Masamune Shiro... the man is a genius. And the people who took up the torch are no joke either! Im currently watching S.A.C.

The people who put this together study their shit! References to books and ways of thinking... very deep. Lots of idealism to interoperate. The episodes have alot of meat... there is many things that make you think. So much so that you'll likely miss alot of it. I won't elaborate too much on this yet, as I'm between episodes right now... I'll come back and see if Shoma, Raq or anyone posts something here...

While some people would certainly [try to] dismiss Ghost in the Shell's storylines' underlying metaphors and references as "psychobabble that tries to sound deep and meaningful", personally I get a kick out of stuff like that - same can be said about the Xenosaga trilogy, to an extent.

But yeah, one really needs to pay attention when watching any GITS production, otherwise this stuff will go over your head fast. Stand Alone Complex and 2nd GIG are my favorites, the orignal movie is OK while its sequel is the most difficult to follow properly. I should probably watch Innocence again.

Yea I can see why someone might say that. It does at times seem convoluted. There are many many hidden tones and themes within. I also like how they reference things in future episodes and don't spell it out. So you have to pay attention. For instance... I can't remember what episode... but Togusa went undercover to the "care ward" for kids with cyber brain issues. He ended up pushing around the Laughing Man in a wheelchair, remember. Well anyway, when he said "whos this chief?" the kid that brought up the news that the chief was coming back, said "hey pretty slick mister" Well in a few episodes after that, The Major was in a Cyber Chatroom listening to everyone speculate about the Laughing Man, well she made a comment and the host of the chatroom (wherein most people were using (bodies) that weren't theirs... disguises...) said "hey, pretty slick lady" I knew his voice was familiar and fishy that this dude had a kids voice, but when he said that I knew who he was. He wasn't a main character but rather a tether to the storyline. The show seems to have alot of things they do not spell out, this and concept of thought too. It makes you think. Thats is one of the reasons I like it so much... fortunately I haven't seen many episodes, so these for the most part are new to me. Lucky me huh?

Yea Chief Aramaki is the shit! I like him, he is so cool. Batou and the Tachikomas are a favorite of mine too. Too bad... ran searches and saw Uchikoma... which kinda reveals something DID happen to the Tachikomas... as to if there still themselves I will find out soon enough... but searching for stuff I find shit like this!

USB Tachikoma!!! WANT!

Found some papercraft... but the link was broken... Sure it looked crappy, but it's still cool! Perhaps I can modify it after I build a few.

Yea I really liked XenoSaga too. I like things with alot of detail and stuff that makes you think.

Yeah, the first Stand Alone Complex revolves rather heavily around not only the Laughing Man incident, but the Tachikomas and their circumstances as well. My favorite "characters" in SAC (probably why I like the Stand Alone Complex game so much, too).

The characters in the series are very well done and and none of the people in Section 9 really feel too much like secondary characters. Sure, people like Batou, the Major and Aramaki stand out because they're supposed to, but Togusa, Saito, etc. (and most importantly, the Tachikomas) get some time in the spotlight as well. The animation and soundtrack are top notch - a great series all in all, although I don't care much about Solid State Society because it's just a shorter re-telling of Strand Alone Complex.

Yea they balance out the story telling. Everyone gets their spotlight... well, not everyone. Borma... but upon reading a wiki to remember names, it appears some others that I was about to put here may just get an episode or something.

Good Character development. Reminds me of Heras husband Scott. He would love the shit out of this show. When he drew, he had alot of story for the individual and even more visual detail. Guns, grenades, knives, clips, pins, phones, radios, sunglasses, cigarette packs, etc. Thats what this show is like. I can see ALOT of work... an EXTREME amount of work put into this. Visually/Esthetics and story/intellectual. This show gets it done... by a land slide. It's so rare to have an anime (manga) thats good, but this damn good?! Unheard of. It totally owns most everything else. It is the bar.

Finished S.A.C. Turns out I HAVE seen most of the episodes. But thats alright. Filled in the blanks and am still impressed fully.

I enjoyed the first Ghost in the Shell. Second not so much. I tried watching it on four different occasions and just didn't get into it.

Same with Xenosaga. The first was awesome. Second ..meh.

Now... are you talking about the actual SHOW or the movie? I never seen the second movie. The series itself, was really amazing! But I've started the 2nd gig of S.A.C. and it looks as if they had more artists, and had some jobber artist do alot of the filler episodes or something. The characters lack visual depth and detail, quite unsatisfactory. Considering the detail and time put into the first.

Scott would love the series. Too bad you guys don't ever have any time to at least sit down and watch 1 episode every other day or whatever. I have a few sites I go to and the detail is pretty good, Hardly any artifacting. I lost all the great sites though. heh.

We watched the show a couple times but we just don't have time for it. I was actually talking about the movies though.

I remember seeing the first movie not long after it came out 3 or 4 times, hoping each time that I would understand it better. I had no knowledge of the manga, and actually didnt know back then what manga even was. All I knew was that it was one of the most fascinating pieces of animation I had ever seen. Then I saw Innocence and totally went WTF because it didn't seem to be a direct sequel since the major wasn't in a kid's prosthetic body. Now I've seen SAC and SAC 2nd Gig and OMG it helped so much. Both series explain so much about the universe for those who have never even picked up the manga that by the end of episode 11 your totally hooked. Between this and the Appleseed franchise, I believe Shirow san is right up there with Katsuhiro Otomo. Fricken great stuff...

I found the first movie really boring, but I liked the way it looks. I'm more of an art oriented type a guy. I like the show though.