Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX, Kōkaku Kidōtai Sutando Arōn Konpurekkusu, "Mobile Armoured Riot Police: Stand Alone Complex") is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series produced by Production I.G., inspired by, but regarded to follow a separate continuity from, the manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow and its feature movie adaptations. The show follows the activities of Public Security Section 9, a fictional intelligence department under the Japanese Ministry of Home Affairs founded to tackle the new and unique field of "cybercrime" emanating from the postcyberpunk world of A.D. 2030.
Motoko Kusanagi, one of the series' main characters, is a frequent face in DRAW Your Own Story and has been featured as an on-and-off main character. Lesser references have also been made to the Laughing Man and technology demonstrated through the course of the programme.
Stand Alone Complex originally aired from 1 October 2002 to 25 March 2003. A sequel ("second season"), Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG ran from 1 January 2004 to 8 January 2005. While critics were divided on SAC's difference from the 1995 film, it was widely acclaimed for its plausible depiction of the near future and intelligent presentation of social, political and philosophical issues. Stand Alone Complex spawned its own movie, Solid State Society, released 2006.
