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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Episodes)

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Therere 26 Episodes in Stand Alone Complex, each between 22 and 25 minutes in length.


[edit] The Episodes

1 Public Security Section 9 – SECTION-9 Major Kusanagi and Section 9 are called in to resolve a hostage crisis at a geisha house staffed by android geisha. After the crisis is averted Aramaki is approached by a friend of his in the military who reveals that one of the hostages in the geisha house was under investigation after requesting a report detailing military actions to be taken in the event of various states of emergency. Given the sensitive nature of the case, Section 9 is therefore asked to pick up the investigation where the original team left off. Eventually, Section 9 uncovers an attempt by foreign powers to get a Japanese Minister to defect to North America, unless Section 9 can stop him.
2 Runaway Evidence – TESTATION A heavy-assault multiped tank runs amok under the control of an unknown hijacker. After going on a destructive spree at the Kenbishi Industries testing facility, the multiped takes off towards the urban area of Niihama. Kusanagi briefs her squad at Section 9 HQ, explaining that the tank's designer, Takeshi Kago, died a week before, and that no terrorist organization has claimed credit for the heist. Since the military refuses to get involved unless terrorism is the motive, Section 9 is called in to stop the tank.
3 A Modest Rebellion – ANDROID AND I A series of android suicides prompts Section 9 to investigate the manufacturer. While Section Head Daisuke Aramaki questions the plant manager, Kusanagi and a Tachikoma covertly hack into the plant's database to try to uncover any possible wrongdoings by the manufacturer. As it turns out, all the androids were of the same model, an obsolete product known as the GA07_JL android, dubbed the Jeri by its small but loyal fanbase. The Genesis Jeri-model android was popular because of the ease with which an end-user could modify it to their own specifications. While the plant manager half-jokingly comments that the Jeris have grown despondent because of their obsolete status, Kusanagi discovers that a virus has been inserted into the mainframe, probably by an end-user who had sent his Jeri back to Genesis for refurbishing.
4 The Visual Device will Laugh – INTERCEPTER An old friend of Togusa's named Yamaguchi is murdered after sending him pictures concerning an unsolved case involving a hacker known as "The Laughing Man". His investigation leads to the discovery that the members of the Laughing Man task force have all been implanted with cybernetic surveillance devices called "interceptors", which reside in the vision center of the subject's brain, recording everything they do. Shortly thereafter the information is leaked by Section 9, prompting the Police to call a press conference to announce their "findings" regarding the interceptor devices. During the broadcast the mysterious hacker known as The Laughing Man returns, hijacking a Police official's cyberbrain and delivering a threat to the Superintendent-General.
5 The Inviting Bird will Chant – DECOY Section 9 suspects that the Police Investigators handling the Laughing Man case are using their primary suspect, a former Serano Genomics, Inc. programmer with a shady anti-corporate past named Nanao Ei, as a decoy to hide some form of higher-level corruption. Aramaki orders Section 9 to commence around the clock surveillance on Nanao Ei in an attempt to catch him in the act. Elsewhere, Kusanagi meets with Kurutan to use her external memory device in an effort to learn more about The Laughing Man Case.
6 The Copycat will Dance – MEME Things go fairly haywire as Kusanagi suspects that The Laughing Man has inserted a virus into the police units guarding the Superintendent-General. As Section 9 members struggle to evacuate the Superintendent-General to safety, the anti-virus team at HQ races to develop a vaccine to protect against it. After the immediate threat is averted, Aramaki orders Section 9 to open their own investigation into the Laughing Man case.
7 Idolatry – IDOLATOR It has come to the attention of the Minister of Home Affairs that Jenoma revolutionary leader Marcelo Jarti has been visiting Japan regularly every five months. Jarti is one of the world’s foremost wanted men, and has been targeted for assassination by commandos of the United States Delta Force and United Kingdom Special Air Service (SAS) a total of six times; miraculously, he has survived each of these attempts. When Jarti returns to Japan following the most recently failed assassination attempt Section 9 is called in to trail him and determine why Jarti has been visiting their country, with unexpected results.
8 The Fortunate Ones – MISSING HEARTS Kurutan, a friend of Kusanagi's, calls the Major to the hospital where she works to look into the source of a young girl's heart transplant. It seems that the heart she received was given without consent of the owner's parents. The girl's doctors feared she might have had to be given a full-cyborg conversion, a thought that stirs painful memories for Kusanagi. Aramaki, believing that the culprits may be tied to a mass kidnapping ring, orders Section 9 to look into the case for connections between the organs, the company that sold them, and the mitsunish motor oil refugee camp.

The Jameson character who appears in this episode also appears regulary in the Tachikoma Days omake.

9 The Man Who Dwells in the Shadows of the Net – CHAT! CHAT! CHAT! Kusanagi enters a chat room dedicated to The Laughing Man. Various crackpot (and a few plausible) theories are passed around JFK-style as the chat room members view various bits of evidence from the Laughing Man case. While in the chat room Kusanagi hones in on an older man sitting at the table who seems to have more knowledge about the Laughing Man incidents than the others in the room. After confronting the man and exchanging information with him, Kusanagi and one of the other members in the chat room are suddenly transferred out of the chat room, with unexpected results.
10 A Perfect Day for a Jungle Cruise – JUNGLE CRUISE Marco Amereti, 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 Marco before he can strike again. When the CIA officers show no surprise at the developments in the case Ishikawa hacks into the CIA database to find out why, and learns that Marco 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. Elsewhere, Batou — an ex-JGSDF Ranger who has seen first hand the horrors of the CIA operation — resolves to stop Marco by any means necessary, but his behaviour during the case has led to suspicion that Batou may attempt to kill Marco, rather than arrest him.

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 Adult Swim broadcast in the US included a disclaimer before the episode aired warning viewers about the content.

11 In the Forest of Pupae – PORTRAITZ The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has been hacked into, and classified material from their database has been stolen. Section 9 traces the hack and determined 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 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare was hacked, but before he can determine the significance of this information Togusa is discovered; simultaneously, the facility unexpectedly goes online and Section 9’s databases are subsequently hacked, leading Kusanagi and Batou to make an emergency insertion to evacuate Togusa.
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 outer world. While roaming the streets of the city the Tachikoma encounters a young girl 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 Akihabara that contains a ghost and brings it back to the storage bay. When the Tachikoma returns to Section 9 (well after nightfall) 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 on a soul-searching ghost dive.
13 Unequal Terrorist – NOT EQUAL Sixteen years ago Eka Turkuro, the daughter of a pioneering cyber company CEO, was kidnapped by a group opposed to cyberization. The girl's whereabouts remained a mystery until she was spotted by members of the Maritime Safety Team aboard an abandoned radiation scrubbing island off the coast of Okinawa. Four SST members were sent to find the girl and rescue her, but the team vanished without a trace. Section 9 is covertly dispatched to the island with two objectives: locate any remaining SST members and evacuate them, and find and rescue the missing girl. Section 9 is inserted by submarine, and after a time manages to find the girl, but when they do they realize that something is very wrong - the girl is the same age she was when she was kidnapped all those years ago! Simultaneously, the terrorists discover Section 9 has rescued their hostages, and a massive firefight for control of the hostages erupts between the terrorists and Section 9.
14 Automated Capitalism – ¥€$ Acting on a tip, Section 9 breaks up a cabal of thieves hell-bent on wrecking a Japanese financial institution. Shortly after the raid a Chinese intelligence official contacts Section 9 and informs them of suspicious activity that he believes may indicate an assassination attempt by Chinese Socialists on a prominent, yet reclusive, Japanese multi-millionaire. Section 9 is therefore tasked with protecting the millionaire, a 56-year-old ex-mathematician who has amassed a fortune by playing the stock market. Section 9 and the assassin arrive within minutes of each other, but after reaching the millionaire’s bedroom both sides make an unexpected discovery.
15 Time of the Machines – MACHINES DÉSIRANTES Kusanagi's reservations regarding Section 9's Tachikoma units comes to a head. She has become disturbed by their behaviour, as their artificial intelligence agents appear to be developing too fast; she has additional concerns about the safety of retaining them in the unit for use in a battle situation. The Tachikomas have become vaguely aware of Kusanagi's concerns, and attempt to avoid deactivation by hatching a bizarre scheme to appeal to Kusanagi and prevent their removal. When Batou is summoned to a conference by Kusanagi, he learns of the situation with the Tachikomas and is told that they will be disarmed and shipped back to the lab for analysis. Although unhappy with the decision, Batou has no choice but to comply with the order.
16 Chinks in the Armor of the Heart – Ag2O Sensitive information has been stolen from a U.S. Navy base, and the primary suspect is a former Paralympic silver medalist named Zaitsev. The Public Security office has instructed Batou to go undercover to spy on Zaitsev, a man whom he admires, to see if Zaitsev is somehow related to the missing information. Batou wants his information to be wrong and for Zaitsev to be innocent. The assignment calls into question Batou's attitude on his duty towards Section 9 and the decisions it forces him to make.
17 The True Reason For The Unfinished Love Affair – ANGELS' SHARE Major Kusanagi and Chief Aramaki are visiting London for an anti-terrorism conference. While there, Aramaki stops at a wine bank to visit an old friend of his who asks for his help in breaking up a Mafia money laundering scheme involving the bank and an unknown third party. Before Aramaki can leave, two thieves break in and a hostage situation ensues. In an effort to separate themselves from the incident, the Mafia attempts to have Aramaki and the bank staff killed during a police raid, while Kusanagi makes her own plans to rescue the chief and his friends from certain death.
18 Assassination Duet – LOST HERITAGE After a five-year wait, Chinese vice foreign minister Jin has been allowed access to the Kagashewa war memorial in Japan. Jin is the first Chinese dignitary to be granted access to the site, but not everyone is happy with the decision, and before long a death threat is made against Jin. Elsewhere, Aramaki visits the grave of one of his deceased comrades, a Colonel in the GSDF. While at the grave site, Aramaki encounters the Colonel’s daughter, who voices her concern over her brother Yu’s sudden behavioural changes. When Section 9 determines Yu to be the prime suspect in the assassination attempt, Kusanagi and Togusa are sent to apprehend him, but arrive too late to arrest Yu. Simultaneously, Aramaki receives a disturbing phone call from his dead friend who explains in part the reason for his actions. Out of respect for the chief, Section 9 resolves to do everything in their power to take Yu in alive, but there is concern among the team members that Yu may not give them that chance.
19 Embraced by a Disguised Net – CAPTIVATED Former Japanese Prime Minister Kanzaki’s daughter has been abducted, and Section 9 is called in to investigate her disappearance. The prime suspect in the case is "Blind Fold Ivan", a pseudonym for the North Territories Mafia. "Blind Fold Ivan" uses the same modus operandi in his abductions: over a three-day period, multiple underage women are kidnapped and then shipped to chop shops where they are killed, and all organs and cybernetic pieces are taken to be sold on the black market. Kanzaki had previously denounced these mass kidnappings in an effort to strengthen ties between Russia and Japan; however, he publicly reveals the kidnapping of his daughter at Aramaki’s request in order to save his daughter. The news abruptly changes the investigation by thrusting an ex-SVR officer and her hostages into the center of a scandalous, nationwide media event.
20 Vanished Medication – RE-VIEW After the events of PORTRAITZ, Togusa uses J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as a starting point and develops a theory that the Laughing Man is after something published on paper. Togusa receives permission to check out a Health, Labour, and Welfare records building and stumbles upon a key piece of evidence: a list of Cyberbrain Sclerosis patients treated with a secret vaccine has disappeared from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. Togusa traces the missing list to a group called the Sunflower Society, where he learns that several prominent Japanese citizens have been secretly treated with the experimental cyberbrain sclerosis medication. Elsewhere, the head of the Japanese DEA unit dispatches the Narcotics Suppression Squad to eliminate the members of the Sunflower Society and recover the missing list. When the squad storms the Sunflower Society’s building, Togusa ends up getting caught in the massacre.
21 Left-Behind Trace – ERASER Togusa finds himself in the hospital after being shot, but is desperate to impart what he has learned to the rest of the group. Through Togusa’s memories, Section 9 experiences the DEA raid against the Sunflower Society, prompting anger and rage. The Chief takes it upon himself to notify the head of the DEA of Togusa’s presence at the Sunflower Society building during the raid, prompting the DEA chief to order the Narcotics Suppression Squad (NSS) to the house of Dr. Imakurusu. Imakurusu had overseen the board that denied the Murai Vaccine; after being diagnosed with CS, he began using the vaccine and subsequently went into hiding. Section 9 believes Imakurusu may hold a clue to unraveling the entire Laughing Man case, and have undertaken a desperate search to locate him. With the aid of the American Empire and their unique surveillance satellites, Section 9 manages to find the doctor, and Batou volunteers to go after him. Elsewhere, high ranking elements of the Japanese government have launched their own campaign against Section 9 in an effort to bury the truth of the Laughing Man case, backing the NSS against Section 9. When both parties arrive at Imakurusu's location, all hell breaks loose between the DEA’s NSS squad and Section 9. The opening salvo in a private war between the Japanese government and Section 9 has been fired.
22 Corporate Graft – SCANDAL The Head of the DEA is arrested for murder in connection with the raid at the Sunflower Society building. Aramaki orders Section 9 to go through all of the facility's records to determine who is pulling the strings behind the attacks against Section 9 and whether that person or group is responsible for orchestrating the Laughing Man incidents. As Aramaki leaves the building he shares an elevator ride with former prime minister Kanzaki, who privately discloses that the prime suspect in the Laughing Man case has a lot of friends in high places and strong connections to the navy. Elsewhere, the remaining members of the Narcotic Suppression Squad attempt to frame Aramaki with drug trafficking by luring him to a refugee district, but their plan fails when Batou rescues the chief before the police arrive on the scene. Meanwhile, Kusanagi seeks to repair her prosthetic body after incurring severe damage in a battle against the government's latest prototype weapon. Her plan is to perform a simple body swap, but the doctor in charge of the procedure is in reality an NSS agent bent on killing her. Just when it seems that Kusanagi will be killed The Laughing Man arrives, and in exchange for Kusanagi’s assistance completes her body swap, thereby saving the Major.
23 The Other Side of Good and Evil – EQUINOX The Laughing Man returns to again kidnap the CEO of Serano Genomics, just as he did six years before. Returning to the scene of the café where Serano was first kidnapped, he and the Laughing Man share the story of the events leading up to the kidnapping and the events following it. During the conversation The Laughing Man asks Serano why he never fulfilled his promise to tell the truth, and in response Serano informs the Laughing Man that the whole time, the Secretary General had him under arrest. Meanwhile, Section 9 determines the Secretary General to be the man pulling the strings behind the Laughing Man scandal, and have resolved to take Serano into protective custody to obtain his testimony. When the team discovers that Serano has been kidnapped by the Laughing Man they mount a frantic search to find and secure him. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that the Laughing Man was actually the Major in disguise and that the entire operation combined with Serano's conversation with the "Laughing Man" was Section 9's plot to confirm Serano Genomics' dealings with Secretary General Yakushima.
24 Sunset in the Lonely City – ANNIHILATION Having learned the entire truth behind the Laughing Man Incident from the Laughing Man himself, and having confirmed the information with Mr. Serano, Section 9 is finally ready to make their move against the man behind the corporate terrorism: standing Secretary General Yakushima. Unfortunately, Yakushima has learned of Section 9’s planned move, and has leaked the existence of the group to the press in an effort to cast the organization in a bad light. When Aramaki arrives to speak with the Prime Minister he presents the incriminating evidence against Yakushima, expecting the Prime Minister to take action and remove Yakushima from office. Unfortunately, the lower house elections are entering a crucial stage, and without the support of his party in that house the Prime Minister is uncertain of his ability to have Yakushima removed from office and arrested for his crimes. To counter this the Prime Minister decides to use the Special Forces Restriction Bill against Section 9 in an effort to improve his party’s image with the promise that he will take action after the elections have been completed. An alarmed Aramaki reluctantly agrees to the plan, and informs the Major of the impending raid on their headquarters, instructing her and the team to survive no matter what. Shortly after his departure from the Prime Minister's office Aramaki and Togusa become the first two members of Section 9 to be captured by the government. Elsewhere, a JMSDF carrier and three escorts have arrived in the waters off Niihama City. Aboard the carrier the Umibozu, an elite JMSDF Black Ops unit adept at paramilitary operations, prepares to storm Section 9 with armoured combat suits and assault choppers. After exchanging shots with the Umibozu, the assembled members of Section 9 stage a feint suicide attempt before escaping to the basement. Kusanagi briefs them on the chief's last instruction before issuing the final order to the unit: "Security Section 9 is now disbanded. That is all."
25 Smoke of Gunpowder, Hail of Bullets – BARRAGE Aramaki has been released under his own recognizance, and meets with the head of the Ministry of Justice to explain the situation and ask for help in ensuring his team members' safety, but the Minister of Justice is powerless to affect the situation beyond the prosecution of Yakushima. Elsewhere, Saito and Ishikawa are caught in separate traps set by Umibozu teams, but not before successfully dispersing information seeds given to them by the Major. With Batou and Motoko as the only uncaptured members of Section 9, Batou undertakes a risky sortie to Motoko's apartment to recover her sentimentally-valued watch. Before he can escape, Umibozu commandos arrive and a firefight ensues. Batou successfully fends off the first wave of attacks, but is unexpectedly confronted with two armoured combat suits, the second of which proves to be more than he can handle. Just when it seems that Batou will be killed, help arrives from a most unlikely source: the Tachikomas. Having witnessed the attack on Section 9, the three remaining Tachikomas rendezvous at the remains of Section 9's headquarters, and after a time manage to find Batou at Kusanagi's apartment. The Tachikoma tanks resolve to protect Batou at any cost, but armed only with wires and a single shell it seems an impossible task and only succeed by sacrificing themselves. Meanwhile, Kusanagi arrives to evacuate a badly injured Batou. She evacuates him to her hideout where she stores her remote bodies. Batou returns Kusanagi's watch and she puts it on her wrist. After seeing to his wounds, both attempt to leave the city, but the Umibozu have other plans (on orders from the cabinet) to assassinate the Major. The Major's decapitated body is not wearing the watch.
26 Public Security Section 9, Once Again – STAND ALONE COMPLEX After 15 days of fierce fighting the Umibozu complete their operation to dismantle Section 9 by assassinating Kusanagi and capturing Batou. The dismantling of Section 9, spun by the media as a JSDF preemptive strike against a radical security unit planning a coup, provides the prime minister with the public support his party needs to win the lower house elections. Immediately after the election, in keeping with his promise, the prime minister discloses the information regarding The Laughing Man case, fingering Yakushima as the ringleader. Three months pass, during which Togusa tries to come to terms with all that has happened with Section 9. In his attempts to find information on the rest of the team he learns that the Major was killed and the remaining members of Section 9 are serving time in a state prison for high treason. The news upsets Togusa, and he resolves to assassinate the man responsible for Section 9's dissolution. Togusa intends to catch Yakushima as he arrives at the ruling party’s headquarters, but before Togusa can follow through with his plan he is stopped by none other than Batou, who brings Togusa to Section 9’s temporary HQ. Here, Togusa is informed of the events surrounding Section 9’s dissolution and reformation, news that he greets with joy. Elsewhere, Kusanagi and Aramaki meet with Aoi, the man responsible for the abduction of Serano six years ago. For his outstanding hacking skills Aramaki offers Aoi a job at Section 9, but Aoi politely refuses citing he is not a team player and wishing to remain in an unused library to sort through and read its collection of books. Public Security, Section 9, is once more an active security unit of the Japanese government, and its members once more settle into the routines they had at the beginning of the series.


[edit] The Laughing Man (OVA)

[more info soon]


[edit] Tachikomatic Days

[more info soon]

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