»Characters
Profiles of the characters of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone ComplexMajor Kusanagi Motoko
Official: Section Nine's tactical commander and second-in-command, Major Kusanagi suffered from a
medical condition which necessitated that her brain be transplanted to a cybernetic body at a very young age.
Although her proficiency with the artificial body is highly advanced, she is still haunted by the childhood
memories of her own inability to master the more subtle intricacies of it's operation - emotions she hides
beneath her stoic demeanor.
Personal Thoughs: Motoko is one of the most interesting female characters out there in anime. She's not your typical anime heroine, y'know, the ones that tend to be strong to a point, until they get in trouble over their heads and require a man to rescue them. Motoko takes care of herself very well. She's both brilliant and strong, and a leader! I mean, c'mon, she's the commander of a team full of guys! That's awsome! Plus, despite for the most part being all cool and composed, she does have moments of actual emotion, which are some of the most interesting in the series (like the end of episode 8 ^_^ ) Now, if she'd only admit her burning desire to be with Batou... ;D
Batou
Official: The "muscle" behind Section Nine and Major Kusanagi's frequent partner, Batou is a committed
and serious agent when engaged in a mission, and a good companion and occasional comedian when he's not. Like
most of Section Nine's team, Batou possesses a cyberbrain. In addition, he has cybernetically enhanced eyes.
When not on duty, Batou spends much of his time exercising in the gym to enhance his considerable physique.
Personal Thoughs: Batou is a great character! He's no willowy bishie pretty boy, but a real man who actually looks like one ^_^ He's all gruff and tough, and exactly the kind of guy you'd expect to be an officer/ military man. And he may be the "muscle" of S9, but he's not stupid, either, which is a nice change from the typical big brute character you'd peg him for at first glance. ^_^ He's so cool and funny, and adorable with the Tachikoma! And then there's his interaction with the Major which...well, it defines 'romantic tension'. Not just romantic tension, but comraderie, too. Ahem. But I'll save the B/M relationship rants for another time ^^; Suffice to say, Batou is the BEST!
Togusa
Official: With an implanted sub-brain as his only cybernetic augmentation, and a wife and a child at home,
Togusa is something of an anomaly within the ranks of Section Nine (where most of the staff is at least 50%
artificial). Also, unlike most of the other agents who were primarily recruited from the military, Togusa was
handpicked for employment in Section Nine by Kusanagi from the police department. Adept at investigative work, he
often is used to infiltrate suspicious organizations. He also has a penchant for using archaic 20th century
firearms.
Personal Thoughs: Togusa is the resident family man, a nice, human (in more ways than one ^^; ) touch to super-techy GITS: SAC. He's a bit more emotional than Motoko, though not as hot-headed as Batou, and somehow also a bit on the naieve side - where Batou might get pissed off at injustice, at least he seems to realize that not all wrongs will be punished. Togusa, on the other hand, doesn't seem to grasp that there are things that prevent justice from being had. Which is actually kinda nice, considering that everyone else in Section Nine seems more than a little bit cynical...
Daisuke Aramaki
Official: The wise and powerful Head of Section Nine, Aramaki relies upon his many international and
corporate contacts to supply his team with the information they need to get the job done. Though he commands
a great deal of respect, he is occasionally called "Monkey Man" by his subordinates (perhaps because of his
unconventional hairstyle). Seldom directly involved in police actions, he is nonetheless constantly working
behind the scenes to coordinate the efforts of his agents, making quick and authoritative decisions and
maintaining tight control of Kusanagi.
Personal Thoughs: I don't care what anyone says, Aramaki is one cool old guy. He's the diplomat of Section Nine, and he does it well. Still a stud, too, as evidenced by episode 17. XD I really enjoyed the eps centered on the Monkey Man - they gave the old guy a chance to get out of the office and stretch his legs, and develop his character a little more. ^_^
Ishikawa
Official: The oldest member of Section Nine except for Aramaki, Ishikawa is a cool and composed
intelligence agent whose activities seldom require active fieldwork. An accomplished hacker, he spends most
of his time quietly gathering information from the net.
Personal Thoughs: Though he's really only a minor supporting character, (like pretty much everyone in Section Nine, aside from the Major, Batou, Togusa, and Aramaki) Ishikawa strikes me as an interesting guy. He's certainly smart, being the resident hacker, but I wish they'd delved into his human side a bit more in the series.
Saito
Official: Section Nine's sharpshooter, Saito is a cool, highly professional specialist practiced in the
use of long-range weapons and tactics. He favors the .50 caliber sniper rifle and can use the cybernetic
magnification scope hidden in his left eye to uplink with a GPS satellite for additional accuracy.
Personal Thoughs: Even though we don't know much more about him than what the profiles say, Saito just plain looks cool. I mean, he's a sniper! And he's got that nifty cybernetic eye patch! If that doesn't say 'cool', I don't know what does.
Boma
Official: Boma is the quintessential strong but silent type and Section Nine's explosives expert. While
his body may be built for a full-on assault, Boma is much more comfortable hacking the net.
Personal Thoughs: Boma looks sorta like a bald, fat Batou, and he may as well be, considering the development his character is given. But eh, I suppose he serves his purpose as just another member of Section Nine. *looks at profile* *blinks* He's an explosives expert? Huh.
Pazu
Official: Rumored to be an ex-yakuza, Pazu is the shady member of Section Nine. Using his underground
connections, Pazu gives Section Nine access to otherwise unreachable people and places. Quite the philanderer,
he brags that he never sleeps with the same woman twice.
Personal Thoughs: It might just be me, but Paz looks sorta like a pimp, or a wiseguy from Jersy. Very greasy. If they'd spent more time with his character, I woulda thought he was an evil spy or something. He just looks that way... *looks at profile* Well. Ex-yakuza man-slut. Yup. Sounds about right. :D
Tachikoma
Official: There are currently eight Tachikoma model robots in the command of Section Nine. These highly
maneuverable, spider-like machines possess an advanced Artificial Intelligence which allows them a great degree
of autonomous activity. Highly mobile and equipped with numerous helpful devices and weapons, including
therm-optic camouflage, the Tachikomas operate as mobile, sentinent "Swiss Army knives."
Personal Thoughs: There's nothing cuter than the Tachikomas in GitS: SAC. Well, granted there's not really very many cute things in GitS, anyway, but still. It seems pretty strange for such huge tanks to have such child-like personalities, but they do, and they really provide GitS with the majority of the comic relief that it needs to be such a well-rounded series. (all we're really lacking is romance ¬¬)
The Laughing Man
Official: No profile :/
Personal Thoughs: There's not really anything you can say about the Laughing Man without giving away major series spoilers, so I'll just this: he and his story are probably the niftiest I've ever seen in a series, for a "villain".
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