By: Robert Murphy
Getting right back into things, I immediately wanted to watch the second act to the new Ghost in the Shell series Arise. The episode is entitled Ghost Whispers and presumably takes place a short time after the first, the Major is still on her own however and still mulling over what she wants to do with her new found freedom. What is a highly advanced cyborg with combat and hacking talents to do though? Well trouble is brewing and an unknown attack has hit Japan in a more than critical way, even though most of the higher ups know the cause, there is still the issue of stopping it and the Major gets roped into solving it. Not that she argued about it too much or anything though.
Another great story takes place this time around, Batou enters the stage and we learn significantly more about his past and just how complicated it is. He has always been a top favorite in my book, a kind hearted but incredibly strong man that you wouldn't want to take advantage of his good nature. The war period before this time however was a dark point for him and his team and one moment in particular has haunted him the most, his former commander especially though as he faces death for the action of their last assignment. In order to blow the lid on the whole affair he leads Batou and his team to take down the powers that be in Japan and make them be an example. This proves to be an interesting task because of the future that Ghost in the Shell is set in, everything is controlled by computers in some way. Much like the way airlines control flight patterns, cars and other forms of transportation also have guided controls to them and they're about to be taken down. We've all seen what hacking another android can do but if you hack the entire nation then you have chaos on a whole other scale.
The introduction to the rest of the main cast also comes into play, seeing some of my other favorite characters was a must and it is done in a solid fashion. Like in the previous chapter our future team members get a more detailed look into what sort of characters they are and what they bring to the team. Ishikawa in particular receives a whole new level of respect from me as not only an expert hacker but a pretty scary fighter too. He isn't alone though and for the most part, everyone finds a time to shine, even if it is for a moment and for the skills we already know they're masters at. It's a feature that I hope will not disappear in the future because most of the time you are only given the chance to see the Major do her thing and while that makes sense, it can make you question why she even needed a team in the first place.
Often one of the more under appreciated team members though also gets to strut their stuff for the screen and that is the Logicoma. Last time we saw the Major be apprehensive towards our friendly crab/tank with the personality of a five year old. This time though she is much more open to letting the A.I. into her shell and allowing the goofy robot to create some of the lighter moments for the episode, even if it doesn't know it was being funny. The relationship we've seen between her in the Logicoma in the original was just the same as it is presented now but it is something that I'm glad isn't done away with.
Near the end however, things start to slow down for me quite a bit. I have nothing wrong with action in a show in fact it can be one of my favorite parts but it has to be done well and the epic concluding moments to Ghost Whispers went out just as the title suggests, a whisper. The final fight with Batou, the Major and the bits and piece of her current group were just not nearly as powerful as they're made out to be. The Major ends up being the one who gets hacked by Batou but that doesn't seem to affect her, the Major and Batou both lose and arm during their fight but again it doesn't even make you jump or frankly care. Sure, the losing the arm gag is a good one but you don't have to do it to death because when you do, you make a lack luster affair. The final twist near the end was also extremely low as well because since the beginning you saw it coming, maybe not all the piece but you new a twist was coming and there is no pop when it comes on screen. This makes the overall ending a bust in a way when you had so much going for you up until this point.
So what Ghost Whisper has going for it was a great cyber terrorist attack, one that introduces you to the rest of the Major's team in yet another solid fashion. Most of the big names get their moments to shine, Ishikawa being the one who has some of my favorite scenes for the whole episode. However, thing end rather sourly, not enough to make you regret watching the hour long show entirely but with everything that you saw before it, you would have expect more for the final.
Good:
- Getting the rest of the team into the story and giving them some shining moments
- Logicoma and the A.I.'s unique brand of humor
- Interesting cyber terrorist attack and plot
Bad:
- The not so shocking twist at the very end
- Lack luster finale and action scenes that could and should have been better
Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10
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