Product Description

Female cyborg major motoko kusanagi & her fellow police officers of section 9 hunt down a host of criminals in both the real & online worlds. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 11/22/2005 Run time: 120 minutes Rating: Pg13

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62144 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-22
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
As the second season of Stand Alone Complex continues, the filmmakers keep the suspense running high. Numerous subplots arise that appear to be linked, as they were in the case of the Laughing Man in the first season. Kusanagi, Batou, and even Chief Arakami chafe when they're drafted to protect the Prime Minister from would-be assassins. Behind these threats and other incidents lies the Individual Eleven, a cell that may parallel the May 15th Incident, an event well known to Japanese audiences but unfamiliar to Americans. (On May 15, 1932, a group of junior naval officers and army cadets assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, ensuring that power would remain in the hands of the militarists.) But the devious and hideously scarred intelligence officer Kazundo Gohda may be the puppet-master behind actions of the Individual Eleven--and many others. Stand Alone Complex--2nd Gig continues the tight plotting, dynamic action sequences, and appealing character relationships that made the series a hit. The story points concerning the status of an impoverished refugee population give the show a depressing contemporary feel. The extras include a two-part interview with character designers Takayuki Goto and Tetsuya Nishio. (Rated 13 and older: violence, violence against women, brief nudity, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Great continuation
This is a great continuation of Section 9's resurrection following their seeming demise at the end of the first season.

The story arc this time introduces more governmental (insider/political) themes that make you question who is ultimately pulling the strings.

For this second season the Animation director (or one of them) shifted position to character designer and shared that function with the character designer for the second movie. There are interviews of both of these on the second DVD. My impression of the results of this is that the new character models are both more "realistic" or detailed, while some have a little more of an anime design to them. It amounts to more variety which can sometimes be a little awkward in my opinion.

Contrary to what was stated in the "lousy" review here, the SAC: 2nd Gig team did not have much cross-over with the Ghost in the Shell: Innocence movie team so you can't say that they lacked resources. A serial TV series is not going to come out favorable to a 2hour movie production.

The nitty gritty:
If you liked the first season, you will love 2nd Gig, the plotlines are getting more intricate and each episode ends with either a small revelation to the whole arc or a cliff-hanger. This makes it difficult to watch these discs in spurts.

I did not find the background artwork noticably worse than the first season, it is darker, however, but this enhances the new storyline. This storyline with the refugees and political manipulation of covert government agencies mirrors our own time more and the background art seems appropriate for this. This continuation is a little less Sci-Fi and a little more mystery-oriented. I find the background art to actually be more detailed and varied than in the first season. I must have blinked and missed the blurry part?

The sophistication in this series lies more with the stories and episodic increments that further the over-all story arc than in the artwork. Keep in mind that this was made for television and had different obstacles to overcome. I do wish, however that the makers had the time/money to match the artistic beauty of the Ghost in the Shell movies.

If you are new to the Stand Alone Complex series, jumping in here will mean missing the character development that ran through the first season and the significance of the cyber bodies and brain technology. The team now, after rising from their dismantling at the end of the first season, is not taking their strength and existence for granted.

Four stars due to the artwork lacking a bit, other than that I'd give it five stars for it's engaging and intelligent story.

The GIG continues...
Now that Section 9 is up and running again, their skill can be put to good use. Crisis is growing in Japan as whispers of war and need for independence rise out of the refugees, after the Refugees Special Treatment Act is repealed. While at the same time it seems members of the special self-defense force have their own plans. And what roll does the Individual 11 play in the whole scheme...

Disc: 4 episodes in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (English and Japanese)

Episodes:
1. Inductance
2. Excavation
3. Pu239
4. Fake Food

Upcoming Releases:
Ghost in the Shell: SAC Official Log 1 - scheduled release date 10/25/05
Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd GIG Vol. 3 - scheduled release date 1/26/06

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

Getting better but there's still room for improvement...
I like this installment better than either 2nd GIG Vol.1 or the last installment of the first season.
The potential of this series can be best illustrated by the use of Hideo Kuze in the "Inductance" episode.
Strangely, the scope of the entire season seems to be apparent by the 8th episode ( Fake Food ). This is reminiscent of the appearance of Aoi in the 11th episode of the first season. It makes me wonder: is the series going to meander in "stand-alone" type episodes for three installments or so, before finishing with the inevitable conclusion?

There are the usual bumps in the road... I don't know if it's the subtitle translation or what, but I sometimes feel like the script is contradicting itself. For example: a bunch of groups calling themselves the Individual Eleven, who never identified themselves as the Individual Eleven. Huh?!

One more thing: the huge amount of audio "hiss" during the character design features. I don't recall this from earlier chapters. Oh well.