Ghost in the Shell STAND ALONE COMPLEX (novel) Vol.#02 - Revenge of the Cold Machines

By: Greg Hackmann
Review Date: Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Release Date: Saturday, September 30, 2006



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Junichi Fujisaku
Translated by:Camellia Nieh
Adapted by:

What They Say
2030 Tokyo: While patrolling Tokyo's post-World War Three refugee zones Togusa, the newest member of Section 9, discovers that one of the most powerful cyber-criminals his squad has ever faced has plans to kill their leader, Section 9 Chief Daisuke Aramaki, and it will take all of the members of Section 9 to stop him.

Contains the stories "Double Targets," "First Love, Last Love," and "Revenge of the Cold Machines."

The Review
This time around, we get three stories for the price of one.

The first story, "Double Targets," opens with an ex-military refugee named Tanaka in desperate search of work. He inadvertently applies for a job with a local criminal operation, who mistake him for the notorious hitman Masaki Tanaka. Afraid to turn the job down, Tanaka plays along and accepts an assignment to take out an unnamed elderly target. Meanwhile, Section 9 learns of an apparent assassination attempt on Chief Aramaki. Aramaki insists on acting as bait, with Section 9 waiting in the wings for the would-be assassin to make his first move.

"First Love, Last Love" takes the novel on a bit of a tangent. The story is told from the point-of-view of a Tachikoma which has just returned from a brief off-site assignment. After some prodding from his fellow Tachikomas, he describes his encounters with Officer Nana Kirishima of the Niihama Prefectural Police. During a routine vehicle inspection, the pair find an abandoned brain shell in the trunk of a stolen car before being ambushed by two armed men. As the story's title implies, Tachikoma quickly bonds with Kirishima during the ensuing car chase, and begins making decisions that don't quite mesh with his program logic.

The novel closes with "Revenge of the Cold Machines", which follows up on a corporate terrorism subplot discussed briefly in the first story. Section 9 investigates the kidnapping of Kin'ichi Masumoto, co-founder of the first-tier cybernetics firm Toyoda Chemicals. As Section 9 begins to piece together Toyoda's shady dealings with the military and a rival cybernetics firm, ex-military man Tegan Yo puts into motion an elaborate vendetta against Toyoda's founders.

With three "episodes" packed into one book, the quality of the writing is very uneven. The first two stories, at only about 60 pages each, simply don't have the space for any significant character or plot development. "First Love" suffers the most from this problem: while the banter among the Tachikomas is cute, the underlying detective story just isn't that interesting. The third story fares much better, since Fujisaku takes the time to flesh out the narrative and expand on some of the subplots planted in earlier chapters. More importantly, this last story brings back the chemistry and political intrigue which made the TV series so compelling, and which were absent from the first two stories.


Overall, despite the first two stories' flaws, this volume is still an entertaining read.