Customer Reviews

Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig: Ghost in the Shell - Volume 1 (Episodes 1-4)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

That's right the whole gang from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is back. Fans of both the movie series and the original televised series are going to love the second season. Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG is amazing from the first episode to the very last, and it all starts out right were the first season left off. But this time the threat is far greater to Japan and Section 9.

This DVD set includes the following:

Disc: 4 episodes in Dolby Digital (English and Japanese); bonus material

Episodes:
1. Reembody
2. Night Cruise
3. Cash Eye
4. Natural Enemy

Upcoming Releases:
Ghost in the Shell: SAC Official Log 1 - scheduled release date 10/25/05
Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG Vol. 2 - scheduled release date 11/22/05

NOTE - If you see any anime items for sale that seem to cheap, they are BOOTLEGS. DO NOT BUY!

The second season of Ghost in the Shell gets off to a very slow start, filled with talking heads that inform us how the political situation has changed since the previous series ended. It couldn't be more topical to contemporary America. You see, the main conflict of the show is being caused by a refugee problem. After the last war lots of Asians immigrated to Japan in search of a better life since their countries were poor and Japan was relatively rich. They were welcomed at first as a cheap labor force but over the years the Japanese began to think twice about the situation and realized that the immigrants are a huge tax burden. A new Conservative government has been formed, promising to deal with the problem once and for all. But there are elements within and outside of the government who are not prepared to wait for legislation. So, in the first episode here, a group called the "Individual 11" takes the Chinese Embassy hostage to protest against the parasitic immigrant population. Section 9 is called in to rescue the hostages, and if no innocents are killed, they are promised full reinstatement by the new Prime Minister. In the second episode, another human being/cyborg scarred by the war and its effects, fantasizes about mattering in a society that doesn't recognize the need for love in individuals. He constantly daydreams about killing all the people he despises and even falls for the Major, who he mistakes for a prostitute. In the third episode, "Cash Eye" is the name of a thief who is so good that she even tells her victims when she is going to rob them! It's up to Section 9 to stop her from robbing a multi-millionaire who will be busy giving a sex-doll soiree at the appointed time attended secretly by very high-up dignitaries. Lastly, in an episode reminescent of an early episode last season, an attack helicopter whose pilot has had a heart attack is taken over by its AI and suspiciously, is joined by other unmanned aircraft in the immigrant district of the city. Their purpose....unknown. Section 9 is called in by one of the government intelligence services who seem very aware of the situation. As though they knew about it before it happened?

2nd Gig has a very different feel from the first season which seemed obsessed with Catcher in the Rye references and cyber crimes of sometimes Enron complexity. This first volume seemed firmly grounded in real-world problems. Namely, what do you do when the equivalent of a slave labor force begins to revolt against its masters and demand more rights? Some people believe they have the right to be here. Some that they should all be kicked out. When a population sees itself as threatened, they fight back, whether this population are the legal citizens or the immigrants. Of course, this show came out in Japan long before the current immigration issues that are now plaguing America. But it's just eerie seeing this. The situation in the US could very easily slip into the conflicts we see in Volume 1 of 2nd gig. Everything about this second season is top-rate....except maybe the writing. The second episode in particular is really slow, since Section 9 is hardly in it at all. While I liked the experiment they did by doing that, it's too early in the show to take the focus off the main characters. Yoko Kanno's music, while masterpieces, seemed to strain to make boring scenes dramatic, but most of her score improves the show, especially a homage to the first Ghost in the Shell movie when the Major falls backwards out of a high-rise, turning on her Predator-like camouflage as she descends after blowing a terrorist's head off. This show looks like it might be great, once it gets past the exposition.

Extras: Interviews with the director and two designers who worked on the show.

I would also recommend: The first season of Ghost in the Shell SAC. The two GITS feature films. The SECOND edition of the manga which features panels cut out of the original American release.
The Matrix trilogy.

For a little more background:

Movies (The Puppet Master plotline):

Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell: Innocence

TV Series (The Puppet Master in the movies never existed):

Season 1: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Season 2: Ghost in the Shell: Second GIG

Manga

Ghost in the Shell: Different than the first movie, but related.
Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (I have not read it).

Ghost in the Shell: Man Machine Interface (a story set a few years after the first movie, it follows the Major in some later activities; it appears to take place after the second movie, but the second movie was published afterward, and they don't refer to each other as far as I know).

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The second movie picks up after the first movie (the puppet master affair plotline).

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I have seen almost the entire 2ng GIG series. It possesses a more gritty and tight feel and story than the first season. The animation style is markedly different. In fact, the whole production value, while quite high, was still lower than the first season. This was something of a disappointment to me, as I had expected them to exceed the past, not fall behind it.

The story, though, is still interesting as Section 9 fights for its own life and survival. We learn a great deal more about the past, and every episode is, like the first season, crafted with what I think is a certain sort of genius.

I await the end of the second season with great anticipation.

That's right the whole gang from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is back. Fans of both the movie series and the original televised series are going to love the second season. Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG is amazing from the first episode to the very last, and it all starts out right were the first season left off. But this time the threat is far greater to Japan and Section 9.

This DVD set includes the following:

3 Discs:
Disc 1 - 4 episodes in Dolby Digital (English and Japanese); bonus material
Disc 2 - 4 episodes in DTS (English and Japanese); bonus material
Disc 3 - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. 2

Episodes:
1. Reembody
2. Night Cruise
3. Cash Eye
4. Natural Enemy

And a unique case to keep the DVD case(s) in.

Upcoming Releases:
Ghost in the Shell: SAC Official Log 1 - scheduled release date 10/25/05
Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG Vol. 2 - scheduled release date 11/22/05


NOTE - If you see any anime items for sale that seem to cheap, they are BOOTLEGS. DO NOT BUY!

Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell- in all of its incarnations- is an exceptionally literate and stimulating franchise. But the best of these incarnations is the second season of Stand Alone Complex, directed by Mamoru Oshii. Even at the most superficial level, the visual and sound design of the series are pathbreaking. But Shirow's vision for the manga was deeply informed by artificial intelligence theory and philosophy of mind. This series continues to explore these themes, even as Oshii has added on layers of international politics, speculative history, diplomacy, systems theory, law, bureacratic infighting, Japanese culture. The final product is even richer intellectual and dramatic material than its closest rival, the new Battlestar Galactica. Unlike the Matrix, this series gets better with each installment, with a bit more of the puzzle revealed in each installment. This is because - also unlike the Matrix- there is a POINT. This is not an endless symposium on the dualing natures of technology and humanity, it is thesis-driven and these questions are ultimately RESOLVED. The stories are so complex and the pace of the series is so quick that many viewers complain that it is impossible to follow. But this is merely an invitation to multiple viewings, and they repay the effort with interest.

Pure and simple.
Packaging - 2" black heavy stock outer box covering a silver metal embossed case with clear circular plastic cutout (beautiful!) showing box art on the top DTS disc label, stacked above the 2nd dolby dvd disc inside......and the S.A.C. O.S.T. 2 CD in jewel case without security wrapping.

DISC:
- Disc 1 Dolby Digital Disc Episodes 1-4 Extras: Textless Openings & Staff interviews
- Disc 2 DTS Episodes 1-4 Extras: Textless Openings & Staff interviews
- Disc 3 Original CD Soundtrack S.A.C. O.S.T. 2 (by yoko kanno)
Track 1 cyberbird (5.59)
Track 2 rise (5.28)
Track 3 ride on technology (4.41)
Track 4 idoling (2.48)
Track 5 i can't be cool (4.31)
Track 6 3tops (3.57)
Track 7 gonna rice (2.01)
Track 8 GET9 (4.42)
Track 9 Go DA DA (1.52)
Track 10 psychedelic soul (4.45)
Track 11 what's it for (3.14)
Track 12 living inside the shell (6.24)
Track 13 pet food (1.28)
Track 14 security off (1.13)
Track 15 to tell the truth (4.48)
Track 16 I do (4.49)
Track 17 we can't be cool (1.33)

if you are a GHITS SAC fan this DVD is a must,
series wise the dvd contains 4 new episodes and the tachikoma stories are back as well, in fact the tachikoma's are now back in action in the series Too. Graphic wise, 2nd gig drops the funny pastel look of the first season and returns to its dark look as it was in the first movie, the CG is allot more fine-tuned and the action is awesome!!!, the opener has also improved significantly for the series!!!, Sound wise the series is awesome as usual 5.1 DTS Japanese & 5.1 DTS English, with stereo for both and there are English subtitles if you chose to run it with Japanese audio.
Overall they squealed SAC season 1 perfectly, this not a series to miss if you're a shell fan!

It's a nice package overall. definintely worth buying. The ony dissapointing things are first, the package design. Often you'll find the first DVD loose in the metal case as both DVD's pop onto the same spindle and often the outer one isn't pushed down far enough to click into place. They end up fairly scratched by the time they hit the stores or your mailbox.
Second, the box promises a bonus of a "textless" opening which doesn't actually appear to be on the disc. (note: Only one of the DVD's has the bonuses, not both)

"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" looked good in its first season, but its second season is astounding beautiful.

While the first season of GitS: SAC featured aesthically bright, colorful parks and utopian metropolitan images, 2nd Gig is a heavily dystopian vision. Despite the grim imagery, this series is strikingly detailed, with crumbling buildings, luxurious government interiors and dark prostitution joints.

Of course, the plot is a much more complex beast in itself. With producer Mamoru Oshii at the helm, the series explores far more unique avenues other than the freedom of the self in the isolated electronic world. Episode one sets the stage--after a governmental scandal, Japan's new prime minister is left with the tedious decision whether or not to keep Section 9 operational.

Even worse, however, is the state of Japan. The Asian refugees imported to Japan as cheap labor are starting to gain identities of their own. In fact, they follow a new ideology--individualism. They call themselves the Individual Eleven, and they're engaging in terrorism to manipulate the government.

This new tone for the series makes for some compelling stand alone episodes. Episode two, set in the perspective of a former war veteran, captures the true hysteria of the middle class people who are unable to change the state of their own environment. Right when anime viewers think that this guy is a maniacal terrorist, we discover it's just a dream. And when the lines of dream and reality are blurred in this episode, we're trapped in the man's agorophobic world, with only Motoko and her crew left to discover what makes him tick.

Other episodes in this series explore even more adventurous avenues. Episode three was almost entirely inspired by Oceans Eleven. Episode four is so far the closest that Section 9 has ever gotten to brutal military warfare, this time against helicopters with anti-tank ammunition.

The series has grown even more suspenseful and emotional in season two. With Mamoru Oshii at the helm and Kenji Kamiyama still directing, the series can only get better and better.

The disc also includes insightful interviews with director Kamiyama and the art directors of the series.

Newcomers may get lost in the first few episodes if they didn't watch season one. So if anyone STILL hasn't jumped on the GitS: SAC bandwagon yet, watch season one immediately. This is one of the coolest, most intellectual and most adrenaline-packed anime series ever made.

This is one of the best sci fi animes out there and the colour transfer and quality of the DVD picture is smoking! The storyline seems better than the first season but I didn't really like how the two disc stick on top of each other! Other than that everything else is fine.