Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 1st Season, Vol. 1 (DVD)

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In 1995, a theatrical film based off of the "Ghost in the Shell" manga (Japanese comic, virtually always written by one person and printed in black and white) of the same name was produced. It was released in theatres in Japan, England, and the United States, which was rare. If you don´t remember it being in the theatre, that´s not surprising. It had only a very small release here. However, after its release on video from Manga Entertainment, the movie became pretty popular. I can recall seeing kids in high school wearing "Ghost in the Shell" t-shirts and wondering what the fuss was about. After I saw the movie myself, I was impressed. The film tackled philosophical issues while keeping the action as realistic as possible. It was darkly serious and provided the viewer with no easy answers. My main complaint was that things went so fast, there wasn´t any time spent fleshing out any of the characters except for the main character, Major Motoko Kusanagi. Seven years later, in 2002, a twenty-six episode TV series, titled "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" aired that changed that.

In 2004, Manga Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The first volume is available in either a standard or special edition. Both editions have the first four episodes ("Public Security Section-9", "Runaway Evidence- Testation", "A Modest Rebellion- Android and I", and "The Visual Elements Will Laugh- Interceptor"). The difference between the versions is that the special edition comes with the first soundtrack CD and a second DVD disc that has the first four episodes in DTS 5.1 audio. More detailed information on the technical features will be in the following sections.

Basically, "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" focuses on the investigations of Section 9, the government´s elite national security enforcement agency. The main two agents are Major Motoko Kusanagi and Batou, both of whom have fully cybernetic bodies. Fans of the movie, fear not. Most of the main characters´ voice actors have returned to reprise their roles, including Atsuko Tanaka as Major Motoko Kusanagi, Akio Otsuka as Batou, Tamio Oki as Section 9´s Chief Aramaki, and Koichi Yamadera as Togusa. The TV series takes place as a parallel story to the movie, one where the has never been a Puppet Master. The characters are still themselves, although Motoko is not as hard and cold as she was in the movie. The show is more of a detective story series that explores the members of Section 9 than it is an exposition on Motoko´s existential dilemma, as in the film.

Episodes are labeled as being either Stand Alone or Complex, meaning that they are either self-contained or related to the main plot arc, respectively. The opening sequence in the first episode is an homage to the movie. First, there´s a quote about the relationship between people and technology, then two helicopters flying above a metropolis, and finally a shot of the Major standing on top of one of the skyscrapers. Section 9 is called in to defuse a hostage situation involving the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The second episode follows Section 9´s collective attempts to stop a runaway prototype tank. The third episode references two 1960s films, "Alphaville" and "A Bout de Souffle". The first film is about a futuristic city where love and emotion have been outlawed. The second is about a car thief on the run from the police with his American girlfriend, who closely resembles the Jerry android. The final episode ends on a cliff hanger, with a mysterious criminal named the Laughing Man being investigated by Section 9. The Laughing Man´s name is most likely based off the titular character from J.D. Salinger´s short story, "The Laughing Man".

One lighter element from the manga that didn´t make it into the movie has made it into the TV series. The tachikoma, Section 9´s special personal AI-equipped tanks are included. Every episode ends with a short called "Tachikimatic Days". Although I don´t think this had a special name in the manga, the manga also contained short sections devoted to the silly antics of the tachikoma. In the TV series, they mainly debate the purpose of language and see elements from the main part of the episode.