Customer Reviews

Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig: Ghost in the Shell - Volume 5 (Episodes 17-20)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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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've been away from this series for a while, due mostly to the slow release of the DVD's and a sudden interest in Chinese fight films. Since this is one of the best releases in the series, I wish I had been a bit more impatient. Or maybe not. One thing that's good about coming late to a series is that the anguish of cliff hangers (and this DVD sports a doozy) is easier to relieve.

The first three episodes focus on Arimaki, and his peculiar sense of duty that compels hime to announce that he can't misuse his position for friendly reasons. Of course, he goes on to do exactly that - 'accidentally' needing to investigate the exact thing he just refused to look into.

Angel's Share introduces an old lady friend of Arimaki, who is now the manager of a wine investment fund. She realizes that the fund has been used for money laundering by the mafia and promptly becomes a target for both some mafia renegades and the real criminals, who engineer what is supposed to be a 'fatal' rescue

In Lost Heritage A visiting Chinese Vice Minister is the object of a death threat. Arimaki takes a short break to visit the grave of and old war buddy who died of cyberbrain sclerosis and discovers that the son of his friend is somehow involved with his father's ghost. The result is an eerie story of revenge.

Captivated. This time the daughter of former Prime Minister Kanzaki's vanishes in a fashion identical to a series of organ-legging kidnappings attributed to a group called blind Ivan. But the odd thing is that Kanzaki was one of politicians who helped cover up the crime. Batou finds himself facing an old enemy as Kanzaki must decide whether his political life is more important than his daughter.

Re-View returns to the escapades of the Laughing Man. Togusa, still bothered by his failure at the vocational center fixates on the Laughing Man - especially as a reflection of Catcher In The Rye. He finds an unexpected clue and discovers a list of individuals who were treated for cyberbrain sclerosis by an experimental vaccine. This treatment was suppressed in favor of another and a government agency is very anxious to keep everything hush hush.

All of these episodes are tightly written little masterpieces, and this DVD might very well be the best of the series so far. Laughing Man episodes tend to be a bit too philosophical, but this is hardly the case here. Everything moves at a very satisfying pace.

Ghost in the Shell is a great anime series and complements the original movie smoothly. It's one of my favorites. Thx for the great quality. I can't tell it's used at all! Just the low price gives that away! Yours, Tracy K.

This is what you would expect from the team that makes this awsome film and series! Visuals are as always, Top notch in the anime world, with thought provoking story lines, that make it so you can't wait to watch the next episode in the series. If you like you anime like i do with realistic looking charaters, and just alaround good damn movie. you have to have this in your collection, along with the whole series!

I got the special edition but to my unpleasant suprise the ID card was missing. At least the show is so good that I could overlook it.

This may be obvious for many anime watchers but the wordiness of dialog may be a bit much if you're trying to read the subtitles when watching with the original Japanese audio track.
One of the Aramaki stand alone episodes drove me to laughing out loud, at the situation the robbers get themselves into and how they are following Aramaki's orders. It definitely showcases his leadership skills to complete strangers. The baddies in the last episode and other episodes not mentioned left me with feeling that the creators were going for. You not only feel for the victims but also the perps(in some cases).It just strengthens the riveting nature of this series. The whole watching experience was a joy and had me wanting more. On to DVD #6...

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.

Mixing business with pleasure, in a break from Section 9 business in London, the normally dour Chief Aramaki pays a visit to an old flame whose company has become involved with organized crime. He declines her request for help but the situation is decided for him when two thugs break in on him and his girl and the cop in charge of the rescue doesn't want any survivors! In an unusual move, the second episode on this dvd also puts Aramaki front and center as the son of one of his old friends is suspected of planning the assassination of a Chinese Foreign Minister. Episode 19, "Captivated" involves the abduction of a government official's daughter by a kidnapping ring that sells body parts and organs. The last episode goes back to the subplot of the Laughing Man which has become a little long in the tooth because it has been diluted by so many intervening episodes. Togusa takes it upon himself to follow a lead from a past episode in which he went undercover in a cyberbrain mental institute.

These episodes suffered a little from talking head syndrome, but nothing bad enough to bring them down to mediocrity. SAC is still one of the finest anime series out there. The animation flows and the characters are deep. It's cool that the background characters have a past as well, just like humans. Everyone we talk to in daily life has a lifetime of experiences that we don't know about. The best anime, like SAC, mirror real people, living human beings. The action sequences, when they happen, are equal to anything in live-action film. Great show.

I wasn't that into the English translation of Episode 17 when I saw part of it on TV, partly because it didn't seem to involve a threat worthy of Section 9, partly because I feared ( needlessly ) that the animation was going in a direction I didn't like. However, this chapter of Stand Alone Complex is a worthy addition overall.

Finally some more movement on the Laughing Man plot. I was gratified to hear Togusa's view that Aoi was the Laughing Man, because I didn't want to see Aoi simply dropped as a plot point or anything like that.

There is, I believe, some newer background music on here.
Also, for those wondering exactly who in the development staff is really into nice cars ( and it's been clear from the beginning of this series that SOMEONE is ), the interviews in this installment make that clear.

Basically the only thing I don't like about this chapter is that Episode 19 doesn't really live up to its billing. Supposedly ( according to the back of the DVD case ) there's a character who is Motoko's equal, but there's not much in the episode to back that idea up... a missed opportunity.

The London episode is a little off-putting because it takes the typical idea of police corruption with ties to organized crime and puts it in a supposedly British setting. In fact, in this installment there are a few influences from films like The Professional. With the general semi-Anglicization of the characters in this series, and everybody speaking Japanese anyway, it all seems essentially the same as what was going on in Section 9's home country. Is this globalization???
The other strange thing about this episode is that nobody gets killed. Oh, and also the part where Aramaki, his girlfriend, and the robbers hide in the wine cellar.
Aramaki is a cyborg like the rest. Doesn't his body have any special abilities that could have been used in a situation like that? I'm not a reader of the manga so I don't know if the extent of Aramaki's cyberization has ever been used as a plot device.

Anyway, the addition of an actual cliffhanger between this chapter and the next DVD is a nice touch...I really doubt they would kill off the most likable character in the series, though.