a lengthy episode of SAC) but didn't get bogged down like GITS: Innocence. There was stuff I still liked about Innocence that I'm tempted to switch it out with SSS. I did enjoy the novel After the Long Goodbye (GITS: Innocence), which fleshed out Batou some more. I've found Arise so far to be...well mediocre. Design choices didn't bother me and visually it was fine. I didn't find the stories to be that creative or compelling. Plus its call outs to the original movie and the clumsy way it was trying to make bridges to previous ideas seemed a desperate attempt to appeal to fans. I am waiting for Funimation to drop the second set of OVAs with English dub so I can pick them up. However, chopping it up and adding another set of episodes after the OVAs kind of ticked me off. It smacks of greed and pulling a fast one on fans. If Funi releases Alt Architecture with those 2xtra eps I wont be buying those as the OVAs are enough for me and I don't need anymore of Tow Ubukata. |
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AnimeAddict2014
 Posts: 925 |
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Hello
i'm new to Ghost in the Shell series so if i want to start which should i start with ? (in order would be nice) i want to get the story of this series.. which seem pretty long.. just saw Black Lagoon series.. so i want to get into this series thanks |
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Kalessin
 Posts: 931 |
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I would definitely vote GitS: SAC as the best. I'm sure that part of that is that I saw it first, but also, as the article says, it has by far the best chance to develop the characters, and there's just simply a lot more material. It also looks better than all of the others aside from GitS: SSS (which is really just the same look taken up a notch, since it's in movie form).
Interestingly enough, I'd put the original movie near the bottom of the pile simply because it seemed so bad after having seen the show first. It seemed like the main draw of the movie was how innovative its ideas were, but the show had already introduced me to all of that and done it better - and it looked better too IMHO. So, I have an abnormally low appreciation for the 1995 movie. I'm sure that it was great for those who watched it first, but it just doesn't stand up quite the same way when it's not your introduction to GitS. I do still need to watch Innocence one of these days though. Arise is interesting, and it's definitely nice to get more GitS, but it seems like a poor copy in comparison to GitS: SAC. It's also too short to go anywhere really interesting. GitS: SSS was basically just more GitS, only with even better looking animation (though GitS: SAC already looked really good, so it's not that much of a step up). It was a great movie, but at the same time, it just left me wanting more. So, I'd put it in second place after GitS: SAC, but since it's pretty much just an extension of the show, I'm not sure that it makes all that much sense to consider it separately from the show - especially when both seasons of the show are already being considered together. Honestly, if I could have anything more GitS-related, it would be a continuation of GitS: SAC following GitS: SSS, though I very much doubt that they would do that at this point given that they've moved on to Arise. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5315 |
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Rather strange thing to say, most of the praise the film got at the time of release was because of use of computers used in editing, the camouflage scene in the beginning for example was done using computers. I find it strange you like GITS considering they have always been about integrating hand drawn anime and computer visuals. Wouldn't you be more interested in Production I.Gs other works? the ones that embrace hand drawn animation, like Bunny Drop and Giovanni's island. |
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Barbobot
 Posts: 460 |
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I would either start with the 1995 movie or go into the SAC tv show. Either one is a fine starting point for Ghost in the Shell. If you like those the you can try Innocence, Solid State Society and Arise or even the manga if you are feeling so inclined. |
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Deacon Blues
Posts: 383 Location: Albuquerque, NM |
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The author really needs to remove "1st GIG" from the article because that is a fan pandered titling for the first season. It bothers me when people refer to it as such when there is no production evidence to back it up.
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AiddonValentine
Posts: 2204 |
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All the adaptations of GitS hold up and have their own little quirks that give them a unique identity, except for Arise which is just dull. I think what REALLY kills it is the faux-Kusanagi they have as the lead, not helped by Sakamato's miscasting (I seriously hope people stop trying to do this because she just cannot play "hardass" action women; see also: FFXIII's Lightning). It was seriously like watching a thirteen-year-old trying to act like an adult and it just looked awkward and wonky.
Still, the original manga has spawned three good to classic movies and two great seasons of anime. A stumble is allowed overall. |
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AnimeAddict2014
Posts: 925 |
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so in order is (for anime series/movie) Ghost in the shell 1995 movie and then stand alone complex series? manga#1590 even with this i'm sure sure which one to start on guess i'll start with the 1995 movie then.. thanks for the help 
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Lann
 Posts: 268 |
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Quite frankly I'm appalled at Production IGs obvious cash in with the latest 'Arise' reboot. GITS:SAC is perfect and there is absolutely no need to re-do it. They should instead have worked on rebooting another one of Shirows projects such as Tank Police.
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Giolon
 SubscriberPosts: 59 |
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The Ghost in the Shell 1995 movie came out first, but the movies and the TV show two are different continuities. They have some of the same characters and same basic world, but they don't lead into each other. You don't need to see one in order to watch the other. I echo the sentiment that either the 1995 movie or Stand Alone Complex TV series are both great ways to get into the franchise. It helps that the 2nd episode of SAC is one of the strongest, and one of my favorites in the entire run. |
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Kalessin
Posts: 931 |
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I'll grant you that the first season was never officially called 1st Gig (they probably hadn't even planned on a second season when they made the first season), but they specifically called the second season 2nd Gig when it came out, so it makes perfect sense to call the first season 1st Gig, and I don't see what the point is in complaining about it being called 1st Gig. It seems a lot like complaining about the first season being called the first season after they added a second when originally it was just the show and not a season of the show. |
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Ali07
 Posts: 3333 Location: Victoria, Australia |
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I've seen the original movie and the first season of SAC. Honestly, since I was young at the time, I only watched SAC to fill in some time. Don't remember much of it...and I was a kid when I watched the original movie.
Think I should revisit SAC. Also, I had no idea that the original movie, SAC, and Arise are all different adaptions of the same source material. 
Having a quick look at the manga...is it really just 3 volumes that have spawned all this? I can see SAC got a manga adaption (adapting the anime, I assume). But, seems like the original is 3 volumes. |
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Kalessin
Posts: 931 |
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There really isn't much manga, and its tone is very different from that of the movies and shows (much more comedic), but apparently, the ideas and characters in it were interesting and unique enough to inspire the rest of it. In reality, I suspect that the manga simply inspired the 1995 movie and that's what inspired the rest, but I don't know if there's any way to know for sure. Regardless, most of the GitS stuff involves unique stories with the same characters rather than really adapting the manga. So, the fact that the manga is not particularly long doesn't really matter in this case. It's not like they started adapting it and had to create filler for it (which is often where manga adaptions run into trouble). They did almost all of the stories from scratch, so it ends up being much more like a fully original production than a manga adaptation in that regard. |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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I'd put them in the following order:
1. 2nd Gig. Has all the best qualities of the franchise and hardly wastes a second of its 26 episodes. I think it has one of the best and most tightly constructed plots around while allowing all the characters and themes to shine. 2. The Laughing Man OAV. The Laughing Man is the most interesting concept in the franchise and, while it omits some good material, it also omits all the dross in the first SAC series. 3. Ghost in the Shell. Still looks great - the wandering the canals sequence is close to my favourite sequence in an anime - but the philosophizing lacks the development that the TV series do so well. 4. Innocence. It looks so good I can forgive its silliness and the absent Major. 5. First SAC series. The 11 Laughing Man episodes are great but, as someone else puts it, the other 15 episodes are just monster of the week. 6. Solid State Society. Not enough Major. Not enough time. 7. Arise. Anaemic by comparison with the best stuff. |
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