What about Ghost In The Shell?

Question

I really want to watch ghost in shell but i'm not quite sure about something. I keep seeing stuff about just Ghost In The Shell and then I see Ghost In The Shell:Stand Alone Complex. Is there more than one series or set of episodes.(Like dragon ball and dragon ball z)If there is please list the names of them all and what order they go in cause I really want to watch them!!!

Answer 1

There's three Ghost in the Shell movies.  The original Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society.   There were also the television shows Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, followed by Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig.  

These movies and shows were based on the manga Ghost in the Shell (translated: Mobile Armored Riot Police) by Masamune Shirow.  

Answer 2

The Ghost in the Shell series is divided into 2 storylines: the 2 movies (original & Innocence), and the separate (notice the name) "Stand Alone Complex" series (1st & 2nd Gig, 2 summary movies, & TV special movie).  

Here is Ghost in the Shell Anime series relationship chart -

http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?sho...

For viewing purposes, you can watch the movie story-lines separately from the SAC series.  And for ratings / enjoyment, some people liked the more "cerebral / philosophal" aspect of the movies while others preferred the more action packed SAC series.  It doesn't really matter which storyline you follow first (though the original Ghost in the Shell movie came first), just eventually check out both as the other story-line might better fit your tastes.

Answer 3

Plain old Ghost In The Shell is the original one; it's a movie.  Then came Ghost In The Shell : Stand Alone Complex, a series of 26 episodes.  Then came Ghost In The Shell : Stand Alone Complex 2nd gig, another series which I think also has 26 episodes.

I hadn't heard of it before tonight, but my source also lists Ghost In The Shell 2 : Innocence as another movie.  I'm not sure where you should watch it in the order of things.

Answer 4

The Ghost in the Shell films are independent of the Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex series being that the two are in separate universes and time-lines . It would be best to view the first two films and then the series .

:0)

Answer 5

Ghost in the Shell as a whole consists of three seperate universes: the manga, the first two movies (Ghost in the Shell, and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innosense), and Stand Alone Complex (two 26 episode serieses and a movie). Unlike most anime, which is a direct transfer of the manga it is based on, the GitS anime borrows the characters, overall world structure, and themes of the manga and creates it's own sotries. Sometimes, the animes borrow plot concepts from the manga (like having to track down a super-hacker or the Major [the central character] going missing from Section 9 [the main countercyberterrorism unit at the center of the series] for two years), but they use them in completely different ways. All of GitS features both action as well as philosophy about life, but where the emphasis is at varies.

The two movies are Ghost in the Shell, and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innosense (yes, they intentionally misspelled it). They are definitely intended to be watched in order, even though the plots don't flow together. You just won't understand why the big guy is so upset and obsessed with finding the Major if you haven't seen anything else GitS before. The movies dwell very heavily on what it means to be alive, and whether someone who is fully-prosthetic (the GitS term for a person whose brain has been transplanted into a mechanical body) is still technically alive.

Stand Alone Complex (the first series, 2nd Gig, and the Solid State Society movie) leans more towards action and crime-solving suspense. In each series, there are some episodes that relate to the main plot, and some that don't, and if you pay attention on the title screen, you'll soon lear to tell which is which at that point. If you want the Original movie before GitS: Sac, you'll get a better understand of who the Major and a few other characters in the first few episodes, but it's not necessary at all. If you watch 2nd Gig before the original SAC, you won't really understand what they mean by the term 'Stand Alone Complex' or what the Laughing Man Incident, but these are more passing references than central plot (though the plot does revolve around a stand alone complex, it's not necessary to understand the term itself). It really is important to watch 2nd Gig before Solid State Society, though.

Personaly, I liked all of it except GitS2, where the majority of their dialogue is just philosophical quotes being thrown back and forth.