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is an anime television series produced by Production I.G and based on Masamune Shirow's manga ''Ghost in the Shell''. It was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, with original character design by Hajime Shimomura and a soundtrack by Yoko Kanno. The first season aired on SKY PerfecTV!'s Perfect Choice from October 2002 to October 2003 and was positively received by critics. A second season titled aired on Animax from 1 January 2004 to 8 January 2005. The series centers on the members of an elite cybernetic law enforcement unit known as Public Security Section 9 as they investigate cyber-crime and terrorism cases; these cases often are connected to their pursuit of an elite "Super Class A" hacker and corporate terrorist known as "The Laughing Man." A series of associated short comic animations, titled ''Tachikomatic Days'', aired after each episode. These shorts star the Tachikoma "think-tanks" from the main series, and they typically relate directly to the story of the preceding ''Stand Alone Complex'' episode. The first season was also adapted into a feature-length OVA titled ''The Laughing Man'', which was released in 2005 and two manga series in 2009. The series had also received video game spin-offs for the PS2, PSP, and mobile phones. ''2nd GIG'' was also later adapted into a feature-length OVA entitled ''Individual Eleven'', which was released in 2006; ''Solid State Society'', a TV-film sequel to the ''Stand Alone Complex'' series, was also released in that year. ==Plot== The series takes place in the year 2030, where many people have become cyborgs with prosthetic bodies. Primarily set in the fictional Japanese city of , the series follows the members of Public Security Section 9, a special-operations task-force made up of former military officers and police detectives. While the group investigates various crimes, both seasons feature ongoing investigations into two incidents that embroil the group in corruption within other branches of the Japanese government. The first season of ''Stand Alone Complex'' focuses on the Laughing Man incident, wherein a hacker ultimately reveals to the Major that he had discovered that several micromachine manufacturing corporations in association with the Japanese government suppressed information on an inexpensive cure to a debilitating cyberization disease in order to profit from the more expensive micromachine treatment. He abducted one of the owners of the company and attempted to force him to reveal the truth on live television, resulting in the hacker live-hacking everyone's vision and cameras at the event to cover his face with the stylized laughing face that became synonymous with his image. His popularity spawned several genuine imitators, resulting in the series' titular Stand Alone Complex. When Section 9 discovers that these companies and several Japanese politicians later used the Laughing Man's image to garner public support and profit, they begin a campaign to disseminate the truth, ultimately leading to the Cabinet labeling them as domestic terrorists and forcibly disbanding them, resulting in the capture of several members and the apparent death of Motoko Kusanagi. However, it is all a ruse to deceive the government, and the very alive and well members of Section 9 regroup to bring the micromachine corporations and corrupt politicians to justice, resulting in the dissolution of the current Japanese government.〔 The second season, ''2nd GIG'', set two years after the events of the first season, explores the political and social ramifications of the two world wars that took place prior to the events of the series.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Interview: Kenji Kamiyama )〕 At the time of the Third and the Fourth World Wars, about three million Asians became refugees and were invited into Japan as a source of cheap labor. These "invited refugees", based on the reclaimed island of Dejima, soon became unemployed in the post-war period, and their social unrest borders on outright war.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Individual Eleven )〕 Section 9's involvement in the refugee issue begins after they successfully stop a hostage crisis caused by a terrorist group known as the Individual Eleven, after which newly elected Prime Minister Yoko Kayabuki officially reinstates the organization. The group seems to be modeling themselves after the May 15 Incident, where a group of naval officers assassinated the Prime Minister and then gained the support of the public, and hope to stir up the refugees' spirits by fighting for them against the Japanese government. The group also comes into contact with Kazundo Goda, head of the Cabinet Intelligence Service, who gets assistance from the group in defusing several instances between the refugees as well as assisting him in transporting plutonium through Dejima, result in several failures and refugee deaths, further straining relations. Section 9 ultimately discovers that Goda has been manipulating both events behind the scenes, leaking the social virus that creates the Individual Eleven ideology and creating a new Stand Alone Complex, as well as the intentional failures with the refugees. However, he cannot account for the charismatic Hideo Kuze who genuinely believes in the best for the refugees and helps rally for their independence from Japan. Throughout the investigation, Kusanagi discovers she may know Kuze from her childhood. Ultimately, Goda is found guilty of his part in the refugee incidents and killed before he can defect to the American Empire, but not before his ministrations also result in the death of Kuze. In the film ''Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society'', taking place two years following the resolution of the Individual Eleven incident, the Major has left Section 9, and Togusa is now field commander, leading an investigation into several deaths of refugees from the Siak Republic, which results in the discovery of a government computer system coordinating the kidnappings of 20 thousand abused children who have had their cyberbrains replaced and placing them under the care of several senior citizens made comatose by another government program that takes care of all of their bodily needs. Their investigation, which brings the Major out of hiding, reveals an entity known as the Puppeteer behind the kidnappings, but the Puppeteer is a rhizome formed by the collective will of the senior citizens, and it was only the Siak Republic's intent to use the kidnapped children in their plans that led to their downfall. However, the investigation further reveals that a member of the House of Representatives is also using the children for his nationalistic purposes, and Section 9 with the Major infiltrates a welfare center where the MP brainwashes the children, resulting in the Puppeteer revealing his own identity that the senior citizens wished to give the children free will in their future, with the politician interfering in that new plan. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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