9 Horror Movie References You Never Noticed In Anime
5. Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Stand Alone Complex is the anime series
based on the ground-breaking manga and films of the nineties by Shirow
Masamune. Interestingly enough when Shirow first pitched the series
to his editor it was turned down in favor of something flashier.
Shirow did as he was asked, but also pushed to include Ghost in the
Shell – even if he had to sacrifice space with a smaller typefont.
The series follows Public Security Section 9, led by the cyborg special operations soldier, Kusanagai Motoko – known colloquially as The Major. The Stand Alone Complex series delves deeper into the workings of Section 9, itself, and The Major's comrades more than the films generally do.
In one episode, called A Perfect Day For A Jungle Cruise, the operatives that comprise Section 9, including The Major's arguable second-in-command, Batou, must find a serial killer. Said killer has many references to Buffalo Bill from the classical Anthony Hopkins/Jodie Foster thriller, Silence of the Lambs.
Aside from moths and moth cocoons being a minor reference, the biggest reference is that the killer murders young women by skinning them alive. Much like Buffalo Bill was skinning young women to make a flesh dress for himself, the killer is skinning them in the pattern of a t-shirt. He also wears lady's lipstick in a warpaint style.