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Trivia / Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

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  • Acting for Two:
    • In the original Japanese version, both Togusa and the Laughing Man are played by Kōichi Yamadera.
    • The Japanese Tachikomas all have the same voice, although this is not the case in the English L.A. dub where everyone has different voice actors portraying them (for example, Batou's favorite is voiced by Sandy Fox, while the one who is reading books is Lara Jill Miller).
  • Adored by the Network: [adult swim] loves this series and it's had a healthy rerun record with the network during it's heyday.
  • Anime First: A manga series based on the anime wouldn't be released until 8 years after the anime had first aired in Japan.
  • Bad Export for You: Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release is so bare-bones it doesn't even have a scene selection, has audio glitches (the most obvious being the use of Batou's Japanese audio as the electronic reverb for Batou's English dialogue while he's talking over cybercomms), uses 'dubtitles' and closed-captions for the hearing-impaired instead of proper Japanese subtitles that the DVD versions originally released by Bandai had, and even has some animation issues that became apparent during the transition into HD. Most noticeable with the movement of the Tachikomas and other 3D rendered vehicles.
  • Banned in China: The tenth episode, "Jungle Cruise", was skipped by YTV in Canada due to its graphic content on the show's first rotation (particularly, a serial killer who skins his victims alive and plugs his eyes into them so they can watch themselves being killed). However, due to angry fan response, it was later played in a marathon of episodes, and on the show's second run, albeit with a special Content Warning that the level of violence was above the usual level for something allowed on YTV.
  • Budget-Busting Element: During the production of the series in 2002, Production I.G ended up setting a new record for the highest budget spent on any anime production for its time. Much of the money went towards showing off new animation technologies in 3D Cel Shading, specifically on vehicles such as helicopters, cars, and especially the Tachikomas themselves. The entire series could've just been done in traditional 2D animation, but it was a choice to render the vehicles in 3D and apply lighting filters to make them look 2D.
  • Defictionalization:
    • A real Tachikoma?
    • Directly inspired by GITS, scientists in Japan have also built the proper technology for thermoptic camouflage gear that works by bending light around the wearer. It certainly works, but the equipment to make it work is so bulky that it's not worth it... unless maybe it was inside the body.
  • Dueling Dubs: Well there's the Los Angeles dub for the TV series. The Vancouver (aka the one in BC, Canada) dub is done for the OVA version and the Southeast Asian dub for Southeast Asian countries that aired in Animax at the time (e.g. Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore).
  • He Also Did: The anime's animation director and ending illustrator, Kyoji Asano, would also go on to design the characters for the Attack on Titan adaptation.
  • Life Imitates Art: Ghost in the Shell has directly inspired Japanese scientists to develop actual "thermoptic camouflage" cloaking technology (that works by bending light around the wearer) and a functioning Tachikoma prototype (a 4 wheel vehicle with a segmented body that gives a visual feed to the driver through cameras.) Advances in prosthetic limb technology have also advanced significantly over the last few decades.
  • No Export for You: Only the first Official Log was translated outside of Japan. The others are only available in Japanese. The collapse of Bandai's non-Japanese branches partially contributed to the lack of plans to translate the other volumes.
  • The Other Darrin:
    • In English, Motoko's original actress from the first movie and the '97 PS1 game, Mimi Woods, had moved away from Los Angeles and retired from acting altogether, so Mary Elizabeth McGlynn was brought in and the rest was history. Many fans consider Mary to be the de facto English voice of the Major, feeling that Mimi's take was rather monotone by comparison.
    • Togusa was recast from David Richard Thompson i.e. "Christopher Joyce" in the movie and the prior PS1 game to fan favorite dubber Crispin Freeman for SAC. Much like McGlynn, Freeman has been widely regarded as the best English voice of the character.
    • There's also Ishikawa who is voiced here by Michael McCarty instead of his movie actor Michael Sorich. Notably, Sorich had already been replaced in the role by the late Bob Papenbrook in the PS1 game years before. Sorich appears in SAC as a few incidental characters while Papenbrook appears as Marco Amoretti and other inconsequential roles.
    • Saitō's voice in the PS1 game was performed by David Hayter i.e. "Jimmy Krakor"note  but is done here by Dave Wittenberg.
    • Fukami was voiced by Steve Bulen in all his appearances except for his assassinating Nanao in episode 6, where Jamieson Price took over. It was likely due to the casting director mistaking him for a separate character due to his face not being visible in that scene.
    • Police Commissioner Matsuoka was voiced by Doug Stone in episodes 1 and 10 but by the late Paul Carr in episode 4.
    • Takakura was voiced in his first three outings by Eddie Jones but for his latter two appearances, William Bassett took over for unknown reasons.
    • The Commissioner-General in 2nd Gig was first voiced by Beau Billingslea in episode 31 but was changed to Mike Reynolds for his appearance in episode 42. Reynolds would retire shortly afterward.
    • On the Japanese side, likely due to the high cost, Tamio Oki was not brought back to voice Aramaki, being replaced in the role by Osamu Saka. Oki would make a cameo in 2nd Gig as Commander Roland, however, and did return as Aramaki once more in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.
    • The Operators in Japanese were voiced by Atsuko Hayashida in the movie but by Eri Ono in the series. In the movie's dub, the operators' voices were provided by Debra Jean Rogers, Mona Marshall, Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Wanda Nowicki, and Meg Hamilton whereas SAC has Rogers voicing all the operators herself.
    • While Bandai had the license to both seasons of the series and the compilation OVAs in America, the latter was handed off to Vancouver, Canada's Ocean Group as the L.A.-based Animaze had gotten too expensive to use by that point. The casting had David Kaye as Batō, Trevor Devall as Togusa, and Alison Matthews as the Major herself.
  • Playing Against Type: Patricia Ja Lee as Fem, the Triad assassin. You may know her from the Power Rangers franchise as Cassie Chan the Pink Turbo and Pink Space Ranger.
    • Both Wendee Lee and Yoko Soumi as the yandere Kaori Kawashima.
  • Screwed by the Network: The show can be considered a victim of this during its run on the revived Toonami, as it was unceremoniously removed from the lineup to make room for InuYasha. The show's removal was only temporary until it was retired to make way for Beware the Batman. However, the Toonami crew stated that it would return since [adult swim] has perpetual broadcasting rights due to them providing production financing, and it's safe to say that the show won't be going away, at least not permanently, anytime soon. It returned to the lineup for a high-definition, less censorednote  run in 2017.

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