Several years after the end of Bubblegum Crisis, things have calmed down, or so it seems. Sylia's disappeared, Priss has stumbled from one manager to another, Nene's still working with the AD Police and trying to keep the Knight Saber ideal alive, and Linna has moved into the Stock market and is doing quite well. Things are quiet, until a group of mercenaries calling themselves the Illegal Army begins to attack high tech companies, stealing rare parts. Sylia returns with new hardware to reform the Knight Sabers, but will they be able to take on the Illegal Army, and whoever is behind them?

22 years ago, a bizarre uprising occurred in Japan's Yokohama region, destroying civilization, killing many, and causing the area to break off from Japan's mainland. This region came to be known as the "Lost Ground". Over the years, some of the citizens managed to erect a new city in a corner of the Lost Ground and surrounded it with a barrier to protect it from the impoverished inhabitants of the island's surrounding wasteland. However, another phenomenon began to show up in the Lost Ground: Alter, the ability to rearrange matter at the atomic level in certain ways. "Inners" who were born with Alter powers became known as Alter Users, and Alter Users who lived outside the city and misused their powers were branded "Natives". The police force known as HOLD was constructed to control Native Alter Users. A division of it called HOLY was later created and made up almost entirely of law-abiding Alter Users. Now, however, HOLD and HOLY's control over the Lost Ground has become increasingly oppressive to the point that it has started to enslave the wasteland's people. Enter Kazuma, a reckless and hotheaded Native who lives with a little girl named Kanami. Kazuma barely manages to survive off working on a farm and doing tasks for his friend Kimishima. Soon, however, Kazuma becomes caught in the conflict with HOLY and forms a fierce rivalry with Ryuhou, one of its highest officers. What is the true intent of HOLY and its leader, Martin Zigmar?

The second season of Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex begins with Section 9 being called back to work after a hostage situation of concern to the Ruling Party renders the Police useless. The entire team returns to the front lines: Kusanagi, Batoh, Togusa, Ishikawa, Saito, Paz & Borma, with four of the original Tachikomas restored after the firefight of Episode 26. The hostage situation announced the rising of a new terrorist cell, which takes much after another one in the headlines of today's papers. The Individual Eleven, whose members are neither individuals, or total up to eleven are a new threat to Public Security. How does a specialized public security group face an enemy more faceless than the "laughing man" during a time of political unrest? Among the broad changes from the first show involve the new ruling party, headed by the new Prime Minister Kabayuki after the prior ousting in GITS: SAC, the Japanese Residents caught in the middle of the affairs and paying the taxes for jobs they're going to lose in a time of recession, and the downtrodden "invited" Asian Immigrants of the Second Vietnamese War who were brought to Japan as a half-hearted humanitarian act from the government who was really just seeking cheap labor. And just who is the man called "Gohda", a mysterious new 'supervisor' (don't worry, Aramaki still runs the group) who appears to be calling the shots for Section 9 during certain missions? He calls out orders as if he was in charge of the group, yet has no apparent loyalty or respect to the government, military or Section 9.

In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as "Hell's Gate" appeared ten years ago. At the same time, psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. Hei is one of the most powerful of these psychic agents, and along with his blind associate, Yin, works for one of the many rival agencies vying to unlock the mysteries of Hell's Gate.

Seemingly unconnected citizens of Tokyo are targeted for bludgeoning by a boy with a golden baseball bat. As detectives try to link the victims, they discover that following the assaults, the victims' lives have improved in some way.

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