2nd GIG twice as good as 1st GIG


First GIG is great. I bought the 2nd GIG box just from the strength of it. But after watching 2nd gig its hard going back and watching the first gig. the second gig makes the first gig look mediocre because its so consistently amazing, the way the refugee/goda story builds and builds throughout. does anyone else feel like this about the difference in quality? again im not saying first gig is crap.

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Don't get me wrong, I think both are fantastic pieces of storytelling, but I actually prefer the first season.

I'm going to detail my basis for this opinion for the rest of this post, so consider this a mild spoiler warning for those of us who haven't seen it all.

The conspiracy of the first season is carefully woven into all the episodes so that it's only possible to figure out if you're paying extremely close attention to every minute detail. The second season spills the beans on how the conspiracy will go down in one conversation very early on, and you keep watching because you wonder how the characters will deal with the situation or if it will resolve itself. The second season feels more character-driven than story-driven to me, and a story-driven series is superior to a character-driven series in my opinion.

The subplots in the second season seem to be inserted for the sole purpose of character development, and are left unresolved in some instances or left open to the interpretation of the viewer (Did the "real" Pazu survive? Did Kuze/Kusanagi realize who each other were?).

The sheer scope of the conspiracy was too large in my opinion. In the first season the conspiracy was solely domestic and involved simple political corruption propelled by cyber-crime, something that Section 9 was designed to stop. The second season involved using military resources and manipulating public opinion to create a new Cold War scenario, which is something that's far too large in scale for one organization in one country to take on, no matter how effective it may be. Cite for counter-example the Angel Feathers episode: ONE international terrorist required a multilateral anti-terrorist operation to resolve--and even then it was only solved because Batou felt sorry for a particularly important little girl and happened to follow her around.

The pacing in the second season is actually better. Each time an episode ends you immediately want to watch the next one to see what happens. However, that same pacing style is employed in the last few episodes of Gig 1 as well.

The stand-alone complex of the second season wasn't quite as tight as it was in the first. The faux-original in Gig 1 was the Laughing Man persona created by Yakishima, and the stand-alones him were the unintentional copycat Laughing Man hackers. As for the second, the original was the "Individual Eleven" group created by Gohda, and the stand-alone were the people that Gohda intentionally manipulated into hating the refugees through his creation. The whole intentionally-created aspect of the second season's stand-alone complex makes me believe that it wasn't one at all and that the writers were stretching the concept beyond its meaning.

My final issue is that the Tachikomas' sacrificing themselves to save everyone just didn't have the same impact the second time around. Sure one may argue that since their AIs were only destroyed the second time that the only really sacrificed themselves that time. However, if you pay close enough attention you saw it coming a mile away which dramatically decreased the emotional impact.

Anyway, like I said earlier, this is just one person's opinion, so feel free to agree or disagree with it.

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I'm in the minority, but I also prefer the first GIG. I ultimately thought the first GIG was more compelling. I thought Gohda was a very interesting character, but I preferred the Laughing Man storyline. However, I will admit that certain episodes in the second GIG were far, far better than the best episodes in the first GIG. When it comes down to the entire season, however, I must say that I enjoyed the first season more.

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I preferred the 1st GIG too; I found the story a lot more engaging because I didn't know who exactly was behind it all from the start, and I worried about the lives of the characters more, (Togusa got shot, Aramaki poisoned, Motoko's head blown off?!). Hence the last couple of discs of GIG 1 were watched back to back the first time.

I have to say I did prefer the Tachikoma sacrifice in the 2nd GIG; I didn't really like them as characters in the first season but felt they were more 'fleshed' out come the follow up. That song they sing as they drive the satellite into the nuke was heart-breaking. The 2nd GIG was still good, but didn't really hook me as much as the first.

Enjoyed Solid State Society a lot and look forward to the next GIG... if there ever is one

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its interesting you should say that its far fetched for section 9 to handle everything in 2nd gig. because in the dvd extras kenji kamiyama says that section 9 have there backs against the wall for the whole season because the numbers are against them. i think this comes across well for the whole season like in the episode where they were manipulated into being the decoy plutonium convoy, and in the finale when batou's team are being chased by the rangers and motoko is being blown up. section 9 are pinned down with the GSDA and Goda's co-conspirators and the American Empire making things difficult. and in the end they need the prime ministers help to get their own way in killing goda and kuze still gets killed by the americans.

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I'm kinda confused by your post, JimmyTheMute. Are you agreeing with me or disagreeing with me on my point that the conspiracy was too much for Section 9 to handle alone?

I tend to think that they were completely out-matched and got lucky that the situations resolved themselves as they did. The only thing Section 9 really did that actually helped its cause was recover the plutonium to use as a bargaining chip. Everything else was blind luck (or lack thereof in some cases). Even the PM's help was luck, since the word hadn't gotten out that she wasn't in charge anymore.

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I'm sort of torn between the 1st and the 2nd GiG.
To obscure_reference: the whole point of the 2nd GiG was the fact that Goda's organization was pulling the strings behind every little job that Section 9 was being assigned as a way of side tracking the whole of Section 9 from their main preoccupation, the investigation of the conspiracy which was revealed to Motoko early on in the season. all of the extra work load and extra diversions are section 9's greatest enemy however all that extra stuff is their duty too, when they are asked to do that sort of work, which they are, so they have no way of getting away from all of it. I don't know where in the series, but Motoko actually mentions the fact that their weakness is in numbers and that they would be rendered ineffective under a heavy work load.

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[deleted]

I totally agree with obscure reference, very good anaylsis, well written for a forum post.

I agree the first season had a superior story. The second season had some great action though and some interesting ideas, but I feel like the story in the Laughing man case is way more compelling.

The laughing man investigation uncovers government scandal, six years in the making and still being hushed up. Actually the scadal started earlier than 6 years before, but that was when it started to be exposed and the laughing man came into play. The refugee situation is currently unfolding, and isn't so mysterious as it is politically complicated.

I don't really like Goda all that much, his face being screwed up is gimmicky, he's too much of a super-villain. I don't like the fact that we know for sure who he is. Every time he is behind something, the major or someone will point out that its him. The laughing man was always a source of mystery, and the fact that the members of section 9 did not always understand how the puzzle pieces fit into the bigger picture was extremely cool. In season 2, with each development, the relevance is explained and understood quickly.

The fact is the first season is a remarkably creative form of story telling, where as season 2 is a lot more straight forward and traditional. Plus the story is just better. I tend to prefer the former, which is what got me hooked on the show. i think I might not have liked it as much if i saw second season first.

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I enjoyed both but with that being said, I prefer the 2nd Gig much more. Both the first and second were superior anime. Great voice acting (Japanese and English), great music (Yoko Kanno doing her magic again), etc. However, I felt as good as the Laughing Man storyline was, all the filler episodes in the first SAC really dropped it for me. Now the second gig, the mystery behind who was Kuze and what exactly was making him do what he was doing. The sinister Cabinet member Gouda being the silent puppeteer of most of the events concerning the refugees. Prime Minister Kayabuki being pushed out of office and Motoko, Batou, Aramaki and the rest of Section 9 in the middle. Great series! This storyline flowed a lot better for me. And even if you didn't like most of the series, just to see what happened to Gouda at the end, was well worth it. 2nd Gig for me.

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Gohda's face being screwed up is classically gimmicky, villains are bastards, are ugly, have some physical deformity or handicap. I think the more modern gimmick is to have your villain be sexy and beautiful.

To me he isn't a super-villain...as you can see at the end, anybody can put a bullet in his head at any time. He knows he'll never be an elected/appointed official, or the head or some coup.

You're right...the Laughing Man was a mystery, and they know exactly who Gohda is. It's a nice change of pace. It's not a Usual Suspects thing.

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2nd Gig's directing seems completely different and I like it, it almost takes on a Cowboy Bebop quality. I just re-watched the second episode and it's freaking brilliant

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i love proto and Kuze in the 2nd gig, and the real stand alone episodes in the 2nd gig are amazing. in the first gig the stand alone episodes were just in the way.

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[deleted]

I actually like 1st gig better than 2nd gig. I can't really explain why, but I look story arcs that are structured oddly. I don't mind the height of the Laughing Man arc taking place at the beggining and the end of the series, as I enjoyed everything in the middle.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked both, but I thought first gig was better because it was somewhat quirky, the character episodes were interesting, and it wasn't just one event followed from start to finish as most of second gig was.

Plus the ending was one of the coolest I've ever seen.

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Yeah I love both but prefer the first GIG.

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I LOVE both gigs but somehow I still prefer the 2nd one. It's just a bit deeper and the story is "bigger" if you understand what I mean.

Kuze is also a true hero for me.

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i like both season but the 2nd gig i harder to undertand i had to watch the 1st gig twice to fully get it. but the 2cd gig took me about 4 tries with a lot ofstopping and rewinding.

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1st gig was much better.

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Much prefer 1st GIG than 2nd.

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