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History

Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG uncovers a significant amount of back-story that was only vaguely talked about during the first series, including information about the last world wars. Between the turn of the century and 2032, there were two major conflicts that changed world politics. The first being nuclear World War III, and the other being non-nuclear World War IV, also known as the Second Vietnam War. The increase in independent states and sovereign regions grew from the chaos of the last 30 years. The planet remains divided and several locations exist on the planet where sovereignty is in question, where no one is really sure who owns or governs what.
This fictional history matches one presented in Appleseed Databook, suggesting that both Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell may be occurring in the same fictional universe, albeit at different points of its timeline.
While originally intended to "underscore the dilemmas and concerns that people would face if they relied too heavily on the new communications infrastructure," Stand Alone Complex eventually came to represent a phenomenon where unrelated, yet very similar actions of individuals create a seemingly concerted effort.
In the first series, it usually refers to events surrounding the Laughing Man case, and to some extent, the teamwork observed in Public Security Section 9. It is presented as an emergent phenomenon catalyzed by parallelization of the human psyche through the cyberbrain networks.
For the second series, when Kenji Kamiyama discussed the theme with Mamoru Oshii, they decided that they could not avoid the issue of War: "In other words, we simply couldn't ignore the way society had evolved since the events of 9-11 : That was the approach we decided to take, and I tried to illustrate a 21st century (near-future) war. But to tell you the truth, I couldn't avoid feeding back into modern reality".



Theme songs
Episode 1–25 (Original broadcast)
Opening theme: Rise, Music: Yoko Kanno, Lyrics: Tim Jensen/Origa, Vocals: Origa
Closing theme: Living Inside the Shell, Music: Yoko Kanno, Lyrics: Shanti Snyder, Vocal: Steve Conte
Episode 1–25 (Terrestrial broadcast)
Opening Theme: Christmas in the Silent Forest, Music: Yoko Kanno, Lyrics: Shanti Snyder, Vocals: Ilaria Graziano
Closing Theme: Snyper, Music: Yoko Kanno, Lyrics: Tim Jensen, Vocals: Steve Conte and Ilaria Graziano
Episode 4
Tachikoma Chase Scene: Cyberbird, Music: Yoko Kanno, Lyrics: Tim Jensen, Vocals: Steve Conte and Gabriela Robin
(Note: Music also played in Episode 24 Helicopter Infiltration Scene)
Episode 26
Opening Theme: Torukia, Music: Yoko Kanno, Lyrics: Gabriella Robin, Vocals: Gabriella Robin
Closing Theme: Christmas in the Silent Forest, Music: Yoko Kanno, Lyrics: Shanti Snyder, Vocals: Ilaria Graziano

Music
Composer: Yoko Kanno
Music Producer: Toshiaki Ota
Music Director: Yoshimoto Ishikawa
Distributed by: Victor Entertainment
Original soundtracks
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 3
Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. Solid State Society O.S.T. (Features tracks from 2nd GIG)



Producers
Executive Producers: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Shigeru Watanabe
Producers: Koichiro Matsuka, Hisanori Kunizaki
Production Committee: Production I.G, Bandai Visual, Bandai Entertainment, Dentsu, Nippon Television, Tokuma Shoten, Victor Entertainment, Manga Entertainment
Casting: Mouse Production

Writers
Based on manga by: Shirow Masamune
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Story Concept: Mamoru Oshii
Staff Writers: Kenji Kamiyama, Dai Sato, Yoshiki Sakurai, Junichi Fujisaku, Yutaka Omatsu, Shotaro Suga
Storyboard: Kazunobu Fusegi, Masayuki Yoshihara, Masaki Tachibana, Jun Matsumoto, Toshiyuki Kono, Junji Nishimura, Itsuro Kawasaki

Art Design
Original Character Design (series 1): Makoto Shimomura
Character Design (series 2): Takayuki Goto, Tetsuya Nishio
Mechanical Design: Kenji Teraoka, Shinobu Tsuneki
Background Artist: Hiroshi Kato
Art Director: Yusuke Takeda
3D Animation Director: Makoto Endo
Color Coordinator: Yumiko Katayama
Animation Directors
Takayuki Goto
Satoru Nakamura
Kyoji Asano
Ryota Niino
Tetsuya Nishio
Toshiharu Murata

Post Production
Director of Photography: Koji Tanaka
Editing: Junichi Uematsu
Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi
Sound Effects: Daisuke Jinbo



Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell_Stand_Alone_Complex_2nd_Gig