Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Vol. 2: Testation

攻殻機動隊 Stand Alone Complex #2

by Yū Kinutani

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A STRONG DEFENSE? An advanced tech tank is on the loose and appears hell bent on heading into the city. To make matters worse, it has impenetrable defenses and all conventional efforts to stop its progress have failed. Now it’s up to Major Kusanagi and Section 9 to find a way to stop the tank’s inexorable march toward an unknown fate in the city!

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction, Comics, Cyberpunk, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Crime

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2010

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

So I've gone from not liking the original Ghost in the Shell manga to pretty much loving the Stand Alone Complex series. I didn't realize it when I started this series, but from what I understand this manga is just an adaptation of the TV series of the same name. I'm not sure what my reaction to the series would be if I had seen the show first, but the manga is great.

In this volume we have a runaway tank that the team has to stop, and there's quite a story behind the tank. This is a very emotional story, not what I was expecting but very well done.

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

100+ pages of tachikomas running after a stray tank on a free way gets old real quick. True enough it would have been a challenge to maintain interest that long for any artist but with Kinutani’s flat and uninspired style it just becomes a drag.

[osoi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Выбор сюжетов для этой серии одновременно удручает и восхищает. Второй том полностью пересказывает эпизод с взбесившимся танком, что внезапно начал отстреливаться и покатил по своим делам, будто так и надо. В основу этой истории заложена нехилая такая драма, которая раскрывается буквально на последних минутах. И что заставляет меня раз за разом возвращаться к SAC (да и ко всей вселенной GITS) - это недосказанность, когда читателю/зрителю не разжевывают все до состояния каши. Зачастую последняя сюжетная ступенька - это не финал, а просто шаг (иногда в пустоту).

Но эта хорошая и насыщенная драма в качестве прелюдии имеет длительную погоню с участием танков. Я бросила попытки разобраться в происходящем почти сразу - где там чьи манипуляторы и какой это по счету взрыв. Такой массив экшна смотрится на бумаге невыразительно и быстро утомляет (впрочем, та же трабла была и в первом томе, только тут сплошные танки).

Арамаки везде хорош, чертовка. Как он доминирует и бросает свои фирменные взгляды~ (пускай даже он на две головы ниже Ишикавы :D).

lukk.svbtle

[Clodjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol. 2 faithfully adapts the story from episode 2 “Testation” of the anime TV series. Although it also adds more scenes to make the action easier to follow in a static medium.

I am already a big fan of GITS and of cyberpunk stories, but I particularly like this manga series because it offers strong designs and art, excellent storytelling and constitute an easy read. It is quite enjoyable if you like investigative stories with lots of action (sometime quite violent), rich socio-political themes and that are set in a cyberpunk future. I must admit that it has been a long time since I took so much pleasure in the reading a manga. I highly recommend it.

Read my full comments on https://clodjee-blog.com/2020/03/26/g...

[Xavier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite how prominent the major is in the show, she seems so superfluous here. It's a bit funny actually. I'm not sure if it's because the story is pretty old or of its because I read a lot of science fiction but the plot was extremely obvious and they spent so much time on it. It also falls into the same issue as last time with repeated scenes.

The art is good but even the major's breast size are laughably silly. It's hard to take it serious with these impractical boobs on a cyborg body bounding around when she's sprinting on foot. Sure it's captivating for a horny teenager but I think it's a bit much.

[Courtney Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I like about this series is that there’s not much plot to follow. Book 2 is about a military tank on the loose. There’s no side stories to follow. Something simple to read after a long murder mystery.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manga version of an episode of the Stand Alone Complex anime. Good adaptation.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[Mik]

Classic gits.

Updated art style for a classic storyline. Highly recommend
Currently on kindle unlimited so it's a no Brainerd really. Excellent

[Porsuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite GITS story in Manga format

[Etain · Rating 3 out of 5]

the whole time reading this is like "wow I wish I was watching the show instead of reading this awkward lifeless adaptation"

[Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple plot. Easy to follow. Entertaining but no engaging.
I will stop here for the moment.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start by saying I adore all things Ghost in the Shell.

This is a manga retelling of Stand Alone episode number 2, "Runaway Evidence – Testation." The black and white panels are 100% faithfully drawn from the episode, and it seems to be a accurate retelling of the animated episode.

While I really enjoyed going through this, I probably would have had a difficult time following the action, especially the chase scenes which comprise most of the episode, if I hadn't seen animation a number of times. As a GITS connoisseur, I enjoyed inspecting the episode from the vantage points of both manga and animation, and it's a pretty straightforward, encapsulated story line that is simpler than some of the stand alone episodes and the multi-episode stories.

All in all, a satisfying addition to the collection of GITS family of manga.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good story. Though nothing original this is an almost word for word shot for shot copy of the Anime TV show. I was kind of hoping for new material. There was not even a new to someone who had only seen the TV show like in volume 1.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Similar to the first volume, this reproduces the second episode of the TV show, with added scenes. The art remains average, but the story is still sharp.