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Your SAC S1 review is fascinating. So, I went full tryhard and responded to some points from it. I'm not going to heavily focus on your comparisons to the Oshii film because it's been years since I saw it. And I haven't seen Tiger & Bunny or Witch Hunter Robin, so I'll leave them out here too.

I'll get the smaller bits out of the way first.

"Where is the drama, the emotional conflict? We get pieces here and there of hearts in the standalone episodes, but these stories are rarely well-written; episode 16’s “I’m the one with the blind spot” line made me and my brother almost die laughing. The emotional climax of the episode should not seem so ridiculous."

I understand why that one example you pick out may not work, it's clunky and rushed and therefore cheesy. Zaitsev comes to this conclusion if front of Batou even before the cuffs click just so Batou can absorb the dramatic circumstances. Never mind Zaitsev's wife conveniently showing up outside the bar with the homemade alcohol to inadvertedly sting Batou, oblivious to the fact that her husband has just been arrested a block over. Zaitsev inviting Batou to his house after a single spar (conveniently aligning with Batou's intentions to spy on him, but also striking me as strange: new guy shows up to Zaitsev's gym, Zaitsev is acting careful not to be caught leaking information, yet bro invites the new guy over for dinner??). And don't forget this goofy bold claim: "You'll never be able to beat me, no matter how many times you'll try!" I also laughed at all of this on rewatch.

Sorry for belabouring this, but I just want to make it clear that I also think episode 16 is flawed. However, I don't think it's ridiculous for Zaitsev to say this line. One benefit of on-the-nose writing is that shit makes transparent sense. I'll lay out my understanding of the conflict in this episode. The "blind spot" in Zaitsev's heart is in reference to the parts of his life that he neglected in pursuit of other shit, seemingly spurred on by his loss in a paralympic boxing match, earning him a silver medal. Batou wants his role model to be innocent. He doesn't want to have to arrest someone he's been a fan of for years. He doesn't want Zaitsev to neglect the life he's built for himself. So when confronts Zaitsev with his priorities, Zaitsev is pushed to say the line in a moment of realisation. It's presented frankly, yes, but it's still all there. The emotional conflict? Well, idk man, it's right there. In like 15 mins, we're given insight into someone who lost their way after defeat and threw away a perfectly good life. (It's only limited because we're not deeply privy to the forces drawing Zaitsev away). Let's also consider that Batou wants things to be one way, but reality has other ideas that aren't exactly fitting well for the Big Man. It's not exactly good news, especially after the Tachikomas have just been decommissioned!

Incidentally, you don't mention Tachikomas' character arc at all nor any of the other stand alone episodes. The closest thing I saw was this, where you seem to be aware of the SAC's multiple attempts to reach (?) the audience.

"in spite of all of its attempts to reach the audience, it doesn’t seem to succeed or even really try when it comes to connecting in ways that matter e.g. touching the hearts and minds of viewers."

Now, Batou is definitely upset about the Tachikomas. It's just not made obvious. He's coy with Togusa when poked, and is reserved in his anger at the Major's order.

"GitS may not have been quite so willing to shed a tsunami of tears or scream loudly with feelings, but it presents itself as a film with a palpable mood."

I said I wasn't gonna mention the Oshii film, and I'm not gonna go into it. But here--and please correct me if I'm wrong--you appear to suggest that unlike Oshii's film, Kamiyama's SAC is willing to scream loudly with feelings. Idk, I just find this bizarre considering that you're finding it difficult to find the drama, emotional conflict, heart, and soul of the series. Like, is it screaming feelings or not? Surely these attempts are just the show's heart? Or do you mean to simply say that these attempts didn't work for you because they weren't presented in a similar fashion to the Oshii film? In which case, fair enough.


Okay, this brings me to the big point, and why I find the review fascinating. This isn't exactly a criticism, but your review helped me crystalise my own opinion of SAC. Basically, you mention that some kind of "underlying emptiness" was put "there by design". I just want to take a shot at outlining the significance of that design.



I actually agree that there is something missing at SAC's heart, and I think it's to the series' benefit. While they exchange lines of banter, empathise with other peoples' hardships, lose their temper, it's far more difficult to parse Batou and Motoko's attempts at self-reflection. They cling onto the external world, seemingly in an attempt to prove that they uniquely (their principles, their quirks, what they uniquely bring to the table) exist.

Batou: "No matter how many prosthetic bodies you went through, this was the one thing that was always ticking away the same time as you, right? In this time that's far too fleeting, people entrust memories to external devices because they want to set down proof that can identify them as a unique individual. For you, isn't that watch the one external mnemonic device that can identify the person you've been up until now?"

Motoko: [...] "A watch and weight training, huh? We've both clung to useless scraps of memory, haven't we?"

The emotional distance is the point. Batou and Motoko are aware of the coldness and lament it. The souls/beating hearts of these characters are definitely there, they're just buried under the effects of cyberisation. They can no longer reliably use their very bodies to affirm their existence, because those bodies are not the original versions of themselves. Their ghost is an arbitrary addition. Personal identity has become vague, the central point of the entire franchise, and so these characters defer to external devices. This, to me, is incredibly powerful writing. Not just because of this process in and of itself. But because the process is an inseparable part of their duties as members of Section 9 with Motoko being especially embracing of practical augmentation. A watch is barely anything. And weight training has physically/functionally meaningless effects on Batou's body.

Speaking personally, episode 25 added a whole layer to these two characters, inciting my rewatch. And it was after this that I found the review. I was left grateful for the personality that does poke through. It made every inflexion feel as if it were being pushed to the surface against some force that is slowly snuffing out the person that was once Batou, and the person that was once Motoko. I don't just outline this to glaze my fav anime...

"it strikes me as odd that a series held in such high esteem by so many would be one that engendered such minimal emotional attachment from the audience to its characters, at least in my experience."

...I also just hope to have given you some context as to why people become emotionally attached to SAC, and not just for the other parts that it nails. Granted though, I think I'm in the minority amongst SAC fans in my reading of Batou and Motoko.

u're right, monster is better on manga >>

Urobuchi fanboy

nice batman profile pic.

nice reviews

How come you are in this site for 5 years now and no one has commented on your profile yet? Putting that aside, I read some of your reviews and I really enjoyed them! Keep up the good work! By the way, superb taste