Tachikoma, the perfect mascot

Tachikomas are my favorite supporting characters in that they playfully ask the questions we viewers can’t. At some level, they also embody the larger themes of GITS around technology and humanity, much in the same way (although less successfully in my opinion) “Star Trek: The Next Generation” tried to accomplish with Commander Data. One of the more disturbing ideas, however, is that Tachikomas are almost child-like and yet wield an immense amount of destructive power. When they start questioning their own mortality, things get really, really weird. For more information on Ghost in the Shell, check out the episode guide on Wikipedia. My favorite Tachikoma episode is #15, “Machines Désirantes.” In any case, this little image is the mascot for Friday Sushi — always asking about and commenting on the little things to keep the story going.