Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Vol 3, Episodes 9 – 12

Description

Ep 9: The Man Who Dwells in the Shadows of the Net – CHAT! CHAT! CHAT! Using her net avatar, Kusanagi enters a chat room dedicated to the Laughing Man. Various theories are passed around the chat room as the members view various bits of evidence from the Laughing Man case. While in the chat room, Kusanagi homes in on an older man sitting at the table who seems to have more knowledge about the Laughing Man incidents than anyone else. After confronting the man and exchanging information with him, Kusanagi and one of the other guests are suddenly transferred out of the chat room and she briefly sees the Laughing Man. Ep 10: A Perfect Day for a Jungle Cruise – JUNGLE CRUISE Marco Amoretti, a former American Imperial Navy Petty Officer turned serial killer, has arrived in Japan and for the last two months has murdered several women by slicing the skin off their torsos in the form of a T-shirt. American CIA officers have been dispatched to Japan, ostensibly to assist Section 9 in their effort to track down and apprehend Amoretti before he can strike again. When the CIA officers show no surprise at the developments in the case, Ishikawa hacks into the CIA database and learns that Amoretti was part of an American Empire commando team sent into the jungles of South America to conduct a covert operation aimed at breaking an enemy’s will to fight by using terror tactics, such as flaying civilians alive. Elsewhere, Batou — an ex-JGSDF Ranger who has seen first-hand the horrors of the CIA operation — resolves to stop Amoretti by any means necessary, but his behaviour during the case leads to suspicion that Batou may attempt to kill Amoretti, rather than arrest him. However, this is exactly what the CIA wishes, since Amoretti is the only loose end that can tie them to the jungle operation. Amoretti’s hideout in the sewers is discovered, and Batou gives chase in a running gun battle. Batou experiences vivid flashbacks during the chase, with the dank sewers intercutting with the steaming jungle where he first battled Amoretti years ago. Batou finally manages to corner Amoretti, who begs Batou to kill him. However, Batou remembers that he is a law enforcement officer first, and arrests Amoretti instead. The CIA agents, unhappy that things didn’t go as planned, are forced to return home with Amoretti in tow. Note: This episode was initially skipped in the YTV broadcast in Canada because of the graphic content. It was later aired uncut on December 30, 2005 at 1:30 AM and ran at the regular 12AM time slot during the series’ second run. The initial Adult Swim broadcast in the US included a disclaimer before the episode aired warning viewers about the contents. Ep 11: In The Forest of the Imagoes – PORTRAITZ The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s database has been hacked into, and classified material has been stolen. Section 9 traces the hack and determines that the hack job originated from a facility that helps people with Cyberbrain Closed Shell Syndrome. Togusa goes undercover to investigate the social welfare facility, and immediately encounters suspicious behaviour from the facility’s supervisors. Togusa manages to learn that a person called ‘the Chief’ visited the center during the week that the MHLW was hacked, but before he can determine the significance of this information Togusa is discovered; simultaneously, the facility’s security system unexpectedly goes online, and Section 9’s databases are subsequently hacked, leading Kusanagi and Batou to make an emergency insertion to evacuate Togusa. The Chief is revealed to be the alter-ego of a boy named Aoi, who seems to have vanished after the incident, with no evidence remaining that he was ever a patient at the center, save for Togusa’s testimony. But when Togusa draws Aoi’s face from memory, the others are surprised to find that Togusa has drawn the infamous Laughing Man logo. Ep 12: Tachikoma Runs Away; The Movie Director’s Dream – ESCAPE FROM Early in the morning Batou’s Tachikoma self-activates and leaves the Tachikoma storage bay to explore the outside world. While roaming the streets of Niihama, the Tachikoma encounters a young girl named Miki who is searching for her lost dog. The Tachikoma decides to help the girl, and together they manage to find the dog. While on their journey, the Tachikoma stumbles upon a cyberbrain being sold in a market that contains a ghost, and brings it back to the storage bay. When the Tachikoma returns to Section 9, technicians begin extensive tests to determine why the tank went AWOL in the first place, while Section 9 members turn their attention to the cyberbrain in an effort to determine what the brain contains. When one of the lab technicians investigating the brain links with it and becomes ‘lost,’ Kusanagi volunteers to go after the missing man, leading her find the technician watching a movie that lacks a beginning or ending which brings her to tears. She then has a philosophical discussion with the man showing the movies. When she leaves, the team discovers that it was the brain of a stubborn film maker with a cult following.