MovieChat Forums > Kôkaku kidôtai: Stand Alone Complex (2004) Discussion > I can't get into this anime, please help...

I can't get into this anime, please help me

posted 8 years ago by kasper-sorgeloos
3 replies | jump to latest

I'm trying to get into this anime series because I see the potential, but I always have to force myself watching the first 7 episodes already. Now, I've given the movie a chance...and to my surprise, the movie kicked ass! No fear of nudity, bad-ass female agent, philosophies and unique way what humanity means, dark bleak world. It was awesome!

but with the series... It always feel the same... oh no, terrorist attack, call section 9, next episode, oh no wild robot attack, call section 9, next episode oh no weird body switchings going on, call section 9... I mean, unlike the movie that was striking in terms of how it sucked you into its world and makes you question how far one could go before losing ones "ghost/soul" or whatever, the series feels like every episode has a "begins-has a middle- end" and it keeps looping around without much to look forward to the next episode, after, like, 5 episodes it got to the point it got tedious for me. It even feels toned down, in the movie she is completely nude to use her camouflage, while in the series she was fully clothed. It's not that I wanted more nude scenes, but it made sense WHY she removed her clothing to camouflage so well in the way she did.

In short, the movie gave a "oh wow, I want to see and learn more!" while the series is like "I just spend 3 x 25 minutes watching section 9 take down a fake, some kind of terrorist, followed by a robot going out of control... it feels mediocre"

I mean, first I didn't get into AOT, but after a second viewing, it kicked ass. While this is almost my third time watching SAC and having trouble going beyond episode 6. The only reason why I think something is wrong on my side is because when I saw the first movie I was in awe, but the series doesn't give me what the movie gave me. And I really want to get into this anime.

[–] avortac4 (3660) 2 years ago

It's obvious you haven't read the manga - it's wild, adventurous, goes to all kinds of places the movie would never dare even try, and actually goes forward when it comes to story and such.

It still doesn't make much sense, but it has way more nudity and sexuality, and interesting robots with personality, that try to revolt and such.

The movie feels toned down from the manga (VERY much so, in fact), so what you are saying about the movie versus the cartoon, would definitely apply almost directly when comparing the manga to the movie.

Having said that, this cartoon is definitely dull, and suffers from some kind of 'devolution'. I watched over 20 episodes, and my brain started to want to vomit at that point, while my ghost started to try to run away and jump down the window just to have something non-boring in my life.

I think maybe seven (7) first episodes are relatively 'promising' - nothing too great, but promising that we get some kind of interesting big story going at some point, but then that promise goes away and the whole thing devolves into 'typical anime' that isn't fun or interesting on any level.

There's also SO much 'static talking' in a very fast and complicated way that I barely understood most of the japanese (although I can usually keep up with at least the main point of what people are talking about in japanese TV shows), and I struggled to even read the english text fast enough or even comprehend a lot of it. This show is a 'dull strain on your brain' for some reason.

I can understand why someone would not be able to get into this - I saw the first few episodes and wanted more and expanded story - but it was never delivered. After around 7 episodes, the show became dull, too wordy, useless and trivial. The main story was put on backburner so we can know what some drunk russian from Batou's past is up to, and that his wife makes some kind of alcohol from honey.

Every episode starts being just a 'useless side story that doesn't connect'.

[–] avortac4 (3660) 2 years ago

There are SO many irrelevant side stories, I might as well be watching 'Violet Evergreen'. In anime, it seems that it's typical to give lots of promise, then never deliver. Give some mystery, then NEVER resolve it until maybe 20 episodes in, and even then, it's a letdown. Our mastermind villain is just some goofy-looking, sad-eyed teenager with slightly messy hair. Holy cow, what a letdown!

It's like they didn't know what to do with the show once it got going, so they consulted every single anime director and even western movies (Nurse Ratchet should NOT be part of this world!), just to scrape something to present. Why would we be interested in some guy collecting gold that has already died, when we could be exploring more interesting themes?

Why was the ONLY good thing about this, the blue robots, removed from the show completely?

This show had SO much potential, only to become an empty balloon after enough episodes, it simply DEVOLVED from what it could have been.

Heck, the intro is so cool, being rendered, and then we get the typical anime drawings instead. Why is the intro even in '3D', if all we get is '2D'? (They rectify this in the next season but I had lost interest at that point)

There's no energy, no colors, no consistency, no big story that would be revealed a bit more every episode. There are stories that end before resolving anything, and are NEVER heard from again. What the heck? Why did I waste my time watching THAT, when the next episode is about something completely different?

It's like useless sidestory after useless sidestory without a cohesive theme that would hold it all together.

Did we REALLY need a London bank episode about WINE? Where are my robots and camouflage and Major's fight scenes? Instead of any of that, she just goes and.. buys a 60-dollar knife.

Why are prices shown in dollars in London anyway? Who knows..

Also, why does the displayed data use the IMPERIAL system sometimes, but other times, it uses metric system?

[–] avortac4 (3660) 2 years ago

I mean, sometimes someone's height is shown as 5 feet 9 inches, but the next episode, someone else's height is shown as 175 cm.

Why??

In any case, all this show is, is POTENTIAL. Too bad most of that potential is not explored. But hey, we get lots of boring talking in static shots.. talking, talking, more talking and more talking.

Where's the energy, excitement and colors?

You are better off reading the manga, although it doesn't have much coherence, either, and it also consists of small side stories, basically, that have not that much to do with each other, but at least the movie borrowed a few and tried to make a cohesive story out of it (and failed).

I don't know what any versions of GitS are trying to say, except that japanese people can produce wild things, boring things, and never dare deviate from the expected tropes.