1. Shirow's Man-machine interface is outstanding. And while it has awesome babe shots, it also does a wonderful job of providing a sequel to Motoko's journey (especially her children) following GITS.
2. Mamoru Oshii is not involved in GITS SAC in any way. He did both movies, the first of which tied at least somewhat to the first Shirow novel, the second one (GITS: Innocence) doesn't at all.
3. From a philosophical standpoint, Oshii's GITS:Innocence isn't really a sequel to GITS at all - it's a sequel to Oshii's Avalon (2001). Oshii shifted from examining the man-machine integration questions of the original movie that questioned whether cyborgs have souls to more general questions about posthumanity. In both Avalon and later GITS: Innocence, Oshii poses the thought that our bodies have become obselete - that as the co-evolutoin of man and his tools continues, the "real" world will be something altogether different than what is experienced by our bodies. If interested, I have reviews of both Avalon and GITS 2: Innocence for those unfamiliar with them.
Regarding GITS SAC, while I agree with the review for the most part, I do think the original GITS movie (and Manga) is heavier on the philosophy and cyberpunk questions than the OAV. Still, it's very well done - definitely enjoyable scifi. As to whether these are the only good shows coming out besides GITS SAC and BG, I would strongly differ. Many good cyberpunk-related shows and animes have come out recently, including Texhnolyze (written by Chiaki Konaka, who also wrote Serial Experiments Lain, Malice@Doll, Armitage III and Hellsing among others) which is one not to be missed. And bunches of great scifi movies (mostly foreign ones) have come out in recent years.
Slashdot Mirror
1. Shirow's Man-machine interface is outstanding. And while it has awesome babe shots, it also does a wonderful job of providing a sequel to Motoko's journey (especially her children) following GITS.
2. Mamoru Oshii is not involved in GITS SAC in any way. He did both movies, the first of which tied at least somewhat to the first Shirow novel, the second one (GITS: Innocence) doesn't at all.
3. From a philosophical standpoint, Oshii's GITS:Innocence isn't really a sequel to GITS at all - it's a sequel to Oshii's Avalon (2001). Oshii shifted from examining the man-machine integration questions of the original movie that questioned whether cyborgs have souls to more general questions about posthumanity. In both Avalon and later GITS: Innocence, Oshii poses the thought that our bodies have become obselete - that as the co-evolutoin of man and his tools continues, the "real" world will be something altogether different than what is experienced by our bodies. If interested, I have reviews of both Avalon and GITS 2: Innocence for those unfamiliar with them.
Regarding GITS SAC, while I agree with the review for the most part, I do think the original GITS movie (and Manga) is heavier on the philosophy and cyberpunk questions than the OAV. Still, it's very well done - definitely enjoyable scifi. As to whether these are the only good shows coming out besides GITS SAC and BG, I would strongly differ. Many good cyberpunk-related shows and animes have come out recently, including Texhnolyze (written by Chiaki Konaka, who also wrote Serial Experiments Lain, Malice@Doll, Armitage III and Hellsing among others) which is one not to be missed. And bunches of great scifi movies (mostly foreign ones) have come out in recent years.