Motoko Kusanagi Fan Club

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:41 pm

^^^^^ We need one, there is no reason why Adult Swim should have one when we do not! We need sigs and banners ASAP

Jeni Nielsen · Post by **Jeni Nielsen** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:31 pm

Someone should get Marto. He's our resident Motoko-fanboy. ^_^ And he's an artist too so maybe he could come up with something.

although we'd have to make the club somehow "drooling fanboy-proof." that might be kinda hard.

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:58 pm

"Drooling fanboy-proof" Well with those restrictions how would I join

! Seriously though, I would be very interested in doing some art. I'm OK, got any suggestions?

Saito · Post by **Saito** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:02 pm

Hmmm. I already have a pro-Motoko tagline under my sig piccy, I could change my sig pic to a more Motoko flavoured one... Like this?

I have 4 of these in total, the other Motoko one I have is this one:

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:53 pm

Any other sigs? So far the top one is my favorite, aside from the pink... Seems odd to associate Motoko with that color.

Saito · Post by **Saito** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:47 am

They just happened to be 2 I had lying around. Doing them is time consuming because it usually involves hunting down DVD still-frames for them. I might watch SSS again and see if I can get some stills from there for my next one. I need to pull some out of Saito anyway from his scene.

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:08 am

Let's try to make it a little more dark and foreboding, While still having a little warmth if that makes any sense. Kind of like my Avatar, I think that best illustrates the sort of mood or vibe she portrays in my mind. Thanks a bunch for the effort, I hope that you can find the time is all.

Saito · Post by **Saito** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:10 pm

See, that's odd because I don't see Motoko as dark or foreboding at all. She's sometimes austere, and cold, but that comes across more as reservation and diplomacy than sinister behaviour.

To me she's a calm, stoical and thoughtful person, with a sassy edge and a dry sense of humor. Key to all of what Motoko is, though, is that deep down she actually cares about those around her, and although she rarely shows it outright, she always bears it at the heart of her ghost. Friendship and caring are very human feelings, and so holding onto those is often the very essence of her remaining human.

She also takes pride in her femininity. Batou (in SAC at least) has more than once asked her why she never gets a male body, because they are more rugged and strong. She's never as far as I remember answered him fully, but you can see in her ghost that she clings to the female image as a dim flickering flame of her human self.

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:54 pm

Well, what I meant by the darkness, is it could not only translate from her reserved, and stoic personality, it could also represent her path towards justifying her own existence, or finding meaning in her own life. If not that the darkness would represent her environment which she's surrounded by, which definitely gives off that feeling on a regular basis. I was being vague because its a lot harder to translate what you said into a picture lol. I meant the little warmth part almost as the part of her that's humorous, which clings to her memories. Motoko is almost sarcastic about her "femininity", I believe, like they mentioned in the "Nostalgia" episode, that the reason for her retaining a female body is exactly that. For the same reason she carries that watch around, its a symbol of her memories and existence. Aside from all these loose interpretations of how color could represent Motoko's personality or situation, I like my pictures dark and not pink damnit! I believe that however cliche' black may be in Anime main characters, pink certainly does not give the right impression.

Saito · Post by **Saito** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:05 pm

I hear what you say, and I agree with you, no doubt. A lot of the time in SSS (which I just re-watched in English) Motoko is lit against a dark background or in low light with highlight and shadow across her face. I understand what you mean about the overall portrayal of her in the anime being dark and brooding. It is most often the case and as such any 'Motoko' general sig should portray the same image, perhaps.

As regards her femininity being a kind of nostalgia that she clings to, then in saying that you almost agree with my idea that it's just another vestige of her past she clings to, like a dim and flickering self-image of her real self. Chroma is also a beautifully graceful feminine figure, who many regards as an image of the 'real' Motoko. Wether or not that is true I guess remains in the minds of the creator. My 'pink' sig strip was a brief testimony to not only the air of feminine grace she carries, wether she cares for it or not, but also the care she shows and inner fragility of her own self.

The two sigs should be considered together, though, as the 'pink' sig was designed to diametrically oppose the other very dark, contrasting action oriented sig. I probably could better represent my MO if I redo it using Chroma as the foreground face, but retaining the ghost of her prosthetic body in the backdrop, or maybe vice, versa? Using a close image of her 'ghost' as a ghost behind her prosthetic appearance would have a certain sense of... irony perhaps. Perhaps I will do this at some stage. These sigs are over 18 months old and were done using whatever stock art I could get my hands on at the time, used to the best effect I could manage. The pink wasn't actually totally intentional, it came out that way because I inverted the 2nd Gig logo to maintain the white background and the inverse of mid-green is deep pink. I just liked the way it worked out.

I welcome your discussion, and I can understand your views. As you will no-doubt appreciate from your great in-depth understanding of her character, there re many facets to this diamond. I was merely illustrating 2 starkly contrasting ones. I was neither assuming, nor implying anything by my expressions, merely reflecting what I could already see.

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:47 pm

Thank-you for your input, being that your spearheading this endeavor, I'll let you decide how you want to design this, while hopefully considering my recommendations. However, before you begin would ought to think of a title first. I think "Motoko Kusanagi Fan Club" is a little bland, and doesn't reflect the many aspects I would hope to incorporate into the "club" if you may.

BabyHipster · Post by **BabyHipster** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:42 pm

Yo. I saw the post in the ASMB this afternoon and got registered here as quickly as I could. May a whole new Stand Alone Complex enter this world.

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:29 pm

Hey thanks for the reply (I'm Prosthetic Existence on AS), hopefully we'll see some more activity around here. A legitimate Ghost In The Shell Forum was actually quite difficult for me to locate. Maybe me google skills are failing haha.

BabyHipster · Post by **BabyHipster** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:08 am

Starting a fanclub here was a good idea. This place seems to be filled with GItS faithful, so spaming and idle chatter should be reduced.

Wow I see what you mean. Google isn't exactly poping with GItS forums.

holdenmcclure · Post by **holdenmcclure** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:59 pm

I think that Adult Swim thought I was spamming them lol, some other guy came right after me saying "Chat with the voice actors at spamsville.com!". He saw his opportunity lol.