Ghost in the Shell:
Stand Alone Complex #1
Bandai
100 minutes
English/Japanese
English Subtitles
Released: 07/24/2004
Reviewed: 11/01/2005
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Ghost in the Shell:
Bandai
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Listen to Dave and Joel talk
about this show! (right click, save as)
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Recently I entertained a discussion with a friend of a friend. He saw the lines of recently purchased Ghost in the Shell DVDs on my rack and decided that it would be benefical to pull me into a discussion about how he stopped buying the DVDs because he'd already seen the show. I immediately assume he's talking about the recent run on Cartoon Network. "That's fair," I consent, "I watched it on TV too." Only it turns out he didn't see it on TV. He's a jerk-hole that pirated it and then decided, halfway through, that he didn't really feel like buying it anymore. So good for him. I, however, did feel like Stand Alone Complex was worth buying, although I did wait until a rather juicy sale dropped the prices on the special edition down to a much more reasonable level. As much as I love supporting the anime industry, paying nearly $50 for a DVD seems a bit excessive to me. $25 is something I can palate much more easily. Especially considering I have seen the whole show already, some episodes rest comfortable with multiple TV viewings! The anime publishing houses get the same cut either way. So if the internet DVD retail business goes down the tubes you can feel free to blame me, but I'm not holding my breath. |
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But I guess the show being good enough to warrant purchase after it's been experienced is probably a good sign. Ghost in the Shell contains everything I like in an anime. It has robots, cyborgs, explosions, police work and, maybe most importantly, exposition. In fact, when removed from it's slightly strange (i.e.: Masamune Shirow) roots it makes something downright watchable! I greatly enjoyed both movies, and had absolute faith in the TV show being a whole heck of a lot of fun too. Stand Alone Complex brings back all the characters in a reimagining of the universe though, aside from the Major's new hair color, they're all exactly the same as their movie counterparts. They've just been given a clean slate. Whether or not this relates to the manga I couldn't tell you, as I've never been of the inclination to put down a whole lot of comic book reading, but cursory examination of source materials tells me that we're playing with a whole brand new bag here. And it works out spectacularly. |
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The Major is still a hardass girl that barely identifies herself as such, Batou still a methodical joker and Togusa is still all like "I'm mostly human guys!". The core of Section 9, a super secret police organization, might as well have been ripped right out of the movies and that's just how I likes it. Stand Alone Complex spends its time between "Stand Alone" episodes, similar in composition to your average X-Files show about carival folk or secret sewer viruses, and "Complex" episodes that follow the greater plot re: the mysterious terrorist known as the laughing man. But rather unlike the X-Files the episodes about the greater continuity are actually worth watching. The Stand Alone episodes are no slouch, but Complex episodes are where the show really shines. Between bits and pieces of action involving robot tanks and sex dolls, the cast waxes philosophical and zips around in tiny robot tanks that are absolutely adorable and provide more than enough material for the Major's T&A. Both are equally represented here. These are two things I might normally complain about, but here they just seem downright benign, because Stand Alone Complex doesn't waste time making them the focus of the show. They're just extras! ...well... the philosophy's an extra. I don't know what the fan-service is supposed to be.** |
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I don't know if you know this, but Ghost in the Shell is one of the first animes to be co-produced by an American company, specifically Manga Entertainment. Manga and I have had a rocky relationship, Keith Burgess being the exception, but I think it'd be an intelligent idea to keep cross-country communication like this open. I don't know if you noticed, but the animation industry in America isn't quite as kickin' as it could be. So I don't mind going out of my way to put dollars on the table and tell them I like their product and I want more. Heck maybe one day, if I spend enough, ADV will go right ahead and start production on Bubblegum Crisis 2041. The glimmer of a dream of that makes buying Stand Alone Complex worthwhile. It also helps that the show's pretty good. |
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