title_name=Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (1st GiG)
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Batou and a Tachikoma
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攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX
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Mobile Armoured Riot Police: STAND ALONE COMPLEX<br />or Kōkaku Kidōtai: Stand Alone Complex
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Postcyberpunk
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Masamune Shirow
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Animanga/Anime| Information
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''Note: This page is about the first season of '''', which goes by the same name as the show as a whole. For the show as a whole, see that page.
is an .''"
'''
''''It is a time when, even if nets were to guide''
''all consciousness that had been converted to''
''photons and electrons towards coalescing,''
''standalone individuals have not yet been''
''converted into data to the extent that they can form
''unique components of a larger complex.'' '''''
Taking place in a fictional city of Japan called "Niihama-shi" (
New Port City ) in the year
2030 , ''Stand Alone Complex'' tells the story of a special operations task-force called Public Security Section 9, or simply "Section 9". The series follows the exploits of Section 9's agents who range from ex-military to ex-police to even ex-mafia as they address each case and how it affects them on a personal level, eventually leading to the mysterious figure dubbed by the media as "
The Laughing Man ."
Public Security Section 9 is an elite domestic anti-crime unit charged with the task of preemptive prevention of technology-related acts of terrorism and crime. Their duties include response to serious cyber crimes (i.e.
Cyberbrain hacking,
Cyber-terrorism ), investigation of unlawful acts of those in public office and of high profile murder cases. From time to time they also serve as protection to foreign VIPs.
While the characters themselves are
Carryover s, this is not a re-telling of the popular
Manga . In this telling of the story, the character of Major Motoko Kusanagi (草薙素子 ''Kusanagi Motoko'') has not met the net-lifeform called Puppet Master, or
Project 2501 , as detailed in the movie adaptation. Literary references include ''
Flowers For Algernon '', the ''
Nine Stories '' written by Salinger, and, more importantly, ''
The Catcher In The Rye ''.
- The "Laughing Man" plot that runs through the series refers to the political corruption scandals of the 1980s in Japan, but is primarily based on the Glico-Morinaga Case , a famous extortion case that remains unsolved and its elusive figure, " The Monster With 21 Faces ", whose name comes from the villain of a detective novel by Edogawa Rampo .
- The Laughing Man is also a short story by J.D. Salinger .
- The text on the Laughing Man's logo, "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes", is a quote from "The Catcher in the Rye".
- In episode 1, the Minister of Foreign Affairs attempts to read an encrypted document. Around the pupils of his cyberneticly enhanced eyes reads 'Made in Germany... Carl Zeiss'. Carl Zeiss (1816-1888) was a famous German Optician who pioneered several camera technologies. It is also a tribute to Cyberpunk classic/precursor William Gibson who used eye implants by Carl Zeiss in his short story Burning Chrome (1984) .
- In episode 2, the weapons designer Takeshi Kago, who dies because of religious stigma and is later 'reborn' inside his latest creation, draws a parallel against Takeshi Kaga , a famous Japanese actor known for his role as Jesus in the broadway rock opera '' Jesus Christ Superstar '', although he is mostly known now for his "Chairman Kaga" persona on '' Iron Chef ''.
- In episode 3, the Jeri android is modelled after Jean Seberg , an actress who appeared in many of Jean-Luc Godard 's films. Dialogue from '' Breathless '' is quoted verbatim by MacLachlan and the Jeri throughout the episode, while some of Godard 's other films, such as '' Alphaville, Une étrange Aventure De Lemmy Caution '' are mentioned in the episode.
- In one scene of episode 3, an interviewer speculates that the androids committing suicide are gaining "Ghosts" similar to a certain sci-fi comic of the past. This is a reference to Masamune Shirow's original manga, '' Ghost In The Shell ''.
- In episode 4, the voice-activated image viewing/enhancing machine which Togusa uses is a clear imitation of a device of the same function used by the protagonist in the popular Cyberpunk film '' Bladerunner ''.
- The president of the Meditech company in episode 8 is described by Togusa as having a " Jameson-style Cyberbody ". The character's appearance is a reference to Professor Jameson , an early cyborg hero from Pulp Magazines whose brain was implanted into a steel box and moved around on four legs.
- In episode 9, the recorded logs that continuously transcript the chat room participants' conversation are heavily based off the bulletin board system used by 2channel , the Japanese mega-forum.
- The title of episode 10, "A Perfect Day for a Jungle Cruise," is taken from the script of the world famous Walt Disney theme park ride Jungle Cruise of which each boat captain has memorized. The ride takes the patron on a tour through Asia, Africa and South America.
- Also in episode 10, when Togusa and the others are arresting Marco, there is Graffiti on the wall which reads ''STARFUCKS'' (only up to the ''U'' is shown). This is a reference to the real-life Coffee House Starbucks .
- Episode 11 features a character, the mental health facility's administrator, who is modelled after actress Louise Fletcher , who is most famous for her role as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film version of '' One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest ''.
- In Episode 12, in the background of the theatre is a poster that says "Go See BananaFish!", a reference to the short story '' A Perfect Day For Bananafish '' by J. D. Sallinger, which is printed in the same collection as "The Laughing Man".
- In Episode 12, Miki mentions the story of "The Secret Goldfish". It was about a little child that wouldn't let anyone look at his goldfish because he bought it with his own money. This is a reference to "Catcher in the Rye" where Holden states that his brother, D.B., had written "The Secret Goldfish".
- In the first spoken line in episode 14, the Chinese assassin intentionally misquotes the first line from Karl Marx 's '' The Communist Manifesto '', substituting it with "the spectre of capitalism".
- In episode 15, when one of the Tachikoma units begins to address the other units, it is a part taken from the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell where the wise pig, Old Major, shares a dream of revolution with his fellow farm animals.
- Episode 15 also has Batou's Tachikoma talking amongst the other Tachikomas about being his exclusive machine and the damage from Batou using natural oil has resulted in it being customized. The Tachikoma then makes a comment that he should be painted red and have a command antenna installed, using a wrench as an example. This is an homage to Char Aznable of '' Mobile Suit Gundam '' fame, who piloted red mecha with a distinctive antenna attached to the head.
- During Episode 15 there is a scene where Batou and Major are discussing the Tachikomas' odd behaviour in a soundproof/electromagnetically sealed room. Sensing that the Tachikomas are stealthily watching and reading their lips, they intentionally talk out of synch of their lips. This scene is obviously a nod to '' where Bowman and Poole discuss the possiblity that HAL 9000 might be malfunctioning from the soundproof cockpit of a space pod while the computer reads their lips, therefore being aware of their intention to disable HAL's higher mental functions. The computer terminals in the sealed room in which Batou and the Major speak closely resemble HAL's distinctive, single-lense console from the movie.
- In episode 16, the subtitle Ag2O is the chemical symbol for Silver Oxide (tarnished silver). This is a reference to the Olympic silver medalist turned spy Zaitsev.
- The scene where the laughing man incident originally took place bears an almost exact resemblance to the Hachiko exit of the JR Shibuya Station .
- In episode 26, when Togusa is sitting on a bus, wondering whether Kusanagi is really dead, just before he actually voices this thought, she can be seen in a passing bus. Alternatively, this event might aid in the uncertainty of Kusanagi's death by suggesting her body is so common, she might be impossible to find.
- Also in episode 26, When Togusa returns to his home and collects his spare gun, rather than another Mateba M2008, his standard revolver, it is a M2006, the same model of Mateba revolver his character used in the 1995 film. Other than using the same basic characters, this is one of very few concrete links to the 1995 film in the series. Others include the SWAT police uniforms and the net-diving stations at Section 9 HQ.
- Near the end of episode 26, when Motoko is on her way to meet the Laughing Man, the railing on which her hands rest has graffiti which reads ''FUCK YOU'', which is a reference to a chapter in ''The Catcher in the Rye.'' This shot was cut from the Cartoon Network broadcast.
- Again in episode 26, when Motoko meets the Laughing Man he has a hat with his name in it. This is arguably another reference to ''The Catcher in the Rye'' and Holden's Red Hunting Cap.
# "
Inner Universe " by Origa
# "GET9" by Jillmax (Japanese Rerun Opening)
# "Lithium Flower" by Scott Matthew
# "I Do" by Ilaria Graziano (Japanese Rerun Ending)
''Inner Universe'' is composed by the iconic anime composer
Yoko Kanno . As she does in most of her works, Kanno uses an amalgam of several languages for her lyrics; in this case,
Russian and
English are used. The vocals are sung by Russian vocalist
Origa , featuring boy soprano
Benedict Delmaestro .
''Lithium Flower'' is the ending
Theme song. Sung by
Scott Matthew and written by
Yoko Kanno , it is a mixture of several music types (as is frequently Yoko Kanno's style). The lyrics to this song can be found
here .
''Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex''
# Yakitori
# Stamina Rose (with Gabriela Robin)
# Surf
# Where Does This Ocean Go? (with Ilaria Graziano)
# Train Search
# Siberian Doll House (with Gabriela Robin)
# Velveteen (with Ilaria Graziano)
# Lithium Flower (with Scott Matthew)
# Home Stay
# Inner Universe (with Origa and Benedict Delmaestro)
# Fish - Silent Cruise (with Benedict Delmaestro)
# Some Other Time (with Gabriela Robin)
# Beauty Is Within Us (with Chris Mosdell)
# We're the Great
# Monochrome (with Ilaria Graziano)
# GET9
Size (with Jillmax) (included in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV Single only)
# Rise
Size (with Origa) (included in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV Single only)
# Inner Universe
Size (with Origa and Benedict Delmaestro) included in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST+ only)
''Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Vol. 2''
# Rise (with Origa)
# Ride on Technology
# Idiling
# I Can't Be Cool (with Ilaria Graziano)
# 3Tops
# Gonna Rice
# GET9 (with Jillmax)
# Go da Da
# Psychedelic Soul (with Scott Matthew)
# What's It For? (with Emily Curtis)
# Living Inside the Shell (with Shanti Snyder and Chris Mosdell)
# Pet Food
# Security Off
# To Tell the Truth
# I Do (with Ilaria Graziano)
# We Can't Be Cool
''Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Vol. 3''
# Torukia (with Gabriela Robin)
# Know Your Enemy
# Laser Seeker
# Break Through
# Flying Low
# Europe
# Hantou No Higashi (East Of The Peninsula)
# Mikansei Love Story
# Christmas In The Silent Forest (with Ilaria Graziano)
# Access All Areas
# Sacred Terrorist
# Dear John (with Scott Matthew)
# 35.7c
# Smile
# Flashback Memory Plug (also known as Flashback Memory Stick) (with Origa and Benedict Delmaestro)
# Dew (with Ilaria Graziano)
