Rewatching Ghost in the Shell: SAC (because it's fucking good, folks) and just wanted to shout out possibly the best thing to come from it.
That's right. The Tachikomas. Not because they were cute (which they absolutely were) but they were the first instance I can remember hardcore thinking about the difference between being human and being a person.
Like... These insectoid looking tanks would get blown up and I would think. "That's not rad for my dudes and dudettes." And then that ONE started to express individuality. Not because of the natural oils (Entirely! Calm yourselves exactoids and "well actuallys".), but because they were TREATED as an individual. They were treated like a person and BECAME ONE. And all the others followed suit, realizing that the potential was there and DIGGING IT.
So then I thought, Oh God have they all been people all along and I just didn't realize??? And... It just fucks me up in the best possible way. It's a theme throughout the show, to be sure, but having it laid out by these machines that--unlike The Major--are not the least bit human-presenting and were entirely fabrications... Just... *chef's kiss*