Product Details

• Actors: Artist Not Provided
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Manga Video
• DVD Release Date: September 20, 2005
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000A0GPFY
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,512 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• This is item 1 in The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, 2nd Gig Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Major Kusanagi and the other agents of Public Security Section 9 hit the ground running as the second season of the Ghost in the Shell broadcast series begins. The new storylines have a more overtly political tone than the previous sci-fi adventures about the Laughing Man and the scandals surrounding cures for "cyberbrain sclerosis." Chief Aramaki gets his funding restored when he resolves a hostage situation for the new Prime Minister. This terrorist incident is linked to the poor treatment of Asian refugees and their role in the economy of the world following World War IV. When military helicopters go haywire above a refugee compound, the government faces a potential uprising, while evidence suggests that an even bigger plot may be unfolding. In the unusually sardonic episode 3, Aramaki, Kusanagi, Batou et al. set up a hi-tech sting operation to trap a corrupt industrial mogul. The newly cognizant Tachikoma robots join the crew as "recruits." (Rated 13 and older: violence, violence against women, sexual situations, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 09/20/2005 Run time: 120 minutes Rating: Pg13

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Section 9 is back for a 2nd GIG, July 20, 2005

By	Xeon Negotiator (MA, USA) - See all my reviews

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!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 2 Season of the GITS TV Series, October 7, 2005

By	indanthrene (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS, April 16, 2006

By	Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.