SAC_2045, Ep 12 [END]: You Say You Want a Revolution

Strange events happen to Togusa as he and Batou investigate an important location from the post-human Takashi’s past.

ep 12 – “NOSTALGIA – All Will Become N”

Hmm.

I’m satisfied. SAC_2045 answered all the questions I had about the symbols Takashi saw in his fever dreams as he developed into a post-human. A traumatic two weeks living with his uncle let us know about his cousin Yuzu, the Airborne Troopers game he created, where he got his copy of 1984, and the veteran trooper who gave it to him. What Takashi has planned takes inspiration from his well-worn copy of 1984, but we’ll have to wait until the next season to see that.

I’ve mentioned before how Stand Alone Complex stories like to introduce Section 9 cases as spooky folklore or ghost stories before a mundane technological solution answers the mysteries. The SAC_2045 post-humans can imitate many of those same scary things, and Togusa’s disappearance at the end of the episode resembles the Japanese “spirited away” phenomena. He disappeared right before Batou’s cyborg eyes. Strangely, and important to note, the Tachikomas saw Togusa leaving and waved goodbye. What did they see? That made the cliffhanger even more exquisitely frustrating. I enjoyed that very much!

Heh.

Uh oh. Togusa got into trouble. Borma and Purin just eating cake together. Ishikawa always has the right answer first — unplug the PC! Oops. Togusa looked at code Takashi wrote after the first Think Poll incident. He should know from the earlier SAC_2045 episode with Gary Harts to be more careful. Togusa felt an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia that turned into fear of death. Takashi’s code awakens forgotten memories. Whose memories?

The Tachikomas are worried about Togusa, but Purin keeps shooing them away like underfoot cats. Oh, good one, Togusa. Think Poll is another pun on Thought Police from 1984. Hoh? Takashi was 9 years old when he got that book, but his mom doesn’t know where from. Time for old-fashioned detective work. 12 episodes into SAC_2045, and Motoko made a reference to the Ghost in the Shell. Togusa and Batou are off to Kyoto with some Tachikomas.

New and old Tachikomas. Togusa rides in the bigger one. Oh. After his dad died in hospital, Takashi lived with his uncle’s family for a little while. The Tachikomas’ running commentary is so cute.

Ho! Togusa sees Takashi here! Those nostalgic feelings and memories belong to the post-human. Batou can’t see what Togusa sees. Ah. Through Togusa watching Takashi’s memories we see so much explained from the last time on SAC_2045. Yuzu is his younger cousin. He wrote the side scroller game when he was 9 years old! And the airborne trooper was some crazy guy in the mountains who let him have his 1984 book. I’m getting nostalgic feelings myself watching Takashi and Yuzu interact. Should a crazy ex-military guy look like he’s living like an otaku? That’s a lot of cup ramen for a mountain man.

This policeman is sketchy. He’s rolling around the hills with his lights off at night. Yeesh. Poor Batou and the Tachikomas don’t have much to do in this SAC_2045 episode. They’re just following Togusa around as he chases after Takashi’s memories. The airborne trooper warned Takashi about the village’s “rules.” Foreshadowing, folks. Boo! Don’t give it away, Motoko and Ishikawa, “Cops killed by disabled veteran.” No mention in the story of anyone else dying…

Bah! SAC_2045 made it too dark to see Motoko’s butt again. Borma and Purin worked out that Takashi’s code makes a feeling happen. Strong nostalgia. Purin says she moved her sentimental memories to external storage just so she could work at Section 9. Ishikawa is not impressed. Oh, now Ishikawa tells us someone else died with all those cops. Oh no. We know who that is.

Crap, crap, crap! All these cops are executing someone and now they need to kill Takashi as an outsider? But not Yuzu as a witness? Aw no. The airborne trooper protected Takashi, but that sketchy cop’s shooting killed Yuzu. SAC_2045 made me gasp for air this whole time. Terrible.

Here’s the post-human revolution. Takashi is ready. “Are you coming, Togusa?” asks Takashi. Whoa! Batou can’t see him anymore, but the Tachikomas are waving goodbye. It’s like Spirited Away. What a cliffhanger!

Final Thoughts.

As a long-time fan of the Ghost in the Shell collection of anime movies and TV series, the first twelve episodes of Ghost in Shell: SAC_2045 brought up two main issues for me. By far, the most controversial issue was SAC_2045’s use of CGI to animate their whole world. It was a consistent art style too, more akin to a Pixar movie. Sola Digital made an artistic decision and they committed fully to it. Unfortunately, the commitment may have blinded them from using other directorial techniques to make a better visual presentation. I had one consistent gripe throughout the season, which was they kept making Motoko fight in the dark and I couldn’t see her shapely ass and lithe legs. SAC_2045 drew a strange line between making stylistically portrayed people but insisting on realistic environments and lighting effects.

The commitment to an unfiltered camera dropped in the middle of Motoko’s CGI world affected the depiction of flashbacks and distorted memories too. SAC_2045 made the whole chat room experience so visually interesting, but when it came time to relive a past event, it looked and sounded exactly like the present. It’s common for live action shows to add some sound engineering to the dialogue and background noise, plus whatever they want to do visually, to make clear that a scene is from another time or reality. The post-human Takashi’s “memories” could have used some artistic treatment, but perhaps the art director made the subtle choice to present an unvarnished picture to show we shouldn’t trust anything we see when a post-human is around. I think that was too subtle.

The second issue I had with SAC_2045 was the lack of slice of life elements for character development and world building. In earlier Stand Alone Complex seasons, we saw the characters’ personal lives, which gave us a chance to see the state of technology and current world events through their eyes. These little moments planted the seeds of themes that became important to the specific episode’s action elements and the overall story. For SAC_2045, they relied entirely on crime and action scenes for character and world building. Batou’s bank heist episode was the most blatant example. The poor guy got himself pulled into a bank robbery to illustrate Japan’s economic issues. I think SAC_2045 lost a lot of fan engagement opportunities relying on action and crime procedural storytelling instead of using more light-hearted moments to reconnect with our favorite Ghost in the Shell characters.

The best part of the Stand Alone Complex universe came shining through with the Tachikomas. I can’t compliment them enough and their presence on screen always made me smile. SAC_2045 got them right and I hope they have even more screen time in the next season. Roger!

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 streams on Netflix.