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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a Japanese anime television series produced by Production I.G and based on Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell. It was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, with original character design by Hajime Shimomura and a soundtrack by Yoko Kanno. The first season aired from October 2002 to October 2003 and was positively received by critics. A second season, titled Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig, aired from January 2004 to January 2005. Critical response to the series was generally positive.

The series centers on the members of an elite law enforcement unit known as Public Security Section 9 as they investigate cybercrime and terrorism cases; the cases in the first season often are connected to their pursuit of an elite "Super Class A" hacker and corporate terrorist known only as "The Laughing Man", whose actions end up creating the series' titular "Stand Alone Complex". A series of associated short comic animations, titled Tachikomatic Days, aired after each episode. These shorts star the Tachikoma "think-tanks" from the main series, and they typically relate directly to the story of the preceding Stand Alone Complex episode.

The first season was adapted into a feature-length OVA titled The Laughing Man, which was released in 2005. The series also received video game spin-offs for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and mobile phones. 2nd Gig was also later adapted into a feature-length OVA entitled Individual Eleven, which was released in 2006. Solid State Society, a TV-film sequel to the Stand Alone Complex series, was also released in that year. An original net animation (ONA) series installment titled Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 was formally announced in December 2018 and the first season was released on Netflix on 23 April 2020. The second season was released on 23 May 2022. Both seasons consist of 12 episodes each, with Kenji Kamiyama directing one season, and Shinji Aramaki directing the other season.

The series takes place in the year 2030, where many people have become cyborgs with prosthetic bodies. Primarily set in New Port City (新浜市, Niihama-shi), in the fictional Japanese prefecture of Niihama (新浜県, Niihama-ken), the series follows the members of Public Security Section 9, a special-operations task-force made up of former military officers and police detectives. While the group investigates various crimes, both seasons feature ongoing investigations into two incidents that embroil the group in corruption within other branches of the Japanese government.

The first season of Stand Alone Complex focuses on the Laughing Man incident, wherein a hacktivist ultimately reveals to Major Motoko Kusanagi that he had discovered that several micromachine manufacturing corporations, in association with the Japanese government, suppressed information on an inexpensive cure to a debilitating cyberization disease in order to profit from the more expensive micromachine treatment. Following this, he abducted one of the owners of the company and attempted to force him to reveal the truth on live television, resulting in the hacker live-hacking everyone's vision and cameras at the event to cover his face with the stylized laughing face logo that became synonymous with his image.

His popularity spawned several genuine imitators, resulting in the series' titular Stand Alone Complex. After an investigation by the authorities causes him to resurface in the present, Section 9 discovers these companies and several Japanese politicians later used the Laughing Man's image to garner public support and profit, and they begin a campaign, spearheaded by Togusa and the Major, to disseminate the truth. This ultimately leads to the Cabinet labeling them as domestic terrorists and forcibly disbanding them, resulting in the capture of several members and Kusanagi's apparent death. However, it is all a ruse to deceive the government, and the very alive and well members of Section 9 regroup to bring the micromachine corporations and corrupt politicians to justice, resulting in the dissolution of the current Japanese government.

The second season, 2nd Gig, set two years after the events of the first season, explores the political and social ramifications of the two world wars that took place prior to the events of the series. At the time of the Third and the Fourth World Wars, about three million Asians became refugees and were invited into Japan as a source of cheap labor. These "invited refugees", based on the reclaimed island of Dejima, soon became unemployed in the post-war period, and their social unrest borders on outright war.

Section 9's involvement in the refugee issue begins after they successfully stop a hostage crisis caused by a domestic terrorist group known as the Individual Eleven, after which newly elected Prime Minister Yoko Kayabuki officially reinstates the organization. The group seems to be modeling themselves after the May 15 Incident, where a group of naval officers assassinated the Prime Minister and then gained the support of the public, and hope to stir up the refugees' spirits by fighting for them against the Japanese government.

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