[.ca] Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex V2 [3 Disc ...

GITS: Stand Alone Complex Vol. 2: Continuing the Quality:
This set contains episodes five through eight of the first series/season from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Here the focal point of the series really comes to focus in earnest, the first two episodes in the set continuing the story from "Interceptor" and the Laughing Man storyline. The last two are "stand alone" episodes (the first two are called "complex," a nice take from the series title), featuring a little bit of character motivation for Major Kusanagi in the last episode and a peek into her private life - one she's seemingly too busy to dwell on. To comment on the US version so far: I don't particularly care for the voice acting. Utilizing some of the same talent (for Kusanagi and Batou at least) as in the Ghost in the Shell movie, the overused voice actors seeming disinterest in whatever project they're involved in carries over into their lines and Stand Alone Complex is no different. That being said, the work is acceptable - a project on this scope really should have gone a different route. A very small pet peeve is the American logo for the show, a horrific cyber/metal theme that needs to be junked as soon as possible. Another note: the Japanese episodes generally have a title and subtitle, the latter of which is occasionally used as the episode title in the US. Frankly the Laughing Man story is really what propels this show. It's an involved, interwoven and multi-faceted plot, with enough vague threads, diversions, and neo-technological philosophy to satisfy most. Here is an episode summary (in order, with some spoilers if you hadn't seen the previous episode): DECOY: With the apparent re-emergence of the Laughing Man, threatening the assassination of Police General Daidoh, Section 9 focuses on the Special Investigation Division's current main suspect, the programmer Nanao A. However, Nanao doesn't fit the profile and Aramaki immediately smells an obvious decoy, but wants to discern why the SID is so intent on pinning the Laughing Man crimes and assassination notice on Nanao. Section 9 begins their own surveillance, while Major Kusanagi does her own probing into the original Laughing Man crimes (and thereby educating the viewer), identifying him as a Class A hacker. She then decides to help protect Daidoh during his retirement celebration rather than investigate Nanao, a wise choice... MEME: Kusanagi discovers that Nanao's decoy computer has been sending out fragments of a latent virus over the police frequency, apparently intended for one of Daidoh's bodyguards - which one is unknown. While Batou and Togusa track down the real location of Nanao, Kusanagi, Saito, Pazu and the Tachikomas fend off the ever-manifesting group of assassins. The episode ends with more questions and answers, and the realization that Section 9's investigation into the Laughing Man is only beginning. IDOLATER: The arrival of the popular counter-revolutionary war hero (and drug lord) Marcelo Jarti in Japan spells trouble for Section 9. Marcelo has survived numerous assassination attempts, and his frequent visits to Japan - once every five or six months - has garnered attention from the police and the Foreign Affairs Department, who'd rather see Marcelo leave in peace without any interference. Unfortunately, Marcelo is meeting with Kanekichi Gondo, a central figure in the cyberbrain drug trade - and to make things worse, the Prefecture Police unknowingly attempt a raid and Section 9 suddenly has to protect Marcelo. But something with Marcelo is definitely not what it seems. An interesting episode with some of the more extended hand-to-hand combat sequences in the series, and a small plot link/nod to the Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence movie. MISSING HEARTS: Kuru, a nurse friend of Kusanagi, asks the Major to inquire into a case in which a young girl received a needed heart transplant from a boy, who was receiving various cybernetic organs - except that the heart wasn't supposed to be donated. Motoko immediately feels empathetic to the little girl, who would have had to undergo a cyborg conversion if a heart couldn't be found - a situation similar to Kusanagi's own past. The investigation leads to the Meditic Corporation, which handled the transaction of the organs (the company grows organs in pigs for profit) and then to three medical students, who apparently want to sell blackmarket organs to the mafia. Motoko's past history is a bit enlightened, and her "fight" with Batou at the end is quite funny. Overall a nice collection of plot-oriented and stand alone episodes that kicks the series into high gear. Motoko's after-work life, such as it is, has some flesh to it (so to speak), as is her origins as a cyborg (which is detailed much more in perhaps one of the best episodes of the second season so far). Some light is shed in the Laughing Man plot - not much, considering what transpires - and you get to see what a Stand Alone Complex really is. The deluxe version comes with the original release, a second DVD with a DTS 5.1 sound version of the show, and a third disc, a soundtrack CD of the Tachikoma-themed release "Be Human".