Customer Reviews

Ghost in the Shell: Individual Eleven

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the accumulated episodes relevant to the core story line of Second Gig. Be aware that this is a new production and has alternate character voices. If you fancy the sarcastic voice of Mimi Woods you will not find it here.

It's not obvious from the product page here on Amazon, but this is an edited version of the entire 26 episode series. It has been cut down to 2.5 hours for a movie experience. It is a good buy if you have already seen the entire series or don't want to spend the time which would be upwards of 9 hours if watched as 26 episodes. It gets the idea of the story, but of course, some good things are lost. Personally, I think GITS is too good not to see all of the details.

I should have read the box myself before buying this "recut". Had I not already seen the original, I might have a little trouble following what's going on. Entire episodes from the original full length storyline are explained away in a single scene or sentence.
I guess that had to be done for times sake, but you do seem to loose much of the detail and nuance of the story. To me it feels 'rushed' to tell its story rather than letting the viewer develop along with the plot line.
I'd much rather watch the originals.

Just like GitS: The Laughing Man, it just sounds "wrong" with different actors. Kusanagi has no anguish, Batou has no menace, and Aramaki has no wisdom.

And you can buy the "Anime Legends" full season collection of GitS:SAC 2nd Gig for less than $20 more. That makes GitS: Individual Eleven is a poor value in my book.

I guess this is the danger of not reading the box. I started to watch this 'recut' version and kept asking myself "where is the scene where...happened". It is much better to obtain the entire series than pay for the "recut". I am very disappointed and will be returning my unopened "laughing man" recut.

This is the second season concentrated down to 2hrs. and 40 min. For those of you who don't have the time or inclination to go through the 7 DVD series here is a way to get the essentials in an intense and violent way. I have already viewed it several times and actually prefer this two-DVD set to the whole Second Gig. While a lot is left out if you never saw the original you wouldn't know it. It holds together as a lengthy movie and has a lot of action. My understanding is the English voice actors aren't the same but I couldn't tell it. It really does save time and is entertaining besides.

After enjoying the first two Ghost in the Shell movies, I purchased this movie along with "Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man", knowing that these were summarized versions of the two seasons of the television series. I watched them both a few times and was very impressed. Since then I have become a huge fan of the entire Ghost in the Shell movies and television series, and I have a much better apreciation for it all now. Just recently I purchased both of the full seasons of Stand Alone Complex, and I was totaly blown away by how poorly done these two 'movies' are. The tv series has soo much more depth and complexity and feeling than these two poorly edited summaries do. Also, they have used different voice actors in this than in the english dub of the tv series, and I feel that this even further takes away from the quality. I also feel like in these two edited movie versions the characters seem a bit stale and not as connected as in the tv series.

So to sum things up, and it's already been said by other reviewers below, on the surface these seem like really cool movies, however true fans of Ghost in Shell the will likely be dissapointed at how poorly this 'movie' and the other one (S.A.C. The Laughing Man) are edited and produced. It's truly a shame, and at the very least these two movies/summaries should be redubbed and updated with the original voice actors that did the english dub of the tv series. It would be an easy thing to do, and it would go along way in improving the integrity and quality of these two movies.

The description doesn't mention this, and this is important: EVERY notable character's voice actor is replaced with some lowest-possibly-paid nobody. One of the many draws to the GITS series is the collection of voice actors and their acting capabilities (even if the ubiquitous one-voice Crispin Freeman is involved), and this gets thrown right the hell out with the two OAVs. There is literally NO reason to buy either OAV since both SAC and 2nd GIG are reasonably and similarly priced nowadays, and the OAVs don't add anything to the story, either. In fact, some of the cobbling together of story for these rehash pieces are incongruous and inconsistent with compared to the in-story timeline established in the series, and since no new material surfaces in either OAV, these let-downs should be completely ignored by everyone.

Furthermore, while the music IS from the soundtracks, it's forced into scenes that it doesn't belong in with the OAVs, unlike the carefully-crafted two series. Both OAVs feel like an amateur fan's project who couldn't afford the original voice actors, shoddily compiled in Adobe Premier. To restate the subject: DO NOT BUY THIS; just buy SAC and 2nd GIG instead because not only are they (in my opinion) the most intelligent and well-written cyberpunk anime to date, they can also be bought fairly inexpensively and worth exponentially more in a dollar to quality content ratio.

This same review was posted for the Laughing Man OAV for identical reasons.

I love this movie. I am not big on series volumes anime, but I love a good story movie. This movie stands alone by itself and has explosive graphics along with hard hiiting action. If u like Ghost in the Shell anime, but do not like looking at volumes and volumes of episodes, this is a great buy.

This is a good summary of the core of the 2nd season. There is explanation in the extras that talk about how they wanted to make it so that the essentials come through, and it works. I still also highly recommend getting the season box set for a complete look.