Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Ghost Stands Alone

By: Robert Murphy

Finishing off the Ghost in the Shell: Arise series, Ghost Stands Alone puts all the pieces together and the Major and her team finally have come together and not a minute too soon either with a looming threat on the horizon. Yes, all the juicy little details from Ghost Tears start to develop this time around but whether or not the Major's team can handle this threat is yet to be seen. 

The mysterious face that arose in last chapter makes her presence known almost immediately in the story, her name is Emma and she is a cyborg who has some impressive skills as a programmer but there's far more to her than that. Emma is a very rare case of a cyborg with two ghosts in one shell, two different souls inhabit her cyborg body and it makes for some trippy scenes in the story. Her body speaking in a male voice in particular gave me a slack jawed kind of moment while I was watching it. It's an overall interesting aspect to the story that makes you question any number of things such as whether or not the two are working together or is one controlling the other, which is what I thought for awhile until the end. However, their purpose in the story is something I had to question because of what happened in Ghost Tears, Emma was suppose to be some big threat to the Major and some seedy plans left by her former C.O.. This doesn't ever come about though, yes the Major foils Emma's attempt to do whatever she was suppose to do but her overall purpose seemed flawed right from the get go.

This brings me to the mystery bubbling under the surface is on a far larger scale than the previous chapters, the Major and her team are now dealing with something on a whole other level with a lot of higher ups in the mix. It's more akin to what we have seen before from the Major and her lack of fear in facing down big challenges in her way, no matter your name or the power you have, Section 9 will route you out and bring you to justice. The Major at one point even makes this claim outright when things are wrapping up. But, the whole situation was entirely too vague when all is said and done, I personally had to take some time to put the dots together and when I figured it out it wasn't a grand sort of sensation. Conflicting views and the quest for advancement is really the key behind it all as the old story goes, people did some unseemly things back in the war and in order to gain the positions they have in present day, they've taken steps to make sure they stay in power. The worse part though is it was all just way too convoluted for the overall pay off that goes on and you think that it all could have been done far easier and presented far better. 

Now when I think about all of this convolution, it also makes me wonder about the overall conclusion of the series. Ghost Stands Alone is suppose to close everything up with a neat little bow but that doesn't come across, much of what connects all the stories together is the Major and her recruiting the different members of her team, all leading up to them become the powerful asset to Section 9. Besides this though everything else feels like just some separate stories that serve to form the Major's team, especially when you look at the way things end off. In fact when the credits were rolling I almost felt like there was meant to be more, maybe the story isn't finished, perhaps there is something else but there apparently isn't.  

What is left of Ghost Stands Alone revolves around some hefty action scenes, now that the Major's team is formed and things are beginning to take shape, they all work together like a well oiled machine and seeing them go into action is just great. The first part of the episode involves a heavy shootout in a skyscraper and in the surrounding streets. The concluding ten to twenty minutes also involves a fight between some of the Major's old team, her new one proving more than up to the task of taking them out. Also, a giant mechanical robot prototype gets taken over and we see everyone work at taking it down, Saito sniping out the eyes, Batou and Togusa hindering it's movements and the Major coming in for a decisive blow. 

In conclusion, Ghost Stands Alone wasn't what I was expecting for the concluding chapter to the Arise series. There were definitely some interesting ideas floating around behind the scenes, Emma in particular was an interesting case and made a unique character. Witnessing the Major and her team finally coming together as well as kicking some serious tale as an exceptional unit was also another great attribute. The confusing and convoluted plot though did not sit well with me though, Emma served some deeper purpose to her former C.O.'s plan but it felt like an overall bust. The trickier and other plots going on also don't pan out too well and made me question whether or not there should have been more to the story because it doesn't end all nice and neat like a concluding chapter should. I'm overall not too pleased with how things turned out and aside from some good action scenes, Ghost Stands Alone doesn't reach the heights it could have. 

Good:

- Emma is an interesting character, two ghosts inside of one body brings up some very unique questions and issues that really make you think 

- Some overall good action scenes

Bad:

- The story has a strange political in-fighting aspect that doesn't make a whole lot of sense and doesn't pan out too well

- The concluding chapter doesn't feel like a conclusion but rather just another episode

- Emma's sinister role was not so sinister at all and makes me wonder what was really the point to her character other than for her to serve as another case to solve

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10 

Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Ghost Whispers

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