All language subtitles for Ghost in the Shell (S.A.C) - S01 E09

Angely i demony kruzhili nado mnoj,
Angels and demons circle above me,

rassykhali ternii i vechnye puti.
through the thorns to the stars.

Ne znaet shast'je tol'ko tot,
Only those unable to perceive its call...

kto jevo zova ponjat' ne smog.
...do not know happiness.

Naljubuites', naljubuites'.
Watch in awe, watch in awe.

Aeria gloris, aeria gloris.

Naljubuites', naljubuites'.
Watch in awe, watch in awe.

Aeria gloris, aeria gloris.

I am calling, calling now,

spirits rise and falling.

Soboj ostat'sja dol'she.
To remain myself longer.

Calling, calling, in the depths of longing.

Soboj ostat'sja dol'she.
To remain myself longer.

Naljubuites',
Watch in awe,

aeria gloris.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome
to the Laughing Man Room!

It's a bit of a surprise, isn't it, him
showing up again after six years?

It certainly is.

This is no laughing matter, and it's got
the blood of Net Master Omba boiling!

Is everybody here a hardcore
Laughing Man freak?

Maybe, but none of them have
the guts to take the floor.

Oh, don't talk
like that.

You'll get hit with
a DoS attack...

I heard that there's somebody
in this chat room...

...who has some interesting things to say
about the Laughing Man Incident.

Who is it?

Everyone here,
you might say.

Along with some
who don't.

What's that supposed
to mean?

My point exactly.

Anyway, what's the deal with the Laughing Man
dying just as he reappeared?

Man, I thought I could finally become
a realtime Laughing Man freak!

Why are you getting
so worked up?

Nobody cares about
that stuff, not anymore.

Talk about stupid...

Speaking of stupid, I think that getup
of yours is pretty stupid.

If you don't like it, why don't you suggest
a more constructive theme, then?

Okay, then. How about, "What was the
reason behind the Laughing Man's...

...sudden reappearance for this recent
failed assassination attempt?"

Miss Kanabi, I know!
I think it's because the world...

...is still full of crap and
boring as hell, that's why!

We already know that.

My point is that maybe the man behind
the incident six years ago...

...and man behind this latest one
are two different people.

"Man," huh? We don't know if the
Laughing Man is really a man.

He is a man!

According to information obtained by one
of my sources, he's definitely a man.

Besides, if he was a she, why would
he call himself the Laughing Man?

Just a minute, please...

Y-You'd notice if you'd
go over the data,

but he never actually referred
to himself as the Laughing Man.

Whether he did or didn't,
he's still a man!

That was a man in the CEO kidnapping
footage, no two ways about it!

You sucker! That may have
been a prosthetic body.

Wait, we're getting
off topic.

Up until now, his criminal style
was limited to corporate blackmail.

Doesn't anyone have any opinions
on the fact that this is totally different?

And yes, this latest incident also started off
with a micromachine-related issue,

but then he suddenly threatened
to kill the Superintendent General.

Doesn't that seem a bit
too violent for him?

Well, they do say that he started off
with little stuff six years ago,

like hacking the cyberbrain of a secretary
or family member and sending e-mails.

So you're saying that this
Laughing Man is a fake?

Don't you think it's
a strong possibility?

It's been six years
since he vanished.

Doesn't anybody think this one
was just made up,

using the net's Laughing Man
craze as a cover?

But what's your
basis for saying...

...that the Laughing Man's criminal style
is corporate blackmail?

Wasn't that initial kidnapping
an act of violence?

But I don't think he's committed any impulsive
crimes since the CEO kidnapping.

Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's just not cool,
manipulating a person to kill somebody.

The Laughing Man is
a super-class-A hacker,

but he's never once
killed anybody.

Damn. It was interesting, but I guess
maybe this one was a fake.

I guess it's better
that way, though.

And so, you've already been stripped
of your title of realtime freak.

How sad.

But why do you think that
the Laughing Man is cool?

Because he is cool,
that's why!

Are you trying to tell me he's not cool
after he pulled off something like that?

I'm not saying
that he isn't cool...

If coolness is determined
by your hacker skills,

they say the delayed-action virus used
in the assassination attempt was a work of art.

It was so sophisticated that the police
could only make a vaccine for it...

...after the security detail's cyberbrains
started to manifest symptoms.

That's certainly true.

On top of that, rumor has it that the police
weren't even able to obtain...

...any traces of the virus
itself afterwards.

I see...

But their suspect died.

Exactly! The guy who made the virus
was killed by somebody,

so that means that it was an imposter
that appeared and was killed!

Who killed him?
And for what reason?

I know that one, too! Because it's
a conspiracy by some secret society!

Speaking of which, according to information
obtained by one of my sources,

some of the corporations
that he blackmailed...

...apparently had a hitman on the payroll
even before this latest incident!

What kind of source?
Pork cutlet sauce? Oyster sauce?

Why would the corporations
want to kill him themselves?

I'm saying that they've been waiting
for a chance to get him!

They wanted revenge for the blackmail
or the money demands or something!

And then, with this death threat,
he slipped up and left a trail.

Even if that's the case, what's the point
in killing an imposter?

He's right.

Even if he was the real thing,
it's just not possible...

...that they could find and kill someone
that not even the police could track.

T-That's my point.
That doesn't sound like him.

It's just not cool to be
tracked down that easily.

In that case, what if he was killed
by the real Laughing Man?

No way.

Like the cops said, what makes the most sense
is that there were multiple Laughing Men...

...and there was a dispute
in the group.

Which means it's safe to say that we're
right back at our first conclusion.

Someone other than the Laughing Man from
six years ago was responsible for this incident.

L-Let me ask you again...

What's your basis for saying that corporate
blackmail is the Laughing Man's criminal style?

Geez, let it go, man! Because anything
else wouldn't be cool, that's why!

But stop and think
about it for a minute...

Was that first incident
really all that cool?

I see. We just can't discuss that topic
without looking at the origin.

All right, by way
of changing gears,

let's look back at the starting point
of the Laughing Man Incident.

It's 7:20 on February 3rd,
and it's time for Drive Time Weather.

Good luck with
your commute, everyone.

Today marks 100 days before the opening
of the World's Exposition.

With that in mind, we've come up
with the following questionnaire.

The topic is,
at the expo...

That's not fair!

Look into that camera
and tell them the truth!

Stop it.
You won't shoot me.

Are you sure?

I know we're all probably sick to death
of seeing this, but we need to...

...since this is the only time the man thought to
be the real Laughing Man ever showed himself.

Hey, did you see that? The show's fly-in title
got tagged with the Laughing Man logo, too.

He sure is thorough,
isn't he?

The local weather
forecasts, too.

Some rumors say that those graphics
were changed after the initial broadcast.

Whatever the case, this was where
the Laughing Man incident began.

The incident that shook
this country six years ago.

You know, looking at this now,
he wasn't cool at all.

I mean, the gun he was holding
was shaking all over the place.

Oh, you don't know anything! What're you
talking about?! That's what's so great!

But compared to the M.O. in the serial
corporate blackmail that followed,

it seems totally
reckless.

No, it's not.

Even though he has
special-A hacking skills,

he deliberately risked his own
neck in this first incident.

This reckless performance
was what made us love him.

I'm telling you, he's trying to expose
the deception of exploitative corporations.

That's deep...

No, he's right.

Even while he was starting something
that seemed poorly planned,

he was meticulous enough to hack
into all the media beforehand.

That's his appeal.

Man, you guys sure are enthusiastic...
What is this, "We Love The Laughing Man"?

There were never any messages
to that effect, though.

Hot on the heels of Serano,
Japan Micro Industries...

...has apparently been blackmailed
by the Laughing Man.

This is incredible! What is that,
a huge number of office desks?!

It's the head office of Sagawa Electronics
that's being blackmailed this time!

How in the world were all those desks
moved up here in a single night?!

It may be safe to say that this is an
unprecedented act of corporate terrorism!

This... This the
real one, isn't it?

Please call Nanoplant Industries...

Satsuma Meditechs is the most powerful
corporation in Kyushu, don't you know?

Why would you go and plant
a murder virus in there?

I don't know!

Somebody must've hacked
the gardening robots last night!

Get us out of here!

Look! Look at that!

You know, I've got a T-shirt with the
MicroTel crop circle printed on it.

After that, public funds were allocated
to the blackmailed companies...

...in the fear that their stocks
would plummet, and at that instant,

the Laughing Man called an end to his spree
and vanished into the shadows of the net.

Remember when Kadoya advertised
that there was a Laughing Man logo...

...inside a bag of their snacks, and there
was a quick spike in their stock price?

What about the rumors
that in each of the companies,

there were people who secretly
made a killing off of their stocks?

If you're only judging by that criterion,
the Satsuma Meditechs case might be a scam.

Is that a case of
babe's intuition?

In that case, why don't you
backtrack the fluctuations...

...of the other companies' stock prices
and compare them to Satsuma's?

Now that you mention it,
Satsuma was the only company...

...that didn't get an influx of funds
from the government, wasn't it?

Well, I'll be...

Nobody noticed it because all six
were making roughly the same amount...

...at the time he called an end
to the crime spree.

Well, even that talk show they set up
to discuss the threat was pretty lame.

I'd say that it was self-written B.S.
put out by the station itself!

Looking back like this, even the incident
six years ago was full of inconsistencies.

It may be a bit of a stretch to say that everything
was carried out by the same perpetrator.

So in the end, should we settle
on multiple criminals, then?

There are any number of critics who would
point out the difference in ideology...

...between the initial kidnapping
and the subsequent incidents.

Personally, I'm for the
"single Laughing Man" theory.

But don't you think that
isn't very plausible?

Any speculation now as to whether
the same criminal...

...was behind this incident and the one
six years ago is meaningless.

Something tells me that the key to unlocking
the Laughing Man mystery...

...is asking ourselves what factor gave rise
to both the incident six years ago...

...and the string of phenomena that occurred
immediately after this recent death threat.

Pretty slick, miss!

I think so, too.

And on that note...

Let's examine that question as we look
at some old footage that we have in stock.

But before we do, I need to delete the backup
cache data that's built up in the server,

so let's take
a quick break!

Hey, you remember how that designer named
Paul who supposedly came up with that mark...

reported himself to the special investigations
unit while the incidents were going on?

He kept saying that the design had been stolen
when his database was hacked, right?

But the fact is, his career as a designer
took off thanks to this.

I respect the guy, too.

All right,
let's rock!

Still, why do you suppose this incident
became such a big craze at the time?

It's a mystery that you think
you understand but you don't,

and a sensation that keeps getting fed
to us with amazingly smart timing.

Gee, you do make some
valid points sometimes...

The fact that Serano's CEO wasn't cooperative
with the investigation is titillating, too.

To this day, he's still suspected of making
a secret deal with the Laughing Man.

But what really attracted me
to this incident the most...

...was the crusading, "lone-wolf hero" image
he demonstrated in the first incident.

Yeah, same here.

This last incident also began
during a press conference...

...that addressed suspicions
of the illegal use of Interceptors.

Was that another example
of his crusading spirit?

And it was none other than Serano Genomics
that developed those Interceptors.

Don't you sense that there's
some power behind this?

This is interesting, all right! It's like
everyone thinks they're detectives!

No wonder they're all reaching
the same conclusion!

What if the Laughing Man
turns out to be a program...

...that the entire micromachine industry
wrote and staged to manipulate stock prices?

Where's the fun in that?
I know there's really a Laughing Man...

Aren't you just saying that you
want there to be one?

According to information obtained
by one of my sources, though,

- the financial boost caused by this incident...
- Yet another source, huh?

...comes to about
20 trillion yen!

Wouldn't you say that that fact alone says
that the Laughing Man needs to exist?

Since none of you are showing any interest
in what I'm trying to say,

I'll put my best information on the table.
Stuff I got from an independent source.

The official police statement
will say that the recent...

...multiple, simultaneous assassination attempts
were caused by the virus spread by Nanao=A.

It's a complete lie.

What are you
basing that on?

Yeah! State your source
for that information!

Again with the sources...

Out of curiosity, how many times has J.D. used
the word "source" since entering this room?

- Laughed Man: Oh, just let it go!
- Mr. Moe: A search shows 38 times.

I'd be interested
in hearing that, too.

Well, the truth is... I had hacked into
the crime scene when it happened.

Are you serious?!

Are you saying you were trying
to assassinate him, too?!

No, it's not like that.

I was just peeping the system because
I wanted to see how it would turn out.

That's why I think that
the 39 assassins...

...were also there of their own free will, not
because they were being controlled by a virus.

Lots of other hackers
like me were there,

and I think some among our audience
may have tried to crack their way in, too.

But for some reason,
every last one of them failed.

You saw that?

If that's true,
it's big news.

You just can't trust
anything anymore!

Are you kidding?!

I thought about going
to the hall that day, too!

Crap!

Hold it. Wouldn't that mean that the real
Laughing Man was one of the 39 arrested?

I don't think
he was.

The people arrested there were copycats,
or enthusiastic fans like those of us here.

So you're saying they were there
in response to Nanao=A's threat?

That's not quite right, either.

Actually, I have one other
piece of information.

After the incident,
I was diving in the net,

and I found an authentication server under
Nanao's name that he had tampered with.

That's it there.

You're right!

Be careful. It's crawling
with attack barriers.

When you dive to level six, you'll find
several plans that had been simulated.

It had things like blackmailing major
micromachine manufacturers again,

and even methods of targeting
cyborg food corporations next time.

What they all have in common
is that a modular,

delayed-action virus is the
key to success in each plan.

But that brought up
one question.

The assassination attempt that Nanao actually
did carry out isn't one of the simulations.

Why did he suddenly switch over
to assassination at the last minute...

...when he had so meticulously prepared
so many other plans?

That's some
impressive digging.

This sort of thing
is all I do.

Why'd he do it, then?

Are you trying to say that Nanao=A
was also a copycat...

...under the influence
of that death threat?

I can't think of any other reason why he
would abandon his carefully honed plans...

...and use his wild card, the modular virus,
on an unplanned assassination attempt.

Who made the death threat against
the Superintendent General, then?

You sure love
to read into things...

Let's focus on interpreting just
the things that actually happened.

But now that he's shown us that server,
his story sounds plausible, doesn't it?

Let me ask you
something, then.

In spite of the fact that there were many
active crimes committed that day,

why is it that there wasn't a single case
of cybercrime aside from Nanao's?

Maybe someone only wanted Nanao
to commit a crime that day.

It was also decided ahead of time
how he would fail.

Which sets up Nanao as the culprit
behind the Laughing Man incident,

which shook society
six years ago.

Then who is it that's profiting
from this scheme?

It's not hard to guess.
It's got to be the po... po... pol...

Hey!

You've been giving a lot
of roundabout explanations,

but I think you're on
the right track. Don't you?

Did you see my dummy barrier
get blown away at the hall that day?

W-Wait, you're that lady who pinned down
that security guy at the crime scene?!

Well, did you?

Yes, I saw it happen.

That barrier was a nasty
piece of work, wasn't it?

Was there anything left of it?
Fragments of something?

Yes.

Here it is.

Thanks.

Don't mention it. Um, do you mind
if I asked you something, too?

At first, I thought it was the police
themselves who were behind all this.

But that attack barrier
was clearly different...

...from the ones the police
had deployed on the perimeter.

I've never seen a barrier
like that before.

Was that really
the Laugh...

Here's a word of warning
in return for the fragment.

Knowing too much will get your body
in the real world eliminated.

Hey, did you get disconnected
or something?

No, I'm fine.

I'm sorry, but I think
I'll call it a day.

What? But you never finished
what you were saying!

Sorry I caused
all this fuss.

Geez, this place sure got dead
all of a sudden.

Let's be realistic. Even if we get
worked up in places like this,

it doesn't mean we'll
ever get to the truth.

I'm not so sure about that! The real
Laughing Man might be watching!

The instant you start
thinking that, it's all over.

Or more to the point, this incident
is just too complicated.

We'll get bored
with it eventually.

I have to wonder if the Laughing Man
is just a symbolic phenomenon...

...that was created by some
freak of nature in a corrupt world.

I guess we're already copycats,
dancing to his tune like this...

But even if all the incidents
were a phenomenon,

I suppose you can't help but sense
some sort of common thread...

in the initial kidnapping and the incidents
triggered by this death threat six years later,

just like Baby Ruth said.

I believe that those two incidents alone
were caused by the same talented culprit.

All the others, regardless of the scale,
objective, and rationale of their crimes,

were copies that were called into being
by the absence of their hero.

Even so, it's still doubtful that the criminal
behind those two incidents...

...who was the motivation for the rest,
was himself an original.

Not bad, miss!

Pretty slick!

A forced transfer?

What the...?

Aw, why now?

It was just getting good!
Can't I stay online a little longer?

Aw, no fair!

So that's what happened.
What do you think?

Damn... Couldn't trace it.

Hey!

Hm? Did you say something?

Geez, don't tell me you've
been diving this whole time!

Damn, that's dangerous!

Come on, I could be asleep
and still drive in this part of town.

Anyway, you were saying?

Oh, forget it.
I'm not gonna repeat myself.

A phenomenon created by
copycats without an original...

Two pieces don't
fit the puzzle...

What are you
talking about?

Forget it.

She's so cold and human

It's something humans do

She stays so golden solo

She's so number nine

She's incredible math

Just incredible math

And is she really human?

She's just so something new

A waking lithium flower

Just about to bloom

I smell lithium now

Smelling lithium now

How is she when she doesn't surf?

How is she when she doesn't surf?

How is she when she doesn't surf?

I wonder what she does when she wakes up?

When she wakes up?