Ghost in the Shell[a] is a 1995 anime cyberpunk film based on the m...
ghost in the shell stand al...
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex[b] 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,[c] aired from January 2004 to January 2005. A new ONA anime series installment titled Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045[d] was formally announced in December 2018 and the first season was released on Netflix on April 23, 2020. The second season will release at a later date.[5][6][7] Both seasons will consist of 12 episodes each, with Kenji Kamiyama directing one season, and Shinji Aramaki directing the other season.[4]
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.[8] Solid State Society, a TV-film sequel to the Stand Alone Complex series, was also released in that year.[9]
The series takes place in the year 2030, where many people have become cyborgs with prosthetic bodies. Primarily set in the fictional Japanese city of Niihama, Niihama Prefecture (新浜県新浜市, Niihama-ken Niihama-shi), 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 the Major 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.[8]
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Wikipedia