Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex V.1 Reviewed by: Philip "Pocket Squirrel" Wesley Presented by: Anchor Bay/MANGA Entertainment & Bandai Entertainment Released: 2005 Format: UMD Rating: 13UP Genre: ACTION SCI FI Quick Opinion: OWN **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: A bit after watching through and reviewing the movie, I looked through the stack of UMDs on my desk and decided to work on the review of this particular UMD. This UMD is of the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone COmplex TV series. The first four episodes of the show created to follow the comics more closely and revitalize interest in the Ghost In The Shell franchise. When I took a look at the back of the package, the first thing that jumped into my mind was that the UMD contains four episodes of the show. Considering that other episodic UMDs like Hellsing, Gungrave, and Samurai Champloo only contain 2 episodes, this was an extremely pleasent surprise. The next thought that popped into my mind was that UMDs have a limited amount of space. So, I have to wonder what got sacrificed to fit four episodes of the TV show onto a single UMD. The DVD has only four episodes on it as well. This made me a bit suspicious, but upon closer inspection... I suppose you will have to keep reading on to find out! **************************************************************************** *TECHNICAL DETAILS* EXTRAS: The cover of the package closely mimics the excellent design of the DVD releases with a stunning picture of Major Kusanagi standing on top of a battle damaged Tachikoma. The back of the package has the standard DVD style description in a somewhat difficult to read font, the standard tiny screen images and the usual information. There are no extras in this release, unless you count the Tachikomatic Days previews as an extra. This DVD is Region 1, and contains Anamorphic Widescreen as well as English & Japanese Audio with English Subtitles. Also included are moving menus with sound, and three trailers for other Bandai shows. Those shows are Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, and the Escaflowne Movie. The menus are well done, the episode selection is well done. You have a choice between playing all of the episodes or playing individual episodes. You can also switch languages and turn off subtitles on the fly with only a slight pause. The menus do not suffer from the unusual slowdown that the menus on Escaflowne: The Movie suffer from. The chapter skips are as follows: Opening, Episode Start, Episode Midpoint, Credits, Tachikomatic Days. Set-up is easy to do and I was unable to make the UMD crash by speeding through episodes in fast forward or in slow motion. Aside from a slight pause when switching audio tracks, this is a completely error free release as far as I have been able to find. This release contains the first four episodes of the TV series as listed below. Episodes: 1. Section 9 - A Standalone Episode 2. Testation - A Standalone Episode 3. Android And I - A Standalone Episode 4. Intercepter - A Complex Episode For those who are unaware, each episode has a note in its title card that denotes on if the episode is part of the overall story arch or not. A Standalone Episode is not part of the arch, and a Complex Episode is. For those who have not been following the TV series, the overall story arch is "The Laughing Man" case for the first season. The inclusion of both language tracks and a total of four episodes already makes this first volume of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex a superior example of how anime on UMD SHOULD be done from a technical standpoint. An amusing extra is the inclusion of a "screen cover" for the series, which covers part of the screen and appears to serve no purpose unless your PSP is turned OFF. The Escaflowne one was a bit better because it looks like a miniture animation cell. MUSIC/SOUND: The music and sound effects are not as loud as some UMDs, but with headphones or speakers, everything works fine. The DUB is fine VISUALS: The subtitles are sharp and easy to distinguish from the rest of the show. The show itsself suffers from not being very vibrant with no real black level and a somewhat muted pallet of colors. It would appear that the soft look of the colors is what was sacrificed to fit in more episodes. However, everything is easily distinguishable and the show does not suffer greatly from being slightly lighter. I would say that the quality of the animation coupled with the quantity of episodes more than makes up for the lighter visuals. The CGI opening of the show is soft, and a little dreamlike thanks to the muted color pallet. The ending credits suffer a little due to the natural lack of sharpness in the PSP's screen, as well as the technique used for compressing the show. Liked: There are four episodes of an awesome show with both an English dub and a Japanese dub intact. The menus are well done with no loading time between moving from selection to selection. It is not missing much from the DVD to UMD transition that you will notice. Hated: The ending credits are awful looking in the compression department. Everything seems a little light colored, and it could be a little louder. **************************************************************************** *PERSONAL OPINION* POSITIVE: I have personally prefered the Ghost in the Shell TV series to the movies, because of the presence of elements that made the manga entertaining. Those elements being the Tachikoma. The tv show manages to meld all the talkative philosophy of the movies with the action of the manga, while adding humorous discussion amongst the Tachikoma to make the TV series much more palatable to a wider audience. I really enjoy the English dub on the show because I recognize the voice actors and actresses from a lot of other shows like Blue Seed, Ah! My Goddess, and Cowboy Bebop. Thankfully, there is enough distinction in their voices that it works fine. I would say that the English dub of the Ghost In The Shell TV series is one of the better English dubs put out this year. The content in the shows is also really thoughtful and interesting to watch. The first episode is a bit rough in that it is mired in a bit of political intrigue that requires the viewer to be somewhat familiar with the universe in which the show exists. The episodes after that serve to introduce the more wide ranged and natural feel of the series. The movies seem to exist in this world where everything seems cold and mechanical to a fault where they do not seem realistic. The TV series has giant mechanical tanks with artificial intelligence zooming around suburbia as well as mentions of traditional anti-technology conservatism and the commercial aspects of the cybernetic technology that permeates the universe of the series. This makes the television series the most natural of all the animated Ghost In The Shell works and my favorite. The slower pace of the television series allows so much more to be explored. This is grade A science fiction, a primer in all that is both natural and un-natural. A perfect blend of our current technology and the technology that we may someday have. If you value science fiction as a favorite genre, this is the anime UMD to own. NEGATIVE: At the time of this writing, a second volume has not been announced at this moment. Since the series is 52 episodes long between 1st Gig and 2nd Gig, at four or five episodes per UMD, this would be an exceptionally long series to buy through. The color levels in the UMD do need to be improved, and an extra or two -like a creditless opening sequence- would have been nice to have. The UMD retails for $19.95 in many locations and that may not be much incentive to buy it over the DVD release aside from just wanting it in a portable form. **************************************************************************** Improve: Just color depth, maybe add an extra or two. Personally, just get the rest of the series on its way to UMD and that would be enough for me. RIYL: Science Fiction that requires you to think and is still full of action, humor, and fun. **************************************************************************** Final Words: One of the best Anime on UMD releases of 2005, this would be a purchase I recommend you make. I personally enjoy this series and I think the fact that it can be found as low as $14.95 in some places makes it an UMD to pick up. **************************************************************************** Final Score: 97% Grade: A+ **************************************************************************** SECRETS: None.