Yes, I have. Well, so far I'm ok with the new artstyle & music but I deliberately lower my expectations about the show in general for two reasons:
1) first, the director. He worked on numerous projects as an animator: for example, he was a weapon designer for Jin-Roh, which is one of your favourite animes as far as I get ;) however, he never directed anything except for one TV-special. Arise is his first big work, that's why you can expect literally anything: from an epic win to an epic fail;
2) second, because lowering expectations before watching is always a better policy than getting hyped. That's why, I'll be content if this show reaches the level of Solid State Society.
Well, it's one of my personal favourites as I mentioned already ;) I would easily put it among the top-10 best and most influential animes ever created.
Speaking of the 2nd GIG:
- the animation got quality upgrade and a little darker look;
- the soundtrack IMO is even better than in the 1st season;
- the characterization is immensely better because Section 9 members receive more spotlight; because there're a couple of new characters introduced; but most importantly, because the Major gets some very good development as we finally learn about her past and witness a certain serious drama involving her and the guy from her past. Romance subplot FTW! ;)
However, there's one controversial point here, and that's the story. It has less stand-alone episodes so the main plotline is longer and aims for more epic scales as it switches from philosophy to politics and involves grand schemes, separatism, nuclear weapons and many other things. The issue is this plotline IMO is much less original & exciting than the Laughing Man's story because it feels like a typical Hollywood blockbuster. Ironically, that's exactly the reason why many people liked the 2nd season more than the first ;) So, it's a matter of personal taste more than anything.
As for Solid State Society, it's not outstanding but pretty good for a TV-special (I wish all TV-specials were that good actually) and it works well as a conclusion for the trilogy and a tribute to the 1995 movie because it repeats some of its aspects. Besides, it contains a certain moment I consider the most thrilling in all GITS SAC animes, but I won't go into detail to avoid spoiling.
I wasn't talking only about imagery. You see, the whole Laughing Man thing is genre-breaking to a large extent because, as you remeber, he actually played a minor role in that story. It isn't really a story about a hacker rebelling against the system - it's about how other people create a story about a hacker rebelling against the system, making him a symbol that turns out more important than the actual person and the things he did. Much like people in our world who have Che Guevara on their T-shirts with very little knowledge about who he actually was - they just put their own meaning into him as a symbol.
And you're absolutely right about the cyber aspect, but I actually mentioned that ;)
Perhaps,GITS SAC may be considered cyberpunk to a certain extent, like a brand new take on the genre. That's why I wrote at the end of my review: "GITS SAC is not cyberpunk (at least, not a classic representative of the genre)". You know, the whole point of mentioning this in the article is not to prove or abolish some definition, but to prevent the viewers from wrong expectations, especially those who watch GITS franchise chronologically, starting with Mamoru Oshii's 1995 movie. That movie is 100% classic cyberpunk not only because of the gloomy imagery or the topics discussed but because Section 9 is presented there as people doing dirty jobs that other goverment agencies never take on, which makes them outlaws to a large extent; not to mention the Major becomes one at the end of the show, taking the side of a criminal AI by merging with it. And I perfectly remeber how surprised I was when I started watching the series after the movie: it almost felt wrong in comparison with the serious & enthralling atmosphere of the movie, looking like a typical action show with fanservice and comic relief, both intentional and unintentional (those android geishas in the first episode cracked me up quite a bit). However, eventually it turned out even better than the movie because the movie focused more on philosophical talk and production values than the actual storytelling, and GITS:SAC, on the contrary, delivered a story of such calibre that's indeed very rare for any media.
Sure, no problem.
The word "cyberpunk" contains two roots: "cyber" and "punk", because this genre describes a very gloomy world that always feautures a combination of sophisticated cybertechnologies and degrading society with low life standards ("high tech - low life" principle). Consequently, most cyberpunk stories focus on confrontation between giant corporations ruling the world and those marginalized & rebellious people of low classes (especially hackers). In case you want a specific example: there's a Hollywood movie called Johnny Mnemonic based on a homonymous novel by William Gibson who's often referred to as "the father of cyberpunk". That movie isn't really a masterpiece but it perfectly shows what classic cyberpunk is about.
Now, speaking of GITS SAC: while the "cyber" aspect is fully present in the show, the "punk" is pretty much absent:
- the world isn't really a gloomy & degrading place. In fact, it's like our world except for cutting-edge cybertechnologies and some different political realities e.g. there's no USA, but American Empire;
- the story doesn't focus on confrontation between people & corporations and doesn't possess any sort of rebellious spirit - it's more of a detective story plus philosophical commentary on society & technology;
- the main characters aren't outlaws, outcasts or whatever you call it - they hold well-respected social positions and earn quite a lot of money (just look at the Major's house & apartment).
In general, GITS SAC is not cyberpunk - it's a sci-fi action/detective revolving around cybertechnologies and sociophilosophical issues. That IMO is a much more accurate definition for this show.
Hope, I answered your question. If you have other questions, suggestions, criticism, whatever - don't hesitate to write me.
All Comments (8) Comments
1) first, the director. He worked on numerous projects as an animator: for example, he was a weapon designer for Jin-Roh, which is one of your favourite animes as far as I get ;) however, he never directed anything except for one TV-special. Arise is his first big work, that's why you can expect literally anything: from an epic win to an epic fail;
2) second, because lowering expectations before watching is always a better policy than getting hyped. That's why, I'll be content if this show reaches the level of Solid State Society.
Speaking of the 2nd GIG:
- the animation got quality upgrade and a little darker look;
- the soundtrack IMO is even better than in the 1st season;
- the characterization is immensely better because Section 9 members receive more spotlight; because there're a couple of new characters introduced; but most importantly, because the Major gets some very good development as we finally learn about her past and witness a certain serious drama involving her and the guy from her past. Romance subplot FTW! ;)
However, there's one controversial point here, and that's the story. It has less stand-alone episodes so the main plotline is longer and aims for more epic scales as it switches from philosophy to politics and involves grand schemes, separatism, nuclear weapons and many other things. The issue is this plotline IMO is much less original & exciting than the Laughing Man's story because it feels like a typical Hollywood blockbuster. Ironically, that's exactly the reason why many people liked the 2nd season more than the first ;) So, it's a matter of personal taste more than anything.
As for Solid State Society, it's not outstanding but pretty good for a TV-special (I wish all TV-specials were that good actually) and it works well as a conclusion for the trilogy and a tribute to the 1995 movie because it repeats some of its aspects. Besides, it contains a certain moment I consider the most thrilling in all GITS SAC animes, but I won't go into detail to avoid spoiling.
And you're absolutely right about the cyber aspect, but I actually mentioned that ;)
Perhaps,GITS SAC may be considered cyberpunk to a certain extent, like a brand new take on the genre. That's why I wrote at the end of my review: "GITS SAC is not cyberpunk (at least, not a classic representative of the genre)". You know, the whole point of mentioning this in the article is not to prove or abolish some definition, but to prevent the viewers from wrong expectations, especially those who watch GITS franchise chronologically, starting with Mamoru Oshii's 1995 movie. That movie is 100% classic cyberpunk not only because of the gloomy imagery or the topics discussed but because Section 9 is presented there as people doing dirty jobs that other goverment agencies never take on, which makes them outlaws to a large extent; not to mention the Major becomes one at the end of the show, taking the side of a criminal AI by merging with it. And I perfectly remeber how surprised I was when I started watching the series after the movie: it almost felt wrong in comparison with the serious & enthralling atmosphere of the movie, looking like a typical action show with fanservice and comic relief, both intentional and unintentional (those android geishas in the first episode cracked me up quite a bit). However, eventually it turned out even better than the movie because the movie focused more on philosophical talk and production values than the actual storytelling, and GITS:SAC, on the contrary, delivered a story of such calibre that's indeed very rare for any media.
The word "cyberpunk" contains two roots: "cyber" and "punk", because this genre describes a very gloomy world that always feautures a combination of sophisticated cybertechnologies and degrading society with low life standards ("high tech - low life" principle). Consequently, most cyberpunk stories focus on confrontation between giant corporations ruling the world and those marginalized & rebellious people of low classes (especially hackers). In case you want a specific example: there's a Hollywood movie called Johnny Mnemonic based on a homonymous novel by William Gibson who's often referred to as "the father of cyberpunk". That movie isn't really a masterpiece but it perfectly shows what classic cyberpunk is about.
Now, speaking of GITS SAC: while the "cyber" aspect is fully present in the show, the "punk" is pretty much absent:
- the world isn't really a gloomy & degrading place. In fact, it's like our world except for cutting-edge cybertechnologies and some different political realities e.g. there's no USA, but American Empire;
- the story doesn't focus on confrontation between people & corporations and doesn't possess any sort of rebellious spirit - it's more of a detective story plus philosophical commentary on society & technology;
- the main characters aren't outlaws, outcasts or whatever you call it - they hold well-respected social positions and earn quite a lot of money (just look at the Major's house & apartment).
In general, GITS SAC is not cyberpunk - it's a sci-fi action/detective revolving around cybertechnologies and sociophilosophical issues. That IMO is a much more accurate definition for this show.
Hope, I answered your question. If you have other questions, suggestions, criticism, whatever - don't hesitate to write me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irZ-159xsZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoAyP76KK24
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=animeatt&aid=9556&attid=8984&previewmode=1
I knew it would be bad right away just like everything else this year so far. Did you watch my anime season video?