Customer Reviews

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Volume 04 (Episodes 13-16)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This set of episodes represent a bit of a change of pace from some of the previous story arcs. Taken individually they are disconnected stories about everything from modern anti-technology terrorists to cyborg philosophy and it is only in retrospect that the connecting thread stands out.

Not Equal starts when a woman kidnapped by terrorists many years ago is spotted n a surveillance film. The story puts Kusanagi and her team on a village which has sprung up on an abandoned oil drilling platform traders on top and Human Liberation Front folks underneath. That action includes what is the best battle scenario of the series so far and some surprising twists at the end.

The Y$S heads in the other direction, when a sting operation in a run down bar reveals a plan to take down a reclusive billionaire with a yen for hoarding gold. An assassin who is fond of killing people with coins is the lead horse in the race to get to the target but, as usual, nobody finds what they expect and the aspect of artificial intelligence haunts the fringes of the story.

In Machines Desirantes the tachikomas try to link to a malfunctioning sniping device and become enmeshed in a philosophical discussion of their own mortality, the nature of humanity, and the possibilities of revolution. The surprise here is Major Kusanagi's reaction to what is essentially a comic situation.

In Lost, Batou finds himself pitted against a boxer that he once greatly admired. This is a spy vs. spy story, but it is oddly disturbing, with a very bitter ending. And I think this is where the story beneath the story finally opens up. While Batou played a supporting role in the original movie, Innocence (the sequel) revealed that his personality had surprising depths. In retrospect, he is the cyborg with the 'ghost' that retains most of its humanity.

Kusanagi, the main character, is actually the colder of the pair, someone who we know eventually was only able to form a relationship with an entirely artificial intelligence that roamed the net. For all her physical attractiveness her nature is that of an effective machine that has human attributes.

Batou, for all his more apparent mechanization houses the more human and emotional spirit, and the last two episodes reveal his unique ability to see the remarkable in both the imitation and the reality of life. This is made more poignant because we know from the feature films what the future of this story is.

On the whole this is a quieter DVD, but it leaves a strong impression. If the story develops from this point I thing we are due for some very interesting moments.

This set contains episodes thirteen through sixteen of the first series/season from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The fourth volume sets aside the Laughing Man plot for now and instead shifts to the Tachikomas. It's a nice variety of episodes and those wanting action, following a more talkative third volume should be mostly satisfied.

Here is an episode summary (in order, with some spoilers if you hadn't seen the previous episode):

NOT EQUAL: A teenage girl, one of the first to have a cyberbrain and kidnapped some twenty years before by the Human Liberation Front, suddenly reappears in the sights of Section 9 - who looks exactly the same as before. Even worse, she's apparently the new focal leader of the HLF. Section 9 is detailed to "rescue" her using any means necessary. All of Section 9 and the Tachikomas get involved, and they get embroiled in a huge firefight. There's probably more action in this episode then the first twelve episodes altogether, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

YES: A reclusive wealthy magnate becomes the target of an assassination plot by a foreign agent. This episode doesn't really expound on the evils of stock and money market manipulation, and really just shows that the Tachikomas are becoming more unstable - at least in the eyes of the Major. The way the episode resolves is disappointing as well.

MACHINES DESIRANTES: The Tachikomas engage in various philosophical debates about robots, appearances, children, and mostly, death. One Tachikoma, who appears to collect books, uses Flowers for Algernon (yet another literary reference) as a reference point. If you don't like how the Tachikomas sound you'll probably get really annoyed by this episode. After the Tachikomas openly lie to the Major (though not with malice) and even begin spying on the Major and Batou (which they notice). Their conclusion is saddening, while simultaneously the Tachikomas are cheering the idea that they were saving themselves. The very last scene is very telling and multi-layered, and one of the reasons why I really like this episode.

AG2O: Batou is saddened as the Tachikomas are led to the labs where each assumingly will experience death, though they seem pretty happy about it the whole thing. Meanwhile he gets assigned an undercover job at the Navy yard involving an an ex-Olympic boxer who is apparently selling secure information. Batou immediately feels a connection as he gets close to the boxer and his wife (the boxer was an idol of sorts), but of course in the end he does his duty, and like the Tachikomas seemingly loses more friends.

While ultimately this set of individual episodes doesn't seem to further any overall plot, the complexity of the Tachikomas and how they work is actually pretty interesting. They play a very important role in the series so don't put aside their episodes so quickly. Overall a fairly decent volume.

The deluxe version comes with the original release, a second DVD with a DTS 5.1 sound version of the show, and a rather cheesey "collectible ID card" with the volume art on it.

I am shocked by the average ratings this volume is getting in the review section. Personally, I found this 4th volume the most absorbing and the best development of plot of the earlier 3.

That being said - for fans of non stop action, take a back seat and allow the storyline to thicken a little bit. Make no mistake about it: "Stand Alone Complex" is heavy on character development and intelligent scripts. Not just action and graphics.

I will admit - the second episode on this disk, "Yes" seems a bit sluggish, and demands your full attention...but after a second viewing, I seemed to have understood what it was trying to convey. Having not seen the entire series, I can't help but think there are some very key moments in this episode regarding "The Laughing Man". Watch it *again*.

**SLIGHT SPOILER - so skip to the lower paragraph**
I can't help but get a little down about the "Machines Desiranes" episode. If what they lead you to believe about the Tachikomas is *true*, I'm really going to miss those little buggers. I was never annoyed by their childlike actions, but really enjoyed the comedic moments they brought to the series, which is rather dark and brooding at times. I hope they come back - but if not, I respect the realistic decision brought on by the production.

In summary - this very well could be the most important volume in the series, even if you think it shys away from its action element a little bit. Its a brilliant series for the intelligent viewer and the action fans alike. Not to be missed !

Ok bought this right as the store opened today. The regular one was $16 this one was $30. There is no T-shirt in the deluxe edition one. For double the price all you get is a plastic keycard with the majors picture on it. I love the series but Bandai really pulled some tricks with this one grrrr.

I would rate the show as 5 stars, this is a review of the extras and features of the Special Edition issue.
I recently bought all the Special Edition releases of "Stand Alone Complex" after trying to research what I was going to get as extras not included in the regular edition. I found the listings on Amazon's product details to be a little confusing and incomplete on some of the volumes so I decided to write this guide for others trying to decide. I'm not going to review the "Ghost in the Shell" episodes or the series in general because there are so many excellent reviews already on this site, and most of you probably know about this great anime TV series already. There are various other reviews that say that some of the DVD's and CD's have errors on them and Bandai will replace them with corrected discs if you send them in for exchange. I have not ran into problems yet, although I haven't gone through the whole series either. And I will also state that I love the TV series as well as both movies, but I would recommend the Imported Region 2 version of GITS2:Innocence if you have a region free DVD player. Dreamworks really messed up that release omiting the English dub and putting Hard of Hearing subtitles instead of regular ones on the early issues of that movie. Most people find them very distracting and annoying.

First off the discs themselves, you get two DVD discs in each volume with the same episodes on both discs. Volumes 1-5 have 4 episodes each, 6 and 7 have 3 episodes each making 26 episodes total in the series. Both discs are Anamorphic wide screen encoded directly from the High-Definition Masters. Both Discs also have English subtitles. Each set also has two interviews with voice cast or someone associated with the production of the anime, and a printed DVD insert pamphlet or booklet with different interviews and such for each volume. All discs are Region 1.

Disc one has Dolby Digital 5.1 in Japanese and English, and Dolby Digital 2.0 in English and Japanese.

Disc two has DTS 5.1 in English and Japanese and a Dolby Digital 2.0 English track.

Volumes 1 and 2 include soundtrack CD's of the music of Yoko Kanno, the most excellent and versatile composer of the music in the TV series. Anime lovers know her work from the many fine soundtracks that she's done for countless other anime movies and TV series.

Volume 3 has a Black XL Fruit of the Loom Tee-Shirt with the section 9 logo on the front and a Major Kusanagi graphic on the back. Nice shirt!

Volumes 4 and 5 have a collectable I.D. cards for a section 9 member.

Volume 6 has a Black XL Fruit of the Loom Tee-Shirt with the section 9 logo on the front and a Batou graphic on the back, and another I.D. card. Nice shirt again!

Volume 7 has another Tee-Shirt! This time it's a White XL with the section 9 logo on the front, and the Laughing Man logo on the back! Once again nice shirt! It also comes with a tin box that's supposed to hold all 7 volumes of the DVD set. I was excited about getting the box but when it arrived I was disappointed with the design. It's kind of like the rectangular lunch box that you used to take to school as a kid, without the handle and latch. Its also of a thinner metal that dents easily. It has marketing type of printing on the backside that pertains to vol. 7 only, and the DVD cases stack inside one on top of the other. The spines of the cases are not visible when you open the box, only the front of the last case you put in. So you have to take all the cases out of the tin to get to a specific volume. There's also not room for the cardboard sleves that the DVD's were in when you got the individual volumes, and no room for the soundtrack CD's either. All said, I was disappointed with the box. Because of it's odd dimensions it doesn't stack in well with my DVD library. I would have much preferred the normal five sided box that usually comes with DVD sets.

Overall I'd say it's worth it to buy volumes 3, 6 and 7 new to get the shirts if they interest you and pick up the others used if you can to save some money on the series. That is if you're interested in the DTS soundtrack options. I much prefer the DTS mixes to Dolby Digital and wanted the soundtrack CD's as well. Also the cardboard boxes that come with volumes 3 and 6 are better than the tin box to store your set in when you complete the series, if you stack them on shelves one row of DVD's on top of another row, and you can fit the movies into those boxes as well to fill them the rest of the way.

I'll admit to you that I love to watch Adult Swim, and I'll also admit that I like certain types of anime. No, I'm not one of those nerdy card-trading Poke'mon lovers, I'm a young adult who likes to use my imagination in my down time. I like anime that's made for adults like: Big O!, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, Tenchi and Ghost in the shell.

I was watching either watching Family Guy or Aqua Teen Hunger Force when I saw previews for this show start to air on Adult Swim, I thought thought it looked cool, it featured what looked to me like a cool futuristic take on robots and the humans that are seamlessly integrated with cybornetics to make them almost immortal, But I didn't know the half of it.

What I got was a cyber-punk version of the old black-and-white film noir mysteries. The series receives its subtitle from a theoretical mental complex attributed to the adaptation of cybernetics into the mass public. In the story, 'stand alone complex' is said to describe copies with no original and is portrayed by copycat crimes with no original criminal, or in other words, an imaginary criminal. It also refers to the structure of each episode: Each episode can be viewed independently of each other, and there is little catch-up (if at all) given in each episode to keep the viewer up to date.

Taking place in a fictional city of Japan called "Niihama-shi" (New Port City) in the year 2030, Stand Alone Complex tells the story of a special operations task-force called Public Security Section 9, or simply "Section 9". The series follows the exploits of Section 9's agents who range from ex-military to ex-police as they address each case and how it affects them on a personal level, eventually leading to the mysterious figure dubbed by the media as "The Laughing Man".

Public Security Section 9 is an elite domestic anti-crime unit tasked with the charge of preemptive prevention of technology-related acts of terrorism and crime. Their duties include response to serious cyber crimes (i.e. Cyberbrain hacking, cyber-terrorism), investigation of unlawful acts of those in public office and of high profile murder cases. From time-to-time they also serve as protection to foreign VIPs.

If you have seen the movie then you know that the TV series differs from the cinema adaptation in its focus upon issues created by the advance of technology. Instead of the intensely focused and personal examination of technology, presented is a look at society and technology as a larger whole. The series of 26 half-hour TV episodes has a larger budget of time to explore the concepts and ideas found in the original manga. In comparison to the film version, the series is considered by many to be easier to understand. Also, in comparison, the series can be found to be closer to the manga; due to the presence of some humor, the usage of the Tachikomas (Fuchikomas in the manga, and referred to simply as "tanks" in the one scene a derivant version makes an appearance in), the design of the characters, and also, the usage of the characters Paz, Bouma and Saito. Stand Alone Complex exhibits the accumulated experience and expertise of Production I.G. in their application of computer generated imagery. This is evident in their digital color grading, environmental effects, and cell-shaded computer models. Their work has been highly praised for its subtle contribution to a scene, which adds greatly to the atmosphere.

I think a lot of people will try to compare this to Cowboy Bebop as with so many other anime and mangas, but that's foolish. Stand Alone Complex is no better or worse than Cowboy Bebop, it's just a different story, different style, different sets of charactors and there places.

if you like anime or manga you'll definitely like this show. It's complex, has views on modern terrorism and how to deal with it, and not to mention the technology! Even if you don't watch anime just give a chance and take it for what it is.

Section 9 locates a missing girl who was kidnapped years ago and plans to rescue her from an old oil rig that has become an open access black market and a haven for the heavily armed kidnappers. The strange thing is that the girl looked exactly as she did over ten years ago. It's the main mystery as the action-packed episode gets underway. In "Yes" the Major and company are assigned to protect a billionaire from assasination by an internationl crime syndicate. The problems is that he's so reclusive that they can't locate the man they're supposed to protect. And a cyborg killer is on his trail. Episode 15 concerns the growing AI of the Tachikoma tanks as they begin to see themselves as individuals. The creators of GITS did a good job in showing how childlike they are and also showing how they could become dangerous too. In the last episode, and probably the best on the dvd, Batou goes undercover to catch a military spy who just happens to be one of his former sports idols. Will he be able to do his duty when the time comes, no matter his personal feelings?

After the slam bang of the first episode, this dvd really settles into a groove of what the line is between humans and robots (if there is one?) and the dissatisfaction that humans have with their lives. And sometimes the barreness that human life can become without a "ghost". The last episode, especially, was classic human nature as Zaitsev, Batou's sports idol, is not satisfied with his life. Even though he has a great job and family. He just has to make that extra buck for his own greed. You can tell Batou envies his life and thinks he's an idiot for blowing it. Great show.

The product was fully functional and the DVD was in good condition. I only wish the original box had come with it, but the fault is mine for not reading the description of the product more carefully and throughly.

I loved the show when I first came across it on Adult Swim. I now own the Movie and I am slowly collecting the individual volumes.

really love it boyfriend is going to be super excited when he gets it as a gift