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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Volume 05 (Episodes 17-20) | 
| Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Actors: Ryuji Saikachi, Natsuo Tokuhiro, Shiro Saito, Daisuke Egawa, Hikari Yono
Studio: Manga Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $16.98
Buy Used: $2.93
You Save: $14.05 (83%)
New (34) Used (20) from $2.93
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 28388
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 25204
UPC: 669198252044
EAN: 0669198252044
ASIN: B00076YP1C
Theatrical Release Date: November 7, 2004
Release Date: March 22, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: All of our used items are 100% Guaranteed to play. Ships 1st class!!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The subplot about the Tachikoma robots developing an awareness of their existence falls by the wayside in two episodes focusing on Chief Aramaki's life outside Section 9. He visits an old flame in London and is drawn into a bizarre money-laundering scheme, then outwits a former co-worker's son who's become an assassin. In episode 20, the filmmakers finally return to the central storyline of the Laughing Man, which may be tied to J.D. Salinger's 1949 story of the same name. The cyber-criminal may also be linked to the Sunflower Society, a group that files class action lawsuits against large corporations, including one involving a cure for "cyberbrain sclerosis." The tangled multiple storylines detract from an otherwise engaging series with strong characters. The extras include interviews with the mecha designers, and the directors of photography and 3-D computer graphics. (Rated 13 and older: violence, grotesque imagery, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 "I mustn't act out of personal feelings..." June 28, 2005
Marc Ruby™ (Warren, MI USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I've been away from this series for a while, due mostly to the slow release of the DVD's and a sudden interest in Chinese fight films. Since this is one of the best releases in the series, I wish I had been a bit more impatient. Or maybe not. One thing that's good about coming late to a series is that the anguish of cliff hangers (and this DVD sports a doozy) is easier to relieve.
The first three episodes focus on Arimaki, and his peculiar sense of duty that compels hime to announce that he can't misuse his position for friendly reasons. Of course, he goes on to do exactly that - 'accidentally' needing to investigate the exact thing he just refused to look into.
Angel's Share introduces an old lady friend of Arimaki, who is now the manager of a wine investment fund. She realizes that the fund has been used for money laundering by the mafia and promptly becomes a target for both some mafia renegades and the real criminals, who engineer what is supposed to be a 'fatal' rescue
In Lost Heritage A visiting Chinese Vice Minister is the object of a death threat. Arimaki takes a short break to visit the grave of and old war buddy who died of cyberbrain sclerosis and discovers that the son of his friend is somehow involved with his father's ghost. The result is an eerie story of revenge.
Captivated. This time the daughter of former Prime Minister Kanzaki's vanishes in a fashion identical to a series of organ-legging kidnappings attributed to a group called blind Ivan. But the odd thing is that Kanzaki was one of politicians who helped cover up the crime. Batou finds himself facing an old enemy as Kanzaki must decide whether his political life is more important than his daughter.
Re-View returns to the escapades of the Laughing Man. Togusa, still bothered by his failure at the vocational center fixates on the Laughing Man - especially as a reflection of Catcher In The Rye. He finds an unexpected clue and discovers a list of individuals who were treated for cyberbrain sclerosis by an experimental vaccine. This treatment was suppressed in favor of another and a government agency is very anxious to keep everything hush hush.
All of these episodes are tightly written little masterpieces, and this DVD might very well be the best of the series so far. Laughing Man episodes tend to be a bit too philosophical, but this is hardly the case here. Everything moves at a very satisfying pace.
...An OK chapter highlighted by Episode 20... March 25, 2005
Too Right (Lower Shadowlands)
4 out of 10 found this review helpful
I wasn't that into the English translation of Episode 17 when I saw part of it on TV, partly because it didn't seem to involve a threat worthy of Section 9, partly because I feared ( needlessly ) that the animation was going in a direction I didn't like. However, this chapter of Stand Alone Complex is a worthy addition overall.
Finally some more movement on the Laughing Man plot. I was gratified to hear Togusa's view that Aoi was the Laughing Man, because I didn't want to see Aoi simply dropped as a plot point or anything like that.
There is, I believe, some newer background music on here.
Also, for those wondering exactly who in the development staff is really into nice cars ( and it's been clear from the beginning of this series that SOMEONE is ), the interviews in this installment make that clear.
Basically the only thing I don't like about this chapter is that Episode 19 doesn't really live up to its billing. Supposedly ( according to the back of the DVD case ) there's a character who is Motoko's equal, but there's not much in the episode to back that idea up... a missed opportunity.
The London episode is a little off-putting because it takes the typical idea of police corruption with ties to organized crime and puts it in a supposedly British setting. In fact, in this installment there are a few influences from films like The Professional. With the general semi-Anglicization of the characters in this series, and everybody speaking Japanese anyway, it all seems essentially the same as what was going on in Section 9's home country. Is this globalization???
The other strange thing about this episode is that nobody gets killed. Oh, and also the part where Aramaki, his girlfriend, and the robbers hide in the wine cellar.
Aramaki is a cyborg like the rest. Doesn't his body have any special abilities that could have been used in a situation like that? I'm not a reader of the manga so I don't know if the extent of Aramaki's cyberization has ever been used as a plot device.
Anyway, the addition of an actual cliffhanger between this chapter and the next DVD is a nice touch...I really doubt they would kill off the most likable character in the series, though.
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