I actually just started this vid because i wanted to hear the music again, as i was sure he would feature it. Stayed for the whole vid tho, great watch.
This is the intro from GitS Stand Alone Comlex: th-cam.com/video/9fKtST2xdtw/w-d-xo.html Yoko Kanno did the soundtrack for both seasons and the ending movie. Hopefully she will come back for SAC_2045 next year.
GITS SAC was the first anime that actually made me realize this medium could be more than just entertainment. It could inspire, challenge, and discuss deeply held beliefs. Man, I gotta rewatch it now!
lame that you guys watched it twice only. i rewatched it but the story is close to retard level of lame/stupid. only pig's art works makes it watchable. read shirow's manga if you really want to understand gits.
0:43 "[...]Shirows was so far ahead of his time that we're only now asking the questions he provided the answers to, nearly thirty years ago" goes SO HARD, I completely LOVE this channel
2:24 I saw a video of a doctor, where he said, that the person we see in the mirror, is not the same we saw last year. He explained that our body is constantly dying and rebuilding itself. That all cells in our body are eventually replaced by new ones. That although we might look the same from our old self, we are essentially looking at a new reconstructed person.
Hell even early 00’s anime like ‘Noir’ and ‘Madlax’ even retain that traditional and nostalgic feel of the golden age of anime. You can’t beat the color schemes of this style. So enchanting.
Aramaki is probably the best executed Badass Old Man I have ever seen in a work of fiction. Not my favorite mind you; there are plenty of excellent executions of more traditional Old Man archetypes near and dear to my heart from everybody's favorite uncle/grandpa Iroh to mischievous tricksters grown older, wiser, and all the more audacious in their golden years until they reach the vaunted state of Magnificent Bastard, hell, even the occasional Venerable Master has turned out to be genuinely enjoyable. what sets Aramaki apart is that he is a Badass Old Man in a very real-world way, he is a highly intelligent and competent administrator who has generated connections through the course of his life becoming a political figure capable of quietly moving mountains on short notice to let the team actually do their jobs while still being part of society.
Don't forget how ice cold that dude can be at times. He didn't even blink when proto told him the tachikomas scarified themselves to stop nuclear disaster. Nothing phases him, maybe with the exception of that one thing with the trap using his missing brother but that didn't seem to bother him too much either.
'95 Ghost in the Shell remains the pinnacle of what anime could be as a masterpiece of artistic expression and hasn't been topped since in my opinion, in fact it has regressed
my only problem with the 1995 GiTS; is while the English dub is mediocre in places, the sound mixing for action is far better than the original Japanese audio.
8:34 "Every version […] can work as an engaging STAND ALONE piece, or feed into a more COMPLEX, satisfying whole." I think you secretly allude to your preferred place to start though... Nice one!
@@truthoftheuniverse4179 Depends on your definition of "god". Almost anything the ancients believed gods could do is possible to achieve through technology I believe.
Stand Alone Complex is fantastic and really worth the time to watch. Awesomely done and one hell of a ride. It has to be my favorite story line. Thought I’d pretend to be one of those deaf mutes. What’s so cool about it is, since episodic, there not just one main theme like a movie so there are many threads that take off and nicely weave together by the end. Vary much worth a watch. If ya do decide to watch it, so yourself a favor and bing it. Or at least several eps at a time so your not constantly trying to remember who that guy is or why they are doing whatever now because it does jump all over. It’s does, but there is continuity to it, just a lot to remember after a bit though.
When I was in my early teens, I discovered SAC on TV, and was instantly hooked, as it gave my brain, which loves figuring things out, a very unique world with concepts completely foreign to me. I proceeded to buy the dvd set, and watched the entire 2 seasons 3 times, each time learning more about the world, story, and characters. No show has ever had me learning new things about it, with my brain running full speed in the background processing all the information, the way Stand Alone Complex did.
The episode(s) that show how the Major individually recruits her entire "top flight" team are some of my favorite. You get some looks into everyone's background and it just fleshed out the entire story/characters/ world THAT much better. GitS is in my top 5 - 10 for sure.
Stand Alone is also one of my favorite version, you get a full feel for the Major and her team and because of that the heavy personal moments are more powerful and give a melancholy feel that it's you. It also took me a couple of reads to get most of the original manga and it was one of the first I bought.
Truly an ingenious title for a series. Metaphorical, Symbolic, strikes in that Philosophical bone of yours. Those long asked questions throughout the human history, mysteries around Body/Soul, Self and Reality, Ontology and Metaphysics and so on. GITS is a pioneering and signature work in the World of Animation and Cinema. It makes you wonder, makes you think, imagine.... which is a mark of a Masterpiece. Thanks for doing this, Sir. Good wishes.
Just coming back to rewatch this. One of the best GITS deep dive videos out there. My favorite series in all time. It’s the SAC 2nd Gig that is most timeless. It could happen today yesterday or tomorrow. I’m rewatching that now for the many many time.
You hit the nail on the head. Every iteration of GITS provokes new trains of thought. I identify with the Major because I am always contemplating the essence of my being. And I identify with the other characters (mostly) because they reflect different aspects of my reality. Ishikawa staring at a bottle of Chivas is me
Well, I just watched the 1995 film and... it's surprisingly chill paced. I expected it to be a lot more action packed and aggressive in an almost uncanny valley way of portraying the future, but it wasn't. Having said that, it threw philosophical concepts and scenarios at me that made my brain go at speeds that warrant a speeding ticket. Bloody hell... I'm just gonna start watching the stand-alone complex and see where it takes me from there. But the 1995 film definitely requires a re-watch.
Easily the single greatest anime ever made. Watching the movie as a kid sparked my love for philosophy,it drove me to pick up books like "being and nothingmess" by jean Paul sartre
My older brother showed me the movie when I was between 8 and 12. As a kid I wasn't able to fully grasp the concepts in the movie. I was taken in by the visuals and how badass Kusanagi was. I almost religiously watched SAC on Adult Swim because of that. The series presented the concepts in a more digestible manner. I didn't pick up philosophy like you did, but GiTS certainly sparked an appreciation of and a curiosity for philosophy within me.
*Joe* I could not agree more about starting with the series' 2 years. SAC is brilliant with arcs, but year 2 is an absolute must, since it is the only source material I'm aware of that shows the deep humanities and reasons *how/when* the Major wound up becoming what she became -- as well as the background of a few other members as well. *Thank you, Joe.* It felt like short minutes passed, job well done, bravo! Also, I think everyone should be introduced to the world of Yoko Kanno music, but as w/Cowboy Bebop, she scores several animes. Thanks again! Great summation.
Don't know if Beyond Ghibli is still monitoring this comment section but ts worth mentioning That British Cybernetics expert the Late Dr Kit Pedlar in the sixties put forward the idea if you replace human parts with artificial ones do you remain human.? This thought was expressed in partnership with writer Gerry Davis in the creation of Dr Who's Cybermen who were once a biological race but decided to change there living parts for artificial ones and then began a crusade to alter all living creatures to their perfect Cybernetic way of life. The point is he was putting forward the idea do we become less human if we replace ourselves with artificial prosthesis two decades before Ghost In the Shell This is not a criticism but a mention that someone else was thinking along the same lines as the creator of Ghost in The Shell. just a little earlier.
It's the Ship of Thesus thought experiment. Not to discount your own two cents, but its been around significantly longer than the 60s, at least since Plato.
@@Shatteredworld And the solution is already there. Every human body swaps or renews it's own cells constantly, not only our skin, hair and nails but also muscle and bone. The regeneration- or renewal-span ranges from 3-4 weeks for skin up to 10 years for bones. So every human being that is older than 10 already stopped being what he was 10 years ago, since most of the cells in his body were already renewed or replaced. But for us a human being always is the human being it was it's entire life, so ideologically we subconsciously already solved Theseus's Paradox.
I grew up with and i'm still a very big fanatic of The Ghost in the Shell Franchise. It's one of a few mayor reasons why i wanted to do something with public-, national-, or internal security and why i'm currently training to enter a police academy in my home country. It actually changed my views on public life. It made me understand that heroes don't have to wear Camouflage and spend months, or even years thousands of miles away fighting an enemy. Sometimes, a badge and a gun are all you need. Fantastic video! Thank you!
Your videos are such quality. I love the respect that you have for the material you cover, and even more so, for your viewer. Keep up the great work, your voice is needed. Can't wait to see you get around to Yuasa.
Brilliant! This is my favourite TH-cam video I’ve seen in 2020. Great visuals, thoughtful, excellent music, pacing, beautiful little touches. I love the 5 panels of the series next to each other. Thanks for making this.
I cannot rate Ghost in the Shell innocence enough (once you've got your head around the concepts of the GITS universe.) Surprised you focused entirely on the major though, the relationship between the mostly "human", Togusa, and the largely cybanised, Batu, is portrayed in an interesting fashion throughout the anime releases.
I think by having Togusa in the team, he "humanizes" the rest of these oddballs and misfits who would otherwise be on the fringes of a heavily cyberized society. And I consider Motoko and Batou the honorary Cool Aunt and Fun Uncle to Togusa's kids.
Good lord. You opened with what I feel is the most moving piece of music on that soundtrack. Instant chills. The original film was fantastic for adult viewers. But the SAC series were also great entertainment. So glad GITS exists.
I love how you laid it out with the recommended watch order with the covers tucked together and grouped into 4 neat sections, well done sir. This is just what I was looking for.
And I may add, she is one of the (if not THE) the most versatile composers these days. I own nearly all of the soundtracks she composed so far for anime shows, movies, games and so on (there are dozens). This woman is absolutely brilliant!
I agree! Also really impressive imo especailly with how powerful the original scores are. I think Cyberbird is probably my favorite track from the SAC series.
Steffen Jachnow can’t agree more, she is one the best composers. Usually people talks about Williams, Zimmer, Giacchino, Desplat.... completely overlooking the rest of the world, Yoko Kanno is definitely among the giants of scoring.
stand alone complex is where i was introduced and it fed my hunger for this genre as ... its amazing the thought processes of the creators and the creator are just laid bare
I love Ghost in the shell stand alone complex and sec gig. Ah so many memories watching this on Saturday nights and the laughing man was one of my favorite parts in the series.
I was blown away by the complex storyline and the concepts that series dealt with. It felt so much more mature and thought-out than 90% of live-action SciFi on TV at the time.
@@BrokenCurtain I had an on-and-off conversation with another fan of the franchise over the Internet for 7 months about questions, ideas and paradoxes there. When we felt we couldn't continue due to issues on both sides we've calculated statistics: we'd spent about 200 hours on it without counting the background checks with the sources, covered around 60% of the topics and made our conclusions on 10% of them, with an estimate that we need at least 10x more time to cover pretty much everything, and that was before Arise came out.
I've watched this, now and then over the years. And to this day, the statement holds true. That it's been ahead of it's time, that it's more relevant than ever. Even your take and narration gives the franchise the honor and praise it deserves. I really liked the live action as well (with a pinch of salt). I wholly agree on the order of how to watch, and the fact you could switch it around or skip things. Much respect from me and I'll enjoy rewatching the retrospective again at some point. Fantastic writing on your part by the way.
Well done! This is the first time I've seen someone understand what GITS is on the whole. Each re-imagining is something new yet still the same which is the core component of the whole manga. I can never get enough of Section 9 and the Major.
Nice video, thank you. After about 23 years I watched GITS (The original anime from 1995) again, some days ago and at the moment this movie is the deepest work of human culture to me. Especially the theme song with its lyrics, chant and melody has burnt into my deepest brain areas and is very intense to me. Also the philosophical and existential questions it raises keep me bothered. I whish all of you a nice life and also a nice existence. : )
I've been looking for an excuse to revisit the world of GITS and that may be the ticket. Having never watched SAC I'm appreciating this seconded opinion.
Thank you for producing this retrospective on one of my absolute favorite manga/anime/live stories ever!!! I simply love the content for what it is, an introspection on the human consition and always asking the question "what am I??, what makes me, me??' the dialogue alone is far more compelling and interesting than 99 present of what is out there. That and the fact that Ghost in the Shell is truly timeless in this respect.
I actually came to Ghost in the Shell through S.A.C. when Adult Swim first aired them in the US and was hooked. It is still my favorite iteration because it pulls you in and immerses you in every way: animation, voice acting, writing and music (the soundtrack/score was put together by the brilliant Yoko Kanno of Cowboy Bebop fame).
I've had somewhat similar experience with first viewing of GitS. I was in my teen years, I've watched it because I kept hearing that The Matrix had borrowed many concepts from here. After the viewing, I thought to myself, what a pile of shit. That was like 15 years ago. I've grown significantly in all aspects of my personality since then (my penis too, of course, increased in size). And I was finally able to appreciate the beauty and depth of the 1995 movie. Now it is one of my favorite pieces of anime media, along with Wolf Children, Papurika and some of Miazaki's work.
The ax scene at the beginning is from a movie called John Dies at the End. It's kind of like the stoner version of Donnie Darko. It's not the kind of film that winds up on people's best movies ever list, but I do recommend it.
I cut my anime fan teeth on the '95 movie and when SAC came out, for me, it was a perfect adaptation of the Manga I had been reading since. Fantastic video and you've convinced me to check out the new film as well. Thank you and keep doing Grods work.
Stand alone is amazing, l admit and yes l agree for a newbie to Ghost! It's a great place to start. But as for me my first experience with Ghost was to watch the 95 movie which captured my imagination, and my desire to want a movie that gave you more! And differently took you out of your comfort zone. But hay! Thats why we watch anime and read manga right. Not really a fan of the live action movie! But l appreciate the work, and the effort they but into it. Love your channel by the way! Keep up the good work. Many thanks Moira From England.
Agreed. Its the movie that really hooks you into wanting to know more about the Major and everything else. I don't think I would have watched Stand Alone Complex, if I hadn't already watched the first Ghost In The Shell and its sequel.
Good introduction. Now I have to get hold of Arise! One disagreement though: do NOT watch the dubbed version of StandAloneComplex. The original voice acting is on a whole other level. I love the way the japanese Motokos low affect makes her feel not only detached, but slightly depressed, even in the middle of mindblowing action sequences. While her 2ic Batou comes across as a lighthearted scoundrel. Which makes it striking and interesting when they break character. But the american dubs... sounds as if the directors only directions was along ”No, more badass! C’mon you re a totalbadass! Take charge, be tough! You’re still not getting it: this line needs MORE BADASS!” If found it unlistenable.
The dub for SAC is all I ever watch or recommend as its top class stuff, I would say it matches or even surpasses the sub. To discredit the dub of that show is unfair. If someone tried to tell me the dub for SAC wasnt as good as the sub I would consider them a weeb and lack taste.
I really like the 2017 film, not because i think its any where near the quality of the 95 film, but because its more of tribute to the entire franchise. It has the action of SAC, visual cues and scenes from 95, and some costume and designs from ARISE. I dont think its meant to be the "definitive" version. Its meant to be a getaway and a love letter. Its really underrated.
No it really isn't. Its not a tribute, it is simply a copycat without any originality in itself. A shell without a ghost so to speak. They stolen everything together because they had nothing of value to add to it.
Your analysis is so good. I never tire of watching any iteration of this series. However I think that SAC and the 1995 movie have equal artistic weight
Theseus Dilemma: If all the parts of GitS are replaced, is it still GitS? Bahaha. I think the weakest part of GitS 2017 is that the question of human identity is reduced (?) to a more individualistic, perhaps postmodernist quest. The question why we have an identity at all is side-stepped by a shift of focus onto the self-creation of the individual in the face of corporate exploitation.
The Hollywood movie is not GitS. It is really a RoboCop remake with aesthetics borrowed from a better anime. Not that RoboCop is a bad movie. And it needed a more modern remake.
Thank you :) Choosing the right music from any given work is one of the things that takes the most time when making these - especially when Ghost in the Shell has SO MANY (AMAZING) SOUNDTRACKS!! - so I'm so glad you got a kick out of it :D
excellent delve into the world of Ghost in the Shell Joe. I'm glad that you recommended SAC first, because when you said "The one I would recommend you'd start with first" I was thinking to myself "Say SAC, say SAC, tell them to start with SAC", haha.
EmpathP ..I agree 🎥📐📏🎬Thanx. to VideoJoe,, for gr8 insights and uploads,, heck I just saw this channel for the first time tonight and instantly subscribed,,, and by the way yes if someone's wondering where to start w/ Ghost in the Shell they need to start with SAC \stand alone complex,,, because in a way it makes me think of Cowboy Bebop... such that you get weekly visual animated worlds that in some ways surpass other animated series, in technical an artistic modes, & at the same time it gives you the fun of all the little moments and quirks that they don't have time for in a movie where everything has to wrap up in an hour and a half. 🎥📡🔧🔭🎧🎨
@@ruhurtin4squrtin34 I'd love to hear you try to quantify that assertion. SAC is by all measures a good series. It is possible to not like something without it having to be terrible and feeling the need to tear it down. I find the manga far too puerile and unnecessarily raunchy but that doesn't make it bad by any means.
Had a modded PlayStation just to be able to play that first GITS on a burned DVD. Good old days. Maps and wall navigation were so fun. It had a badass driving techno soundtrack tooo
Great video = ) just a small thing: You are missing out on the overal complex situation of section 9 being more or less a grey area instrument of an controlling distopian government and by her actions the major herself is not a clearcut "good guy"in this, we as the viewers see these conflicts from the viewpoint of a government agent and should thus be pretty critical of the "true" narration presented. But i understand that the scope of this video and its focus is on the identity and its massive implications throughout the series.
The themes that SAC played with- cyberterrorism, geopolitical turf wars, refugee crises, and rapidly evolving infections- have all been pretty damn relevant lately
I’ve watch almost every iteration of this franchise and own all of the video product this franchise has to offer including the two of it related stories of the Laughing man and The Individual Eleven. I’ve yet to watch them. I started with the original theatrical feature length movie in 95. You mentioned the sound effects as being something you really enjoyed and appreciated. The thing I truly enjoyed are the OST and the tracks sung by the late Oringa. Those are classic and when played evokes the whole series creating a desire to rewatch any of the full length movies and or the episodic series. It’s integral to creating and establishing the mood in which this time period takes place.
I'm heart broken for the time that was lost... I've only just now stumbled across this channel... it's dripping with culture (the succor I was missing). 💛
Holy crap, this might be your best video yet! The intro with Nightstalker leading up to your Beyond Ghibli logo and that sitcom scene had me hooked! I love your thorough approach to discussing Ghost in the Shell; I’ve never seen a video that talks about the manga, 1995 movie, SAC, Arise, AND the 2017 movie. I didn’t think I could appreciate Ghost in the Shell even more, and you’ve motivated me to check out SAC. And as always, I love the self-deprecation at the end. Can’t wait for your next video!
Eric Cota digibro's series overview of GITS also talks about all of the iterations of the franchise. But it's more focus on the series structure and creative minds behind the franchise. You can check that out if you want.
This was just great. I 100% agree with your choice of watching ghost in the shell for the new watchers. The original movie was just mind blowing for its time and the animation is still amazing. I always liked the old style hand drawn animation myself. I plan on one day getting the manga.
You forgot the movie innocent this kinda follow the first one in that the major ghost lives in cyberspace. Has all the other members of section nine involved. it was title ghost in the Shell 2 innocent and in Japan mobile armored Riot police innocent. Release in 2006.
@@ruhurtin4squrtin34 Solid State Society is the 3rd installment. In the US the movie was just called "Innocence". The name "Armored Riot Police" is also never used in english, it's merely the translation of the original name "Koukaku Kidoutai".
Sorry, the GitS 2 movie "Innocence" and "Solid State Society" are two completely different movies! Don't confuse the two, they bother have different plots, music and directors! I know because I got them both on me anime shelves? /;p
Wow, I only knew Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the latest movie existed (independently of course, haven't seen the movie tho). The show was amazing, definitely more complex than your basic show as a child but definitely worth it. Wow, I forgot about the spider mechs!
Yeah. I was a fan of the OG movie and SAC and it did a pretty decent job of hitting the best moments of both. I did not walk out of the theater feeling I had been robbed.
It would be a waste though, if the live action movie turns you off from the other adaptations, though I don't suspect it will since you have watched this video.
Scar joe definitely looks like the major if she was real. She especially resembles the anime stand alone complex version. If she had been Japanese she wouldn’t have looked right. Her character was drawn that way and scar joe looks that way sooo.
@beyondghibli Thank you so much for doing a video on Ghost in the Shell. I'm a old die hard fan and I have more merch than anyone I've met. And something that I've come to realize is when people stop generating content or buzz around Ghost in the Shell, there's a day I'll be sad. And the reason is found in your video. It's an amazing intriguing beautiful universe and I hope that we move closer to that reality.
There's a lot I want to say about why I love this series. Compare it to other series I love from all forms of media and show what they did "right," but for the sake of brevity, I just want to say one thing. I put anime behind me, almost 20 years ago, and jRPG games with them. I felt there was an utter lack of imagination. The same tropes. The same characters. I felt like, for all its presentation, anime and jRPG games were shockingly shallow. But there are standouts. Ghost in the Shell was.... Chrono Trigger. They established a world that wasn't a rehash of another world. A story that wasn't a rehash of another story. And, most importantly, characters that were not a rehash of other characters (or firmly rooted in character tropes). What I crave is complex world building. A multifaceted story that, even in bizarrely fantastical environments is still fundamentally believable. Characters that don't feel like they were generated by pulling 3 key characteristics from a hat, then crossing out on a white-board a trope that needed to be filled. And beyond all that, Ghost in the Shell is intelligent. A lot of Japanese entertainment tries to create overly convoluted plots, usually with convoluted, entirely made up words and jargon, that are never explained decently and require watching/playing through to decipher what it all means, and then repeating it all to REALLY get what is going on.... which tends to be not as clever as the writers hoped for. Essentially, the anime/video game equivalent of the people you know who try to use smart sounding words and esoteric references, but just look the more pathetic for the attempt. Ghost in the Shell provided genuinely intelligent story telling, and pushed genuinely intelligent concepts. And that's shockingly rare. I could probably list another dozen anime and explain why they are standouts to me, and why I still go back to them despite "putting anime behind me." And there are probably dozens, hundreds, or more, TV shows, movies, and OVAs that I should know and care about, and am oblivious to, because of moving away from the mediums. And that's my loss. And maybe one day I'll revisit the mediums and find gems I should have always known of. But, for the sake of argument, that's what makes Ghost in the Shell special, and why my utterly lack of enthusiasm for anime has, in no way, dulled my love for it (and other shows). It did things right.
Thank you for a well developed and considered piece of work. Ghost In The Shell performs at a technological level what the traditional Sanskrit "Neti Neti" student practice performed in wisdom development. Neti Neti ( or Not This, Not That ) was a traditional vehicle given to beginning students to "see" into the reality of what and who they are by the systematic redaction of everything that is not their fundamental essence of self-ness, think the "Ship of Theseus", except it is the ship that is asking the questions about its own parts. GITS brings this question into sharp focus at a personal and societal level by the introduction of a technology that forces the question of essence. Motoko Kusanagi has been fully cyberized from a very young age, she has not "grown" in the ordinary sense of that word. Instead at some point technology determined it was appropriate for her to be transferred to a larger frame with greater functionality. At the same time she lives in a world where she is in constant contact with highly developed "smart systems" ( loosely defined as AI's ) that act human-ish and that use the same style and type of body frame she uses. In many places of the various incarnations of this story-line the concept of memory is used as the final arbitrator of the essence of being, but this is also called into question when the technology transform memory into mere data that can be manipulated or outright deleted, the case of the garbage collector in the original film version comes to my mind. There is no answer to the question behind GITS, other than to say that who we believe we are is a collection of processes we rarely inspect or understand and for many it is a personal Pandora's box that for the vast majority of individuals, is preferred to be kept closed.
I just discovered your channel great work I'm curious to know your thoughts on other Anime properties such as Vampire Hunter D and Afro Samurai - thanks again for all your great content
For those who don't know, the paradox of Theseus' Ship has been first properly addressed in the statement by Heraclitus: "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." He also said that the only constant is change. Basically, there are two distinct notions that our mode of thinking mashes together: identity and continuity. Because our way of perception works within the confines of a top-down understanding of life regarding multicellular organisms (to put it simply, we are raised in a way that makes us separate things by the way they look and we can point at, so we think of the people around us and of ourselves as the bodies we all inhabit), and which is shared in our perceptions of objects (again, we define objects originally as visibly distinct bodies), it follows that identity is tied to the physicality of the material towards which it points - but the physical is inherently ephemeral and changes constantly, even in small and subtle ways; how does one rectify this? Simply put, because identity cannot therefore be perfect, we parallel identity, a mental construction that lets us model the world in our heads, with continuity, the physical state of ever-changing matter arranged in a mostly-consistent manner. Now let us reexamine the river quote: a river is identified as a body of water; however, the water in the river is *_constantly_* changing: it is flowing down the river, so that we might better understand a river as a part of the physical landscape which has a variable amount of water flowing through it, rather than an actual, distinct object, and nobody would disagree with that or find it odd or surprising. But then that means that the river is never the same! So here we can see the great lie we tell ourselves for our convenience: the river is never the same, and even stepping into it has ipso facto changed the river. So you see that *_identity_* is a model to describe *_continued arrangement._* That's the answer to the paradox. You can call the axe the same, or you could call it different, and both would be correct in different senses.
I'd reckon the Live Action GitS should be watched the last, not because of the fanservice moments, but because of its philosphical themes that built upon what came before. Conceptually, Ghost in the Shell questions the "Ghost" in the "Shell", which is fair if newcomers expect to see that, but you don't exactly get that in the LA because it's exploring something else entirely, which could leave newcomers scratching their heads and feeling empty. The LA does its own thing and focuses on "identity" instead of "individuality" and "soul" like other iterations, in the standoff between Mira Killian, Motoko Kusanagi, and The Major. Are identities tied to memories? Can the shell affect the ghost? Is The Major the same person as who she was before even if her body no longer allows for it? Is sexual identity physical or mental (ghost or shell)? There's even a racial angle to the identity question. All these questions would require the knowledge of how concepts presented in 95 and SAC to fully appreciate; watching the LA first would be like learning Physics before Maths. It technically is a standalone, but its complexity warrants previous knowledge. Ps. The LA gets a very neutered release on the Blu-Ray, with cropped image and lower contrast. Only the 3D Blu-Ray has the original quality presented in theaters, so go for that.
It also includes a dub using the original Japanese voice cast from the anime - this probably sounds crazy but for a big gtis fanboy it's actually my preferred way to watch the film! Also - the film was shot for 3D quite specifically, and the cinematography really shines if you can watch it this way. The 2d version can look a bit flat, pun unintended.
Absolutely agree that the S.A.C. series is the best to start with, and also my favorite Major. And the only criticism I have for your videos are that I wish they were longer. Excellent work.
Lol the first time i watched GitS SAC i was like 11 years old and i remember watching the episode where the major basically propositions an 11 year old boy for sex and he totally chickened out and i was just screaming "you chicken shit! Do it!!" 🤣
I really liked the live action adaptation, literally the only live action anime adaptation ive ever liked, Kuze's unhinged and desperate nature really shook me. Like when he screamed "defense of self" while justifying his killings; furthering the question, how human do you have to be for human rights. Might not have quite the nuance of the other media, but its more than a hollywood cashgrab, people who made it actually cared.
The live action movie is a fun one. I love it. It's a shame that people got caught up on the casting of a cybernetic shell. If I may, the recent Bleach live action movie is good. They basically condense the first season into a movie. If you haven't seen it and like Bleach, i suggest checking it out. If you have seen it, what are your thoughts on it?
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
The soundtrack of GitS - especially the first movie - is one of the most powerful in cinema history, imho.
I agree, that scene where she is sitting with her hair blowing in the wind and the red city lights flashing slowly... true nostalgia
Bulgarian folk music is pretty stellar! Highly recommended for immediate spiritual existentialism hahaha.
I actually just started this vid because i wanted to hear the music again, as i was sure he would feature it. Stayed for the whole vid tho, great watch.
This is the intro from GitS Stand Alone Comlex: th-cam.com/video/9fKtST2xdtw/w-d-xo.html
Yoko Kanno did the soundtrack for both seasons and the ending movie. Hopefully she will come back for SAC_2045 next year.
John Doe I cannot wait for that anime. I’ve been looking for any news on it weekly lol.
The Laughing Man in SAC scared the hell out of me as an adult. It gives me the shivers. Brilliant series.
GITS SAC was the first anime that actually made me realize this medium could be more than just entertainment. It could inspire, challenge, and discuss deeply held beliefs. Man, I gotta rewatch it now!
+Kenneth See never too soon to rewatch SAC. I loved rewatching it for this video :D
lame that you guys watched it twice only. i rewatched it but the story is close to retard level of lame/stupid. only pig's art works makes it watchable. read shirow's manga if you really want to understand gits.
Tachikoma FTW!!!
Dude it's like you discovered movies
Innocents always been halal
Every time I see the camouflage scene from the 1995 movie it gives me goosebumps dude it's so good.
0:43 "[...]Shirows was so far ahead of his time that we're only now asking the questions he provided the answers to, nearly thirty years ago" goes SO HARD, I completely LOVE this channel
2:24 I saw a video of a doctor, where he said, that the person we see in the mirror, is not the same we saw last year.
He explained that our body is constantly dying and rebuilding itself. That all cells in our body are eventually replaced by new ones. That although we might look the same from our old self, we are essentially looking at a new reconstructed person.
Look at those details background.. 90's anime just awesome
Late 80s as well
Hell even early 00’s anime like ‘Noir’ and ‘Madlax’ even retain that traditional and nostalgic feel of the golden age of anime. You can’t beat the color schemes of this style. So enchanting.
@@tyjax5119 early 2000s is the most ugly era of anime.
This movie was, is, and will forever be ahead of its time. Classic.
Aramaki is probably the best executed Badass Old Man I have ever seen in a work of fiction.
Not my favorite mind you; there are plenty of excellent executions of more traditional Old Man archetypes near and dear to my heart from everybody's favorite uncle/grandpa Iroh to mischievous tricksters grown older, wiser, and all the more audacious in their golden years until they reach the vaunted state of Magnificent Bastard, hell, even the occasional Venerable Master has turned out to be genuinely enjoyable.
what sets Aramaki apart is that he is a Badass Old Man in a very real-world way, he is a highly intelligent and competent administrator who has generated connections through the course of his life becoming a political figure capable of quietly moving mountains on short notice to let the team actually do their jobs while still being part of society.
Agreed. Aramaki reminds me of Commissioner Gordon except more savvy. And don't forget Master Roshi from Dragonball Z.
Don't forget how ice cold that dude can be at times. He didn't even blink when proto told him the tachikomas scarified themselves to stop nuclear disaster. Nothing phases him, maybe with the exception of that one thing with the trap using his missing brother but that didn't seem to bother him too much either.
'95 Ghost in the Shell remains the pinnacle of what anime could be as a masterpiece of artistic expression and hasn't been topped since in my opinion, in fact it has regressed
regressed to boobs being the main plot of the story and nothing else
Anime definitely has regressed
I didn't really like Arise or the newest one.
@@Dead_Hitori There has been a lot of good shows. But I do miss the older 2000's shows.
my only problem with the 1995 GiTS; is while the English dub is mediocre in places, the sound mixing for action is far better than the original Japanese audio.
8:34 "Every version […] can work as an engaging STAND ALONE piece, or feed into a more COMPLEX, satisfying whole." I think you secretly allude to your preferred place to start though... Nice one!
Glad someone noticed that :)
@@BeyondGhibli hey anyone no the instrumental at 3:50
can humans become gods with technology,,it science the key to humans becoming gods
@@truthoftheuniverse4179 Depends on your definition of "god". Almost anything the ancients believed gods could do is possible to achieve through technology I believe.
@@RadzHexz It's on the Arise Soundtrack. It was the ending for the first episode.
Stand Alone Complex is fantastic and really worth the time to watch. Awesomely done and one hell of a ride. It has to be my favorite story line.
Thought I’d pretend to be one of those deaf mutes.
What’s so cool about it is, since episodic, there not just one main theme like a movie so there are many threads that take off and nicely weave together by the end. Vary much worth a watch. If ya do decide to watch it, so yourself a favor and bing it. Or at least several eps at a time so your not constantly trying to remember who that guy is or why they are doing whatever now because it does jump all over. It’s does, but there is continuity to it, just a lot to remember after a bit though.
When I was in my early teens, I discovered SAC on TV, and was instantly hooked, as it gave my brain, which loves figuring things out, a very unique world with concepts completely foreign to me. I proceeded to buy the dvd set, and watched the entire 2 seasons 3 times, each time learning more about the world, story, and characters. No show has ever had me learning new things about it, with my brain running full speed in the background processing all the information, the way Stand Alone Complex did.
As a fellow GitS nerd I can say that everything in this video is 100% correct and definitely done with passion, big kudos!
The intro to the 1995 film is so good.
One reason why I love ethnic percussion in anime music,
It just hits differently.
The episode(s) that show how the Major individually recruits her entire "top flight" team are some of my favorite. You get some looks into everyone's background and it just fleshed out the entire story/characters/ world THAT much better. GitS is in my top 5 - 10 for sure.
Stand Alone is also one of my favorite version, you get a full feel for the Major and her team and because of that the heavy personal moments are more powerful and give a melancholy feel that it's you. It also took me a couple of reads to get most of the original manga and it was one of the first I bought.
Truly an ingenious title for a series. Metaphorical, Symbolic, strikes in that Philosophical bone of yours. Those long asked questions throughout the human history, mysteries around Body/Soul, Self and Reality, Ontology and Metaphysics and so on. GITS is a pioneering and signature work in the World of Animation and Cinema. It makes you wonder, makes you think, imagine.... which is a mark of a Masterpiece. Thanks for doing this, Sir. Good wishes.
Just coming back to rewatch this. One of the best GITS deep dive videos out there. My favorite series in all time. It’s the SAC 2nd Gig that is most timeless. It could happen today yesterday or tomorrow. I’m rewatching that now for the many many time.
You hit the nail on the head. Every iteration of GITS provokes new trains of thought. I identify with the Major because I am always contemplating the essence of my being. And I identify with the other characters (mostly) because they reflect different aspects of my reality. Ishikawa staring at a bottle of Chivas is me
Well, I just watched the 1995 film and... it's surprisingly chill paced. I expected it to be a lot more action packed and aggressive in an almost uncanny valley way of portraying the future, but it wasn't.
Having said that, it threw philosophical concepts and scenarios at me that made my brain go at speeds that warrant a speeding ticket. Bloody hell... I'm just gonna start watching the stand-alone complex and see where it takes me from there. But the 1995 film definitely requires a re-watch.
I don't know but your video's look so nicely made
Like a perfectly brought together short film
Easily the single greatest anime ever made.
Watching the movie as a kid sparked my love for philosophy,it drove me to pick up books like "being and nothingmess" by jean Paul sartre
My older brother showed me the movie when I was between 8 and 12. As a kid I wasn't able to fully grasp the concepts in the movie. I was taken in by the visuals and how badass Kusanagi was. I almost religiously watched SAC on Adult Swim because of that. The series presented the concepts in a more digestible manner. I didn't pick up philosophy like you did, but GiTS certainly sparked an appreciation of and a curiosity for philosophy within me.
*Joe* I could not agree more about starting with the series' 2 years. SAC is brilliant with arcs, but year 2 is an absolute must, since it is the only source material I'm aware of that shows the deep humanities and reasons *how/when* the Major wound up becoming what she became -- as well as the background of a few other members as well. *Thank you, Joe.* It felt like short minutes passed, job well done, bravo! Also, I think everyone should be introduced to the world of Yoko Kanno music, but as w/Cowboy Bebop, she scores several animes. Thanks again! Great summation.
Don't know if Beyond Ghibli is still monitoring this comment section but ts worth mentioning That British Cybernetics expert the Late Dr Kit Pedlar in the sixties put forward the idea if you replace human parts with artificial ones do you remain human.? This thought was expressed in partnership with writer Gerry Davis in the creation of Dr Who's Cybermen who were once a biological race but decided to change there living parts for artificial ones and then began a crusade to alter all living creatures to their perfect Cybernetic way of life. The point is he was putting forward the idea do we become less human if we replace ourselves with artificial prosthesis two decades before Ghost In the Shell This is not a criticism but a mention that someone else was thinking along the same lines as the creator of Ghost in The Shell. just a little earlier.
It's the Ship of Thesus thought experiment. Not to discount your own two cents, but its been around significantly longer than the 60s, at least since Plato.
@@Shatteredworld And the solution is already there.
Every human body swaps or renews it's own cells constantly, not only our skin, hair and nails but also muscle and bone. The regeneration- or renewal-span ranges from 3-4 weeks for skin up to 10 years for bones. So every human being that is older than 10 already stopped being what he was 10 years ago, since most of the cells in his body were already renewed or replaced. But for us a human being always is the human being it was it's entire life, so ideologically we subconsciously already solved Theseus's Paradox.
Metatr0n
On the other hand, neurons are rarely, if ever, replaced. And replacing the brain is the big question.
@@Appletank8 Have you ever seen your own brain?
@@Metatr0n lmaoo
I grew up with and i'm still a very big fanatic of The Ghost in the Shell Franchise. It's one of a few mayor reasons why i wanted to do something with public-, national-, or internal security and why i'm currently training to enter a police academy in my home country.
It actually changed my views on public life. It made me understand that heroes don't have to wear Camouflage and spend months, or even years thousands of miles away fighting an enemy.
Sometimes, a badge and a gun are all you need.
Fantastic video! Thank you!
Your videos are such quality. I love the respect that you have for the material you cover, and even more so, for your viewer. Keep up the great work, your voice is needed. Can't wait to see you get around to Yuasa.
can the next in the ghost shell story be about love story mayor love story
Never admire a person who hasn't invested in a pop filter.
11:03 never noticed, but what a way to take inspiration back from The Matrix after it borrowed from GitS in turn.
Brilliant! This is my favourite TH-cam video I’ve seen in 2020. Great visuals, thoughtful, excellent music, pacing, beautiful little touches. I love the 5 panels of the series next to each other. Thanks for making this.
I cannot rate Ghost in the Shell innocence enough (once you've got your head around the concepts of the GITS universe.) Surprised you focused entirely on the major though, the relationship between the mostly "human", Togusa, and the largely cybanised, Batu, is portrayed in an interesting fashion throughout the anime releases.
Batou and Togusa play off each other very well in each iteration
I think by having Togusa in the team, he "humanizes" the rest of these oddballs and misfits who would otherwise be on the fringes of a heavily cyberized society. And I consider Motoko and Batou the honorary Cool Aunt and Fun Uncle to Togusa's kids.
I've seen them in release order, and the original movie is still my favorite. I actually like the dub, too. It's very of-the-times.
Good lord. You opened with what I feel is the most moving piece of music on that soundtrack. Instant chills.
The original film was fantastic for adult viewers. But the SAC series were also great entertainment.
So glad GITS exists.
Was routinely watching that 1995 film ever since I first saw on VHS.
I love how you laid it out with the recommended watch order with the covers tucked together and grouped into 4 neat sections, well done sir. This is just what I was looking for.
As haunting and beautiful the original GITS score is, Yoko Kano’s SAC score is awesome!
Yoko Kano is the best. Each of her scores is magical.
And I may add, she is one of the (if not THE) the most versatile composers these days. I own nearly all of the soundtracks she composed so far for anime shows, movies, games and so on (there are dozens). This woman is absolutely brilliant!
I agree! Also really impressive imo especailly with how powerful the original scores are. I think Cyberbird is probably my favorite track from the SAC series.
Steffen Jachnow can’t agree more, she is one the best composers. Usually people talks about Williams, Zimmer, Giacchino, Desplat.... completely overlooking the rest of the world, Yoko Kanno is definitely among the giants of scoring.
stand alone complex is where i was introduced and it fed my hunger for this genre as ... its amazing the thought processes of the creators and the creator are just laid bare
I love Ghost in the shell stand alone complex and sec gig. Ah so many memories watching this on Saturday nights and the laughing man was one of my favorite parts in the series.
I was blown away by the complex storyline and the concepts that series dealt with. It felt so much more mature and thought-out than 90% of live-action SciFi on TV at the time.
@@BrokenCurtain I had an on-and-off conversation with another fan of the franchise over the Internet for 7 months about questions, ideas and paradoxes there. When we felt we couldn't continue due to issues on both sides we've calculated statistics: we'd spent about 200 hours on it without counting the background checks with the sources, covered around 60% of the topics and made our conclusions on 10% of them, with an estimate that we need at least 10x more time to cover pretty much everything, and that was before Arise came out.
I've watched this, now and then over the years. And to this day, the statement holds true. That it's been ahead of it's time, that it's more relevant than ever. Even your take and narration gives the franchise the honor and praise it deserves. I really liked the live action as well (with a pinch of salt). I wholly agree on the order of how to watch, and the fact you could switch it around or skip things. Much respect from me and I'll enjoy rewatching the retrospective again at some point. Fantastic writing on your part by the way.
Lithium Flower is such a fucking phenomenal track for the show :')
This is going in my "best videos" playlist lol
Absolutely inspiring.... Thank you so much.
Hello from France, stay safe!
Well done! This is the first time I've seen someone understand what GITS is on the whole. Each re-imagining is something new yet still the same which is the core component of the whole manga.
I can never get enough of Section 9 and the Major.
This video was thoroughly informative and entertaining!
Beautiful. Thank you for this.
"...that are used for backup, transport, and...somehow...stealth ops..." XD
Nice video, thank you. After about 23 years I watched GITS (The original anime from 1995) again, some days ago and at the moment this movie is the deepest work of human culture to me. Especially the theme song with its lyrics, chant and melody has burnt into my deepest brain areas and is very intense to me. Also the philosophical and existential questions it raises keep me bothered.
I whish all of you a nice life and also a nice existence. : )
Completely agree that SAC is the best and easiest to access version
I've been looking for an excuse to revisit the world of GITS and that may be the ticket. Having never watched SAC I'm appreciating this seconded opinion.
This was so comprehensive and passionate about Ghost in the Shell, im gonna go watch those animes rn!
Thanks for the great overview and the obvious work you poured into it!
Thank you for producing this retrospective on one of my absolute favorite manga/anime/live stories ever!!! I simply love the content for what it is, an introspection on the human consition and always asking the question "what am I??, what makes me, me??' the dialogue alone is far more compelling and interesting than 99 present of what is out there. That and the fact that Ghost in the Shell is truly timeless in this respect.
My first BG video. "lets see what its like" also me "this person UNDERSTANDS GitS and is correct about everything!"
"[...]and is correct about everything!"
Except the part about Ghost in the Shell 2017 being an OK movie...
GitS is my absolute all time favourite Medium of ALL TIME. Beating LOTR, and everything absolutely EVERYTHING ELSE!
Good stuff man. Came up in my suggested. Huge fan of the franchise. Subscribed.
I actually came to Ghost in the Shell through S.A.C. when Adult Swim first aired them in the US and was hooked. It is still my favorite iteration because it pulls you in and immerses you in every way: animation, voice acting, writing and music (the soundtrack/score was put together by the brilliant Yoko Kanno of Cowboy Bebop fame).
I've had somewhat similar experience with first viewing of GitS. I was in my teen years, I've watched it because I kept hearing that The Matrix had borrowed many concepts from here. After the viewing, I thought to myself, what a pile of shit. That was like 15 years ago. I've grown significantly in all aspects of my personality since then (my penis too, of course, increased in size). And I was finally able to appreciate the beauty and depth of the 1995 movie. Now it is one of my favorite pieces of anime media, along with Wolf Children, Papurika and some of Miazaki's work.
The ax scene at the beginning is from a movie called John Dies at the End. It's kind of like the stoner version of Donnie Darko. It's not the kind of film that winds up on people's best movies ever list, but I do recommend it.
I cut my anime fan teeth on the '95 movie and when SAC came out, for me, it was a perfect adaptation of the Manga I had been reading since.
Fantastic video and you've convinced me to check out the new film as well. Thank you and keep doing Grods work.
goosebumps on the first 5 seconds of sound.. the soundtrack is still miles away from any other one..
Excellent work! Thank you for posting.
this was the only video that got me to watch stand alone complex and arise, very different from other videos. thanks!
Stand alone is amazing, l admit and yes l agree for a newbie to Ghost! It's a great place to start.
But as for me my first experience with Ghost was to watch the 95 movie which captured my imagination, and my desire to want a movie that gave you more! And differently took you out of your comfort zone.
But hay! Thats why we watch anime and read manga right.
Not really a fan of the live action movie! But l appreciate the work, and the effort they but into it.
Love your channel by the way!
Keep up the good work.
Many thanks
Moira
From England.
Agreed. Its the movie that really hooks you into wanting to know more about the Major and everything else. I don't think I would have watched Stand Alone Complex, if I hadn't already watched the first Ghost In The Shell and its sequel.
I need to rewatch SAC again after all those years....
Also, good use of the avatar :p
Good introduction. Now I have to get hold of Arise!
One disagreement though: do NOT watch the dubbed version of StandAloneComplex. The original voice acting is on a whole other level. I love the way the japanese Motokos low affect makes her feel not only detached, but slightly depressed, even in the middle of mindblowing action sequences. While her 2ic Batou comes across as a lighthearted scoundrel. Which makes it striking and interesting when they break character. But the american dubs... sounds as if the directors only directions was along ”No, more badass! C’mon you re a totalbadass! Take charge, be tough! You’re still not getting it: this line needs MORE BADASS!” If found it unlistenable.
I turned on the subtitles with my second viewing and enjoyed it a lot more.
Definitely! The Japanese voice actors in this show are absolutely top-notch!
The dub for SAC is all I ever watch or recommend as its top class stuff, I would say it matches or even surpasses the sub. To discredit the dub of that show is unfair. If someone tried to tell me the dub for SAC wasnt as good as the sub I would consider them a weeb and lack taste.
I really like the 2017 film, not because i think its any where near the quality of the 95 film, but because its more of tribute to the entire franchise. It has the action of SAC, visual cues and scenes from 95, and some costume and designs from ARISE. I dont think its meant to be the "definitive" version. Its meant to be a getaway and a love letter. Its really underrated.
No it really isn't. Its not a tribute, it is simply a copycat without any originality in itself. A shell without a ghost so to speak. They stolen everything together because they had nothing of value to add to it.
I am Batou looking for my Major! Alas, my search continues.
Section 9 I'm the major looking for a battlefield..
Your analysis is so good. I never tire of watching any iteration of this series. However I think that SAC and the 1995 movie have equal artistic weight
Theseus Dilemma: If all the parts of GitS are replaced, is it still GitS? Bahaha.
I think the weakest part of GitS 2017 is that the question of human identity is reduced (?) to a more individualistic, perhaps postmodernist quest. The question why we have an identity at all is side-stepped by a shift of focus onto the self-creation of the individual in the face of corporate exploitation.
not really. it was a replay of hollywood"s message of YOU are special ala neo scriptwriting pandered to us moviegoers since the 80s.
ya look pretty.
@@ruhurtin4squrtin34 A blatant appeal to individualism, nothing more.
The Hollywood movie is not GitS. It is really a RoboCop remake with aesthetics borrowed from a better anime.
Not that RoboCop is a bad movie. And it needed a more modern remake.
@@davidwuhrer6704 I personally don't like RoboCop, it's way too cheesy for me, even with all it's serious moments.
I love ghost, the wedding song is so iconic. I had a uncle who sent me this movie from over seas in 95. He was a nut for it and it made me one too.
You are honestly amazing, this is one of my favs from you. I love all the music choices you made
Thank you :) Choosing the right music from any given work is one of the things that takes the most time when making these - especially when Ghost in the Shell has SO MANY (AMAZING) SOUNDTRACKS!! - so I'm so glad you got a kick out of it :D
@@BeyondGhibli Hi im 2 years late to the party, just wondering what's the tune at 3:50?
I just watched this again about 5 hrs. ago. It will always be 1 of my favorites and 1st animes along with Ninja Scroll and the series Crying Freeman.
excellent delve into the world of Ghost in the Shell Joe. I'm glad that you recommended SAC first, because when you said "The one I would recommend you'd start with first" I was thinking to myself "Say SAC, say SAC, tell them to start with SAC", haha.
EmpathP ..I agree 🎥📐📏🎬Thanx. to VideoJoe,, for gr8 insights and uploads,, heck I just saw this channel for the first time tonight and instantly subscribed,,,
and by the way yes if someone's wondering where to start w/ Ghost in the Shell they need to start with SAC \stand alone complex,,,
because in a way it makes me think of Cowboy Bebop... such that you get weekly visual animated worlds that in some ways surpass other animated series,
in technical an artistic modes, & at the same time it gives you the fun of all the little moments and quirks that they don't have time for in a movie where everything has to wrap up in an hour and a half. 🎥📡🔧🔭🎧🎨
I read this on a blog and I'm so glad I did. That's where I started and it made watching the movie a better experience.
Hello CutiePie As an anime & music fan who grew up in the 70s, I've got to ask about ur avatar : ? : it's very Bowie-esque 🎯📡🎼🚀🍺🍸
no you start w shirow's manga. it's a tough read but way better than crap sac series.
@@ruhurtin4squrtin34 I'd love to hear you try to quantify that assertion. SAC is by all measures a good series. It is possible to not like something without it having to be terrible and feeling the need to tear it down.
I find the manga far too puerile and unnecessarily raunchy but that doesn't make it bad by any means.
Had a modded PlayStation just to be able to play that first GITS on a burned DVD. Good old days. Maps and wall navigation were so fun. It had a badass driving techno soundtrack tooo
Great video = ) just a small thing: You are missing out on the overal complex situation of section 9 being more or less a grey area instrument of an controlling distopian government and by her actions the major herself is not a clearcut "good guy"in this, we as the viewers see these conflicts from the viewpoint of a government agent and should thus be pretty critical of the "true" narration presented. But i understand that the scope of this video and its focus is on the identity and its massive implications throughout the series.
The themes that SAC played with- cyberterrorism, geopolitical turf wars, refugee crises, and rapidly evolving infections- have all been pretty damn relevant lately
Brilliant short doc. GitS is a legendary metaseries, and one of my all time faves in any medium.
I’ve watch almost every iteration of this franchise and own all of the video product this franchise has to offer including the two of it related stories of the Laughing man and The Individual Eleven. I’ve yet to watch them. I started with the original theatrical feature length movie in 95. You mentioned the sound effects as being something you really enjoyed and appreciated. The thing I truly enjoyed are the OST and the tracks sung by the late Oringa. Those are classic and when played evokes the whole series creating a desire to rewatch any of the full length movies and or the episodic series. It’s integral to creating and establishing the mood in which this time period takes place.
Any chance we could get a list of the songs used in this video?
I'm heart broken for the time that was lost... I've only just now stumbled across this channel... it's dripping with culture (the succor I was missing). 💛
Holy crap, this might be your best video yet! The intro with Nightstalker leading up to your Beyond Ghibli logo and that sitcom scene had me hooked! I love your thorough approach to discussing Ghost in the Shell; I’ve never seen a video that talks about the manga, 1995 movie, SAC, Arise, AND the 2017 movie. I didn’t think I could appreciate Ghost in the Shell even more, and you’ve motivated me to check out SAC. And as always, I love the self-deprecation at the end. Can’t wait for your next video!
Eric Cota digibro's series overview of GITS also talks about all of the iterations of the franchise. But it's more focus on the series structure and creative minds behind the franchise. You can check that out if you want.
Thank you so much Eric, glad you liked this one :) let me know how you get on with SAC!!
This was just great. I 100% agree with your choice of watching ghost in the shell for the new watchers. The original movie was just mind blowing for its time and the animation is still amazing. I always liked the old style hand drawn animation myself.
I plan on one day getting the manga.
Another fantastically made video!
GITS is probably in the top 5 best mangas of all time. 20 years later, it still made my mind go wild. Thanks for your analysis.
You forgot the movie innocent this kinda follow the first one in that the major ghost lives in cyberspace. Has all the other members of section nine involved. it was title ghost in the Shell 2 innocent and in Japan mobile armored Riot police innocent. Release in 2006.
it's called solid state society in us.
@@ruhurtin4squrtin34 Solid State Society is the 3rd installment. In the US the movie was just called "Innocence". The name "Armored Riot Police" is also never used in english, it's merely the translation of the original name "Koukaku Kidoutai".
Sorry, the GitS 2 movie "Innocence" and "Solid State Society" are two completely different movies! Don't confuse the two, they bother have different plots, music and directors! I know because I got them both on me anime shelves? /;p
Wow, I only knew Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the latest movie existed (independently of course, haven't seen the movie tho).
The show was amazing, definitely more complex than your basic show as a child but definitely worth it.
Wow, I forgot about the spider mechs!
I would have preferred a no name actress to play the major over Scarlett, but I still enjoyed the movie nonetheless.
Excellent comprehensive analysis of the Ghost of the Shell franchise.
Finally! Someone who agrees the live action movie was pretty damn ok.
Yeah. I was a fan of the OG movie and SAC and it did a pretty decent job of hitting the best moments of both. I did not walk out of the theater feeling I had been robbed.
As someone who's never seen ANY of the material, I'm honestly tempted to watch the live action movie first, that way, nostalgia doesn't blind me.
It would be a waste though, if the live action movie turns you off from the other adaptations, though I don't suspect it will since you have watched this video.
Scar joe definitely looks like the major if she was real. She especially resembles the anime stand alone complex version. If she had been Japanese she wouldn’t have looked right. Her character was drawn that way and scar joe looks that way sooo.
@beyondghibli Thank you so much for doing a video on Ghost in the Shell. I'm a old die hard fan and I have more merch than anyone I've met. And something that I've come to realize is when people stop generating content or buzz around Ghost in the Shell, there's a day I'll be sad. And the reason is found in your video. It's an amazing intriguing beautiful universe and I hope that we move closer to that reality.
There's a lot I want to say about why I love this series. Compare it to other series I love from all forms of media and show what they did "right," but for the sake of brevity, I just want to say one thing.
I put anime behind me, almost 20 years ago, and jRPG games with them. I felt there was an utter lack of imagination. The same tropes. The same characters. I felt like, for all its presentation, anime and jRPG games were shockingly shallow.
But there are standouts.
Ghost in the Shell was.... Chrono Trigger.
They established a world that wasn't a rehash of another world. A story that wasn't a rehash of another story. And, most importantly, characters that were not a rehash of other characters (or firmly rooted in character tropes).
What I crave is complex world building. A multifaceted story that, even in bizarrely fantastical environments is still fundamentally believable. Characters that don't feel like they were generated by pulling 3 key characteristics from a hat, then crossing out on a white-board a trope that needed to be filled.
And beyond all that, Ghost in the Shell is intelligent.
A lot of Japanese entertainment tries to create overly convoluted plots, usually with convoluted, entirely made up words and jargon, that are never explained decently and require watching/playing through to decipher what it all means, and then repeating it all to REALLY get what is going on.... which tends to be not as clever as the writers hoped for.
Essentially, the anime/video game equivalent of the people you know who try to use smart sounding words and esoteric references, but just look the more pathetic for the attempt.
Ghost in the Shell provided genuinely intelligent story telling, and pushed genuinely intelligent concepts.
And that's shockingly rare.
I could probably list another dozen anime and explain why they are standouts to me, and why I still go back to them despite "putting anime behind me."
And there are probably dozens, hundreds, or more, TV shows, movies, and OVAs that I should know and care about, and am oblivious to, because of moving away from the mediums. And that's my loss. And maybe one day I'll revisit the mediums and find gems I should have always known of.
But, for the sake of argument, that's what makes Ghost in the Shell special, and why my utterly lack of enthusiasm for anime has, in no way, dulled my love for it (and other shows).
It did things right.
Thank you for a well developed and considered piece of work. Ghost In The Shell performs at a technological level what the traditional Sanskrit "Neti Neti" student practice performed in wisdom development. Neti Neti ( or Not This, Not That ) was a traditional vehicle given to beginning students to "see" into the reality of what and who they are by the systematic redaction of everything that is not their fundamental essence of self-ness, think the "Ship of Theseus", except it is the ship that is asking the questions about its own parts. GITS brings this question into sharp focus at a personal and societal level by the introduction of a technology that forces the question of essence.
Motoko Kusanagi has been fully cyberized from a very young age, she has not "grown" in the ordinary sense of that word. Instead at some point technology determined it was appropriate for her to be transferred to a larger frame with greater functionality. At the same time she lives in a world where she is in constant contact with highly developed "smart systems" ( loosely defined as AI's ) that act human-ish and that use the same style and type of body frame she uses.
In many places of the various incarnations of this story-line the concept of memory is used as the final arbitrator of the essence of being, but this is also called into question when the technology transform memory into mere data that can be manipulated or outright deleted, the case of the garbage collector in the original film version comes to my mind.
There is no answer to the question behind GITS, other than to say that who we believe we are is a collection of processes we rarely inspect or understand and for many it is a personal Pandora's box that for the vast majority of individuals, is preferred to be kept closed.
I just discovered your channel great work I'm curious to know your thoughts on other Anime properties such as Vampire Hunter D and Afro Samurai - thanks again for all your great content
For those who don't know, the paradox of Theseus' Ship has been first properly addressed in the statement by Heraclitus: "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." He also said that the only constant is change. Basically, there are two distinct notions that our mode of thinking mashes together: identity and continuity. Because our way of perception works within the confines of a top-down understanding of life regarding multicellular organisms (to put it simply, we are raised in a way that makes us separate things by the way they look and we can point at, so we think of the people around us and of ourselves as the bodies we all inhabit), and which is shared in our perceptions of objects (again, we define objects originally as visibly distinct bodies), it follows that identity is tied to the physicality of the material towards which it points - but the physical is inherently ephemeral and changes constantly, even in small and subtle ways; how does one rectify this? Simply put, because identity cannot therefore be perfect, we parallel identity, a mental construction that lets us model the world in our heads, with continuity, the physical state of ever-changing matter arranged in a mostly-consistent manner.
Now let us reexamine the river quote: a river is identified as a body of water; however, the water in the river is *_constantly_* changing: it is flowing down the river, so that we might better understand a river as a part of the physical landscape which has a variable amount of water flowing through it, rather than an actual, distinct object, and nobody would disagree with that or find it odd or surprising. But then that means that the river is never the same! So here we can see the great lie we tell ourselves for our convenience: the river is never the same, and even stepping into it has ipso facto changed the river. So you see that *_identity_* is a model to describe *_continued arrangement._* That's the answer to the paradox. You can call the axe the same, or you could call it different, and both would be correct in different senses.
I'd reckon the Live Action GitS should be watched the last, not because of the fanservice moments, but because of its philosphical themes that built upon what came before. Conceptually, Ghost in the Shell questions the "Ghost" in the "Shell", which is fair if newcomers expect to see that, but you don't exactly get that in the LA because it's exploring something else entirely, which could leave newcomers scratching their heads and feeling empty. The LA does its own thing and focuses on "identity" instead of "individuality" and "soul" like other iterations, in the standoff between Mira Killian, Motoko Kusanagi, and The Major. Are identities tied to memories? Can the shell affect the ghost? Is The Major the same person as who she was before even if her body no longer allows for it? Is sexual identity physical or mental (ghost or shell)? There's even a racial angle to the identity question. All these questions would require the knowledge of how concepts presented in 95 and SAC to fully appreciate; watching the LA first would be like learning Physics before Maths. It technically is a standalone, but its complexity warrants previous knowledge.
Ps. The LA gets a very neutered release on the Blu-Ray, with cropped image and lower contrast. Only the 3D Blu-Ray has the original quality presented in theaters, so go for that.
It also includes a dub using the original Japanese voice cast from the anime - this probably sounds crazy but for a big gtis fanboy it's actually my preferred way to watch the film! Also - the film was shot for 3D quite specifically, and the cinematography really shines if you can watch it this way. The 2d version can look a bit flat, pun unintended.
not really. it was a replay of hollywood"s message of YOU are special
ala neo scriptwriting pandered to us moviegoers since the 80s.
I am glad that gits had a live action remake if only because without it I never would have heard about this amazing series.
I would love to see you break down Welcome to the NHK
Absolutely agree that the S.A.C. series is the best to start with, and also my favorite Major. And the only criticism I have for your videos are that I wish they were longer. Excellent work.
Lol the first time i watched GitS SAC i was like 11 years old and i remember watching the episode where the major basically propositions an 11 year old boy for sex and he totally chickened out and i was just screaming "you chicken shit! Do it!!"
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I really liked the live action adaptation, literally the only live action anime adaptation ive ever liked, Kuze's unhinged and desperate nature really shook me. Like when he screamed "defense of self" while justifying his killings; furthering the question, how human do you have to be for human rights. Might not have quite the nuance of the other media, but its more than a hollywood cashgrab, people who made it actually cared.
The live action movie is a fun one. I love it. It's a shame that people got caught up on the casting of a cybernetic shell.
If I may, the recent Bleach live action movie is good. They basically condense the first season into a movie. If you haven't seen it and like Bleach, i suggest checking it out. If you have seen it, what are your thoughts on it?