Ghost in The Shell : Stand Alone Complex

Reviewed by Norman Canseco
January 21, 2006

Director: Kenji Kamiyama Genre: Anime Sci/Fi Distributor: Manga Age Rating: NR 13 & up Website: www.manga.com Review Rating: 8 out of 10

Stand Alone Complex is a TV program based on the popular Ghost in the shell series, written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow (Appleseed, Black magic, Intron Depot). Unlike the previous Animated Movies, this series focuses more on all the original story characters, Major Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa, Pazu, Bouma, Ishikawa, Aramaki, and the think tank Tachikomas (Fuchikoma from the manga).

AD 2030, Human Cyberization has come down to Brain Boxes in artificial bodies. Public security section-9, led by Motoko Kusanagi, handles the special cases involving Public officials as well as corporate leaders. It's up to Kusanagi and her unique team to deal with rogue cyborgs, international cyber terrorists, runaway cyborgs, and the crazed mercenaries that prey on the innocent. Within the Stand Alone Complex is a string of corporate cover-up and internet security cases, involving the notorious hacker The Laughing Man.

This is a great anime series worth watching over and over again. Aside from The Laughing Man cases, this series has so many individual episodes that it can be watched out of order and still be understandable and entertaining. Music was produced by the infamous YOKO KANNO (escaflowne, macross plus, cowboy bebop, samurai champloo). The art is an excellent blend of 2-D and 3-D Animation. As a matter of fact, I found the series far better than the theatrical rendition. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is definitely a series that belongs in your collection.