Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who Is Smarter?, March 11, 2005
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
GITS: Stand Alone Complex Vol. 4: Tachikoma-centric, January 28, 2005
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.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than the average 3.5 star rating, March 5, 2005
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 !
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