Chimpzy watches Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex (Part 19)
Season 1, Episode 20 & 21: RE-VIEW & ERASER
About time I continue this, and just in time too, because we’re finally back to the Laughing Man story after a pretty long string of stand-alone episodes. Though some of those prove not entirely unconnected after all, and a lot of setups are starting to pay off in general, particularly the events of episode 11. Using The Catcher in the Rye as a guide, Togusa learns of the existence of a list of recipients for a vaccine against cyberbrain sclerosis which was officially rejected in favor of (ineffective) nanomachine therapy, but secretly administered to the wealthy and powerful. He tracks the list to an NGO, but so have the government officials covering up the vaccine corruption, sending in a dirty narcotics squad to silence everyone. Honestly, they should’ve gone public by putting the list on the net the moment they got it, but I suppose hindsight is 20/20. Also weird Togusa didn’t just immediately call for backup the moment shit hit the fan, but maybe he just wanted to keep things low key or something. He does escape the raid, but is shot in the process.
This majorly pisses off the rest of the crew, particularly Batou cuz they all buddy buddy, urging them to get involved. For some reason Aramaki decides to notify the DEA chief that Togusa was at the raid, presumably so they’d overplay their hand. From here on it turns into a tense race between Section 9 and the narcotics squad to a man named Imakurusu, the chairman of the board that denied the vaccine out of petty jealousy and a vested financial interest in nanomachine therapy, despite being a recipient of the vaccine, the malingering git. They successfully track him down, employing some pretty Big Brother methods in the process. But the DEA is hot on their heels, turning into probably the most extensive action sequence thus far. The mooks go down easy, but the armored suit proves more formidable, with the Major losing an arm and nearly getting her head squished in a sequence that rather obviously references the third act battle of the movie.
Section 9 prevails, though we do see the Major lose her cool for the first time, getting some pretty brutal payback. To no avail, since Imakurusu gets assassinated anyway. You’d think they’d keep eyes on the dude at all times, but no, just let him wander off to get sieved. A rather uncharacteristic snafu, and if it weren’t for Laughing Man showing up in person to hand Batou the physical proof they need to take action against the DEA before absconding by hacking Batou’s eyes, they’d have been shit out of luck. Also, Batou’s eyes. Hacked. Again. Seriously, that’s how many times now? Meanwhile, government people even higher up the chain are preparing a counterattack against Section 9, but that’s for another time.
It’s at this point in the series that I feel it really sinks in how good it actually is. The way all the puzzle pieces are starting to fit together, revealing the full picture. The way seemingly unrelated events pay dividends, like the politician whose kidnapped daughter the crew saved tipping off Aramaki about the DEA’s dirty dealings. It’s kind of like prestige tv but much faster paced, very little time is wasted. Things are really moving along, and a ton of shit is thrown at you, but assuming you paid attention previously, it never becomes difficult to parse all the events happening. It also never feels pretentious imo. There’s other anime that try the morally layered and intricate plotlines, but so many of them tend to end up gazing up their asses instead.
