S. A. C. 2nd GIG — Allusions

Quite obviously, S. A. C. stands for the Stand Alone Complex. As for 2nd GIG (Sekando Gigu in Japanese), there are two interpretations: it may be the American word gig meaning job, or else may stand for Global Information Grid, communications network in the United States Department of Defense.

I’ve just seen the whole series and have made quite a lot of observations in the process. First of all, I noticed that Kenji Kamiyama, Mamoru Oshii and their team of staff writers delight in paying tribute to their favorite movies, places, artwork and so on. In this post I will talk about a few allusions that I was able to notice.

First of all, episode 18, Angel’s Poem, finely entitled in English Trans Parent, does homage to one of my favorite films, Wim Wenders’ 1987 Wings of Desire (original title Himmel über Berlin or The Sky over Berlin). Batou instantly reminded me of Damiel, standing atop of an angel guardian statue, watching over Berlin. He is unseen for everyone except little children who stare at him. I almost heard Peter Handke’s poem so beautifully quoted in Wenders’ film: When a child was a child, it walked with its arms swinging...

Episode 2, Well-Fed Me (Night Cruise) is a tribute to Martin Scorsese 1976 film Taxi Driver with Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle. Wish to save a prostitute from the boss, the gun-play in front of the mirror, obsession with the image of Motoko, all this is enhanced by the New York City architecture in some scenes, including the Flatiron Building.

In Episode 13, Face (Make Up), the idea of an artificial face and Pazu’s quote “I never sleep with the same woman twice” refer to Vanilla Sky, a remake of the Spanish movie Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes), the screenplay for which was written by Alejandro Amenábar. I also couldn’t help thinking about Kōbō Abe’s 1964 novel The Face of Another.

Paintings in the episode 11, Kusanagi’s Labyrinth (Affection) are by Alphonse Mucha, Czech Art Nouveau painter.

Finally, the “Jewish author”, quoted in the 2nd episode, is none other than Franz Kafka.