| Episodes: 1 | Score: 8.1 (49129)
Updated every at | Status: Finished Airing
Type: TV Special
Producers:Bandai Visual | Dentsu | Victor Entertainment | Nippon Television Network | Fonishia
Streaming: Netflix
Synopsis
A.D. 2034. It has been two years since Motoko Kusanagi left Section 9. Togusa is now the new leader of the team, that has considerably increased its appointed personnel. The expanded new Section 9 confronts a rash of complicated incidents, and investigations reveal that an ultra-wizard hacker named the Puppeteer is behind the entire series of events. In the midst of all, Batou, who was stalking the case on a separate track, encounters Motoko. She goes away after saying, "Stay away from the Solid State Society." Batou is left with a doubt in his mind. Could Motoko be the Puppeteer? The series of intriguing incidents that Section 9 faces gradually link together almost artistically. Who is the Puppeteer? What will happen to Batou's relationship with Motoko? What is the full truth behind this carefully planned perfect crime? And what will the outcome be? Mysteries surround the Solid State Society... (Source: Production I.G.)
Voice Actors
Saka, Osamu
Ootsuka, Akio
Tanaka, Atsuko
Yamadera, Kouichi
Reviews
Civilwarfare101
This has always been the point for me where Ghost in the Shell as a franchise started to go downhill. I enjoy the 1995 movie, I enjoy Innocence and both seasons of Stand Alone Complex, but every time I come to this movie, I always sturggle to make it through to the end. There's a number of issues I have with this movie but let's start with the first. Solid State Society is basically a Ghost in the Shell "greatest hits" of sorts. The movie combines aspects of the 1995 movie, Innocence, and the first season of SAC. The 1995 movie in that the antagonistis called the "Puppeteer"(not Pupper Master) who seems to be an all knowing AI. Innocence with the kidnapped children and Motoko Kusanagi leaving Section 9. The first season of SAC in that the "Puppeteer" is a also a hacker along with sort of being an AI. It also has the visuals and music of SAC. My problem with this is that this movie doesn't really have any original ideas of it's own, and as a result feels like someone got a collection of past GITS concepts and rolled them into one movie. The live action movie would funnily enough make the same mistakes to a much greater degree but that is besides the point. I just find it strange that Kamiyama would even do something like this considering the fact that SAC S1 and 2nd Gig do a great job at breathing new life into GITS. Now it feels like he is apping off Oshii and himself. Now the second issue, the fact that the movie timeskips two years after 2nd Gig and as a result, characters are changed in ways that don't feel natural or just feel like...and I hate using this term, "character rewrites". To name examples, Motoko becomes disillusioned with Section 9 and conducts her own investigations, Togusa is the leader of Section 9, the Fujikomas are incompetent, Aramaki is worried about Section 9's future, Togusa becomes cyberized, Batou only getting involved in cases that he finds interesting, Section 9 is greatly expanded on and Saito taking overseas ops. What do all these have in common? There is no smooth transition to any of these things, the only thing that links all these events together is nothing. By the end of 2nd Gig, it felt like Section 9 was still normal and nothing too bad has happened but get to this movie, and so much has happened inbetween the ending of 2nd Gig and this movie that I almost want an anime series or movie taking place during the timskip just to see how all this stuff managed to take place. This is why I strongly dislike timeskips in fiction and especially timeskips that gloss over major character development, and this movie did very little to change my mind on the idea. The scene where Aramaki and Batou might be one of the better scenes in the movie but the problem is that it's hard for me to care because I am not even what where all the events leading up to the conversation. The third issue is that the villlains are completely underwhelming. Mune and the Puppeteer are both the main villains of the story and while both their motivations involving the kidnapped children, Japan's decling birth rate, frail old people, killing important people in Japan's political landscape and rewriting children's memories are interesting on paper, they are presented in a dry way where the characters only reveal any kind of character before they are about to die or a big dramatic moment. Before that, they don't do a whole lot of anything, and just feel like the only actions they did that mattered was right before they died or the major dramatic part. That and the "Puppeteer" might as well be an AI if the movie was going to resort to the resolution that it did regarding the identity of that character. There are some things about the movie that do prevent it from being completely unwatchable. Yoko Kanno's music is great and hearing Run Rabbit Junk was great. The action is also pretty good and the final action sequence with the cyborg tanks is pretty good due to the music and action working in tandem together. The ending with Motoko and Batou with the slowed down version of "take a little hand" playing in the background along with the conversation the two characters have was a touching way to close off the series, it provides more closure than 2nd Gig's ending does, despite 2nd Gig being way better overall. Overall, I enjoyed Ghost in the Shell SAC and the first two movies a lot but this movie I found to be really boring. Every time I watch it, I always struggle to finish it due to badly presented the villians are, the timeskip, and how the movie rarely has good ideas of it's own. If you are a SAC fan, I say watch it for the score and action but prepare to be underwhelmed, if you just watch this as just a movie, skip it because you are getting very little entertainment value out of watching this.
LightningComet
In my reviews of Kenji Kamiyama’s GitS:SAC 2nd GIG and Eden of the East, I made the case that the director, in spite of his flair for visual presentation, continuity, and aesthetic detail, is a hack writer that crafts intriguing scenarios but frequently bookends them with poor and inconsistent character motivations and overly complicated plots. With Solid State Society, Kamiyama has once again proven his writing hack-ness, but there is a twist this time! In addition to an incredibly convoluted story, this film more prominently showcases his inability to portray his characters with even a modicum of growth or dynamism. And who better to be theposter child for flat and thoroughly uninteresting characters than our leading lady, Major Motoko Kusanagi? The end of 2nd GIG saw her lose someone important to her and leave Section 9 as a result, and it’s stated that in the two years since then, she basically took up the role of the Laughing Man from season one: surfing the Internet and dealing out vigilante justice, although somehow without anyone (not even from Section 9) noticing her actions or even keeping tabs on her. During the film, the Major is her usual stoic self, never talking about anything in her past with anyone and focusing solely on the task of catching the Puppeteer. I won’t spoil the ending to that plot thread, but suffice it to say that, just like the 2nd GIG finale, it rests entirely on the Major being an idiot for not noticing something crucial and laughably obvious. At the end of the film she has a heart-to-heart (in her underwear, of course) with Batou, musing about how she had felt lost during those two years pretending to be Aiden Pearce from Watch Dogs (himself a Laughing Man enthusiast), but began to feel whole when she worked with Section 9 to catch the Puppeteer, implying that she will rejoin the team. Here’s another million-dollar question for Kamiyama: why don’t we ever see the Major struggle with those feelings of emptiness rather than just talk about them at the end as though they were at all relevant or even hinted at? If this movie is trying to be the first movie from the 90s, why couldn’t it revolve around her intrapersonal conflict, just like that one? The original GitS film was all about the Major’s search for her own sense of self while the villain (the Puppet Master) was someone who wanted to experience humanity and is thus complementary to the Major’s own inner turmoil. SSS’ Puppeteer is clearly cribbing from the Puppet Master, and yet the former’s identity, despite it being a major plot point, has basically no impact on the Major, nor should it for how poorly it’s explained. Couple that with the fact that the only thing tying him to that totally removed conspiracy plot involving child abductions and elderly care is some meaningless sci-fi babble the audience could not possibly understand even if Masamune Shirow wrote a companion manual and you have an antagonist that fails to be either narratively or thematically important. What I am getting at is that this film's attempt at carving a new identity is to lazily mash the first season and the first movie together. We are thus left with a mystery plot that is less fulfilling than the Laughing Man arc and a (virtually) entirely dissonant character piece that is an insult to the legacy of the original Mamoru Oshii film. I will be clear about this: Kamiyama has intriguing ideas for conspiracy-thrillers and a knack for capturing suspense with his style of direction, so why not try to marry his skill at conspiracy-thriller writing and high-tension filmmaking with a more personal story revolving around a single individual or small set of characters rather than this Frankenstein’s monster of previous GitS material? Here’s an alternative idea: during her time Aiden Pearce-ing around the Internet, the Major's emotional state gets more and more volatile due to her inability/unwillingness to grieve. This leads to the Major making a mistake in one of her investigations, nearly causing the Section 9 members to be killed (leaving them all incapacitated). She and Batou, who barely escaped, are then branded fugitives (again), and it’s now up to the Major and Batou to clear their names, solve the conspiracy, and find the perpetrator(s) while she strives to finally allow herself to heal, her closest friend helping her along the way. That’s all there needs to be for a standard structure. Fill it in with some introspection, proper metaphors and symbols for narrative-thematic cohesion, give the characters real vulnerability, deepen the bond between the two, complete their respective character arcs, and whammo, you have an entertaining yet emotionally rich and fulfilling action-thriller that, more simplistic story aside, is right up Kamiyama’s alley. He shows his deftness in crafting suspenseful thrillers with SSS, and it really is a genuine shame that the film’s overly complicated plot makes it difficult to follow. Kamiyama’s good directing is helped along by a production quality that is distinctly better than that of 2nd GIG, even if it’s nowhere near on the level of the original film. Despite that, the character designs are sharp and the coloring is greatly improved over season one (fixing its overly-saturated hues). Yusuke Takeda’s art direction impresses again, giving us some fantastic background work. There really isn’t too much character animation, unfortunately, and, although that face-morphing bit was seriously well-done, the film comes off feeling a little stilted and unmoving outside of action scenes. Additionally, a problem I have with said action scenes is the obnoxiously disproportionate sound mixing that would feel right at home in many a Christopher Nolan film, with sound effects completely overpowering both the vocal and musical tracks. I was lucky enough to get the Bandai DVD from my local library so I could enable the subtitles while still hearing the English vocal track (and I do recommend the dub). This poor sound mixing can, at times, be a disservice to Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack which is a shame. Outside of a couple scenes where the music is just too upbeat and jazzy, the music is both fantastic and well-utilized. Kanno especially nails the suspenseful hospital scene, and I found myself listening to the track "Solid State Society" quite often. Ultimately, there is enjoyment to be had in Solid State Society, but it would be more entertaining to watch season one and the first film seeing as they both do what they separately set out to do far better than this film does with either of their material that it so callously stole. It may not be the most apt comparison, but I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the last film I reviewed, Psycho-Pass Sinners of the System: First Guardian, and I see some similarities to SSS: good art direction, not-stellar-but-still-solid animation, great music, a conspiracy plot, and Production I.G.’s brand of science fiction. Some things are actually done better in SSS, primarily in how it gives some scenes a much more palpable and nail-biting sense of tension, but it just falls so much shorter of First Guardian from a narrative standpoint. Where SSS, at the end, shoehorns in some struggle the main heroine supposedly went through before the film took place and isn't even mentioned throughout the majority of the film's runtime, First Guardian spends almost all of its runtime exploring the hero’s struggle in a flashback and ends the film with him demonstrating how much he grew by making a key decision. First Guardian is dedicated to making its characters and world more interesting while furthering the overarching narrative of the franchise whereas Solid State Society is content with just taking two highly regarded entries of the GitS franchise, poorly combining them, and calling it a day. It has its moments, but I won’t be revisiting it anytime soon, if ever. As usual, Kamiyama’s writing unfortunately disappointed me, so I think I’ll make the smarter play and not give SAC_2045 a shot. Happy watching! -LC
VeiledEdge
Imagine the first Ghost in the Shell movie, except they completely flop on everything they did right in that movie. Have you ever wondered, "what would Ghost in the Shell have been if it was bad?" Well, wonder no longer. Solid State Society is an action movie, with not much action; a philosophical movie, with no philosophy; and a Ghost in the Shell movie, without any Ghost in the Shell spirit. Having said that, as a standalone film, it's not that bad. The problem lies in how much it attempts to capitalize on the original 1995 film and the Stand Alone Complex series. There areso many references and tons of imagery that it's borderline ridiculous how much this movie is trying to be the original. Even the villain and plot premise are similar. I'm not saying that the movie does any of these things badly, however, I am saying that it lacks in substance significantly compared to the original; thus, a lot of these allusions end up appearing as baseless. That rant aside, in all fairness it's a good movie. I liked it more than the second season of Stand Alone Complex. It does a lot of things well. The action sequences are well-choreographed and directed. The music and graphical design and integrity are impeccable. The story is good enough for an action movie. It has a little bit of mystery, but it's not handled whatsoever like the first season of Stand Alone Complex. It's handled more... generically. It's less satisfying, is what I'm trying to say. I'm not gonna talk about the ending because I think it's stupid. The characters are whatever. For a sequel, they are what they need to be. With such a mixed review, you're probably wondering if I recommend this or not. I'm forced to give a complicated answer. The TL;DR answer is "I gave it a 6, it must be 'fair.'" For a more honest recommendation, you need to know how I feel about the series as a whole, and as this will be my last review for the series, I guess I'll talk about it here. I'll just make a note first that I wrote reviews for everything that came before this movie already, so feel free to read those for context. The Ghost in the Shell 1995 Movie is amazing. The first season of Stand Alone Complex I hold in similar regard. Both of those have my highest recommendation. Everyone and their mom should watch them. Below that, I have this movie. I did not enjoy the second season of Stand Alone Complex as much, but I would say: still watch it if you need more Ghost in the Shell. Don't expect anything like the first season or the movie, but it's still okay. Lastly, Innocence. Don't watch that. If you liked the second season, watch this movie. If you didn't like the second season, don't watch this movie as it will be just as disappointing. That's the long answer. Enjoy!
LaLeLuLiLo
Solid State society is a continuation of the Stand Alone complex series after second Gig. Although it has the runtime of an average movie,it’s actually a special that serves as a sequel or epilogue to the Stand alone complex series. The story takes place 2 years after the events of second gig, with Motoko leaving section 9 during that time. Since then togusa has become Motoko's replacement, and section 9 as a whole has grown substantially, with more personnel working for them. Section 9 still continues to do its work, and this time it’s investigating a string of suicides from people of a foreign country. Thisof course leads to a larger scheme about child abduction to be unveiled, and section 9 crosses pass with Motoko who is somehow involved in all of this. The story really does start off quickly, with the special assuming that you already have watched the last two seasons. It plays itself like if it were the complex part of the show, starting off rather “small” with a case and going through procedures, clues, hints, and leads to figure out how it all comes together. However since the special is rather cut for time, it tries to rush things along with its story. it becomes rather fast paced with a lot to take in as there are 2 separate storylines while they are connected, they don’t really come together until about halfway through. The show also has quite a bit more exposition and heavy monologue which is sometimes important to the story, and missing one sentence may make you not understand what's going on. There’s also this odd bridge when the case leads from the string of suicides; to the massive kidnappings that have been occurring. The connection is clearly there, but because it wasn’t executed that well, it just doesn’t make that clear jump from one part of the case to another. Another thing worth pointing out was the subject of the stand alone complex that is a subject within the SAC series. Since a stand alone complex within the show are when unrelated, but similar actions by individuals create a seemingly connected effort. This was true in the first season with many copycats of the laughing man, but with none of them having any affiliation with each other. Also to a lesser extent with Second Gig, with people doing terrorist activities under the guise of one organization even if they have no ties with each other. However with SSS i don’t really see the Stand Alone Complex since everything is related to each other within the grander scheme of things, with one person heavy handedly manipulating the situation. However the special does pretty well with telling stories with each of the scenes, and many of them have become instant favorites within the franchise. It’s just as a whole it doesn’t really hold up that well to the other two. I believe it would have done better if it went through the same treatment as the last two, as it would have given it more time to clear things out. Just like the story, the special assumes that you have already the previous two seasons before delving into this one. The characters remain mostly the same as before. Togusa is the new field commander and has become more of a hardass because of it, but he still retains many of the core aspects that he had before. Everyone else feels remotely the same as before, but that might be because some of them didn’t have enough screen time. Even though there are more members in section 9 now, none of them are ever introduced, but i guess there was no point on focusing on them. There’s very little to no character development, but just like the previous shows the characters are established enough to not need it. I believe that there was supposed to be an antagonist in the special, but since his introduction and demise is so abrupt i’m just left wondering what was the point of him. Also togusa’s daughter has screen time, and it’s the most adorable thing. The quality of animation/art is still kind of on par with the other two shows. The character designs still looks as good, and there have been changes to some of them although it’s mostly subtle. The background designs still look as good. The animation is still as fluid as before, and with some good directing makes it look really good. However there seems to be a small downgrade with the Cgi when it comes to the more mechanical designs of the cars and spider tanks, as they don’t really blend in with the show as they use to. the voice acting is still as good as before, and there’s not much i can say about it. The soundtrack has a mix of soundtracks from the previous two shows with maybe some new ones of their own. Although used rather sparsely throughout the film, they are rather effective within their respective scenes. However very few were able to invoke the atmosphere or tension that the previous seasons were able to so, but they still are able to do a good job trying and somewhat succeeding. Overall it was a good enough special for the series that brought a lot of what made the shows great, but not enough time to do them quite right. Maybe it could have been better if it got the same treatment as the previous two, but it is still good as it is.
Simplicity1511
This is my first real look at the franchise that is now getting it’s own live action movie. I wanted to see what the hype about this series is and it certainly has piqued my interest. It gives me a Psycho Pass vibe and I’m curious as to how everything in this world plays out. I don’t think this will ever be a favorite series of mine but it certainly is interesting. This movie talks about the all to real problem of an accelerating elderly population with their low birth rate in Japan. As well as some character’s thoughts on “other races”. This ideaof superiority that came with having a homogenous society. The movie dealt with real life problems and situations in our modern day world. Hopefully, that runs throughout the whole series. It also asks the question, how close is the line between man and machine? When does one begin and the other end when we create AI’s that become more human while we become more like machines. It asks a lot of philosophical questions, which make me excited to see what other questions this series has planned and if their will only ever be questions with no real answers.
lawlmartz
Ghost in the Shell is now an immense franchise, spanning three TV series, eight movies, and several specials- all inspired by the manga of Shirow Masamune, but brought to life by Kenji Kamiyama in the director and writer's chair. If you're not in the know about this fantastic franchise, this is not the place to start- that would be the 1995 eponymous movie. For those who are- welcome back. Ghost in the Shell Solid State Society (SSS) is something of a Stand Alone Complex within the established universe of Ghost. The show takes a lot of previously in-universe established ideas, various new political ideals, philosophicalmusings, and modern day culturally relevant and poignant issues and brings them to the forefront of a sociopolitically shaped point of the sharp visual and auditory spear that makes up the series. Yoko Kanno returns in the composer's seat, and did a fantastic job as always, with some returning tunes from the earlier series, and a plethora of new ones. SSS feels like more of a focused, extended episode of the SAC series. Where in SAC 1st, it was the Laughing Man, and in SAC 2nd, the Individual Eleven, Solid State Society also has a nebulously altruistic, yet menacing omnipresent villain in the "Puppet Master". If one were to take the Stand Alone (the side investigation episodes in SAC 1st/2nd) episodes out, distill the Complex (main investigation) episodes down into a simultaneously fast moving, dialogue AND action driven story that could be told in 2 hours, you'd have SSS. The characters have been well established in over 50 episodes of TV series and several movies at this point, so while there's not any mind altering development taking place- there are a few standout moments for some of the supporting characters like Saito and Togusa to shine. This movie takes all the best parts of the previous TV series and compresses them into a dense, directed story without the sometimes meandering dialogue and heavy handed by comparison action episodes that the SAC series had. On a technical level, SSS is on par with SAC 2nd, and Production IG do a fine job with animating it, though the 3D CGI they're known for sticking in there might scald your eyes a bit. Despite this being a movie with a sizable budget, it's not as visually striking as the 1995 movie, or Innocence. I think this plays into its favor though, as it works best as an extended epilogue to SAC 2nd, and thus retains the feel. 2 years after Motoko Kusanagi leaves Section 9, a new cyberterrorist threat has appeared- one called the Puppet Master, and the investigation into it leads to the discovery of the kidnapping of thousands of children, political corruption and a potentially more heinous threat- all standard fare for the Ghost in the Shell series. Beyond the almost mundane introspection on life and what it means to be an individual, a human, and other philosophical musings the show is known for, SSS focuses on some relevant issues in Japan today: the aging population and declining birthrate, agency of parents and caregivers, and the role of government in providing healthcare form the spine of the plot. Many nods are given to the viewers in some direct references and allusion to the SAC series- a pair with serious implications in this story. I have to say though, that where SAC 1st strayed from the point a lot in having some filler, and SAC 2nd felt preachy and racist at times, SSS stayed very true to the core of Ghost in the Shell in wrapping up a lot of complex topics and themes into a single cohesive narrative without being heavy handed. It also takes a somewhat different direction of the previous series in that by the end, not everything is cut and dried so nicely- it's partially up to the viewer to decide, and that made it all the better. In short, if you like Ghost in the Shell, this is more of what you want to see. If you found yourself not being a big fan of SAC 1st and 2nd for the pacing or some other small issues, this may be just the thing you were looking for- an interesting and engaging story that doesn't overstep its bounds, but still has the power to surprise.
Helio_San
Since it's my first time writing a review I'll try to keep it short. Story: Loved the idea, totally does justice to the central cerebral theme, wonderfully executed a solid 9/10. Art: Out of all the three art styles of GITS series I've always prefered the GITS 1995 and Innocence art style but this art style is also very well done and animation was really good so 8/10. Music: Another wonderful set of soundtracks composed by Yoko kanno, enjoyable to say the least so a 8/10. Characters: Every characters role was wonderfully executed so a solid 9/10 again.Enjoyment: I really enjoyed it a lot. 9/10 Overall: 8.6
kurzweil1024
Stand Alone Complex was based on Yoshiki Sakurai’s 2001 Media Ecology dissertation “The Whereabouts of the Other in the Future of Human-Robot Interaction” (「他我を宿す条件 ～人間・ロボット間コミュニケーションの行方～」). It is about how the phenomenon of THE LAUGHING MAN — unique minds becoming individual components of a complex system acting as one collective consciousness (memes), and the phenomenon of THE TACHIKOMA — perfect machine copies of each other evolving individual differences, are the two inevitable consequences of data synchronization. The interaction between these antithetical phenomena is explored on a literary level in Stand Alone Complex, and political in 2nd GiG. Stand Alone Complex is the most cerebral anything anywhere, and it hasprophesied most contemporary Internet phenomena such as Anonymous and Asange with perfect precision several years ahead. Solid State Society introduces an equally critical complex structure known as the rhizome network.
DarkGyraen
With any entry into the solid franchise that is “Ghost in the Shell” each new product is compared to all of those that have come before it. Thus, with Solid State Society, this movie has to be compared not only to the shows that came before it, but the two movies as well. Every entry into this franchise has to continue to try and meet the bar set by those earlier entries, and I think that in this case, Solid State Society just falls a bit short of that bar. Story – 7/10: The story for Solid State Society starts off some twoyears after the end of 2nd GIG, with the Major having taken her leave of Section 9, thus the movie leans heavily on Togusa in the beginning. As with the second Ghost in the Shell movie Innocence, we learned that both Togusa and Batou can carry a movie. The problem here is that the Major has really become the soul of the Stand Alone Complex universe, and without her, you always feel that something is missing. Beyond that, the story for Solid State Society is all around pretty decent, but it feels like this should have been the third season, and not a movie. Everything feels rather rushed, and while the story isn’t bad, you can’t help but wonder how much better this could have been if it had been stretched out over a 26 episode season. This movie is better off than the compilation “Laughing Man” and “Individual Eleven” movies, but it just doesn’t live up to the shows, and as a standalone movie, it’s not even in the same ball park as the original movies. It does tie into 2nd GIG and if you felt that the end of that season left you with some questions or wanting more, then SSS is likely to work well for you. Characters – 9/10: If there’s anything that this movie really has going for it, that would be the way we get to see some of the characters a bit farther down the road. Of the most important is the change to Togusa, who’s stepped up to be the leader of Section 9 now that the Major is gone. It’s good to see him undergo the changes to become a stronger person, as he was always a likable character. On the other side, the Major and Batou generally ponder the meaning of life, having a soul and what their purpose is, much as they always do while being overly badass as they do in generally all Ghost in the Shell products. Much of the side cast is relegated to minor duties again, although there is an awesome scene with Saito. As this is just a movie, you don’t get a lot of character growth in the relatively short span of the film, but there is some and that’s refreshing. These are ultimately characters that are well established though, after two full seasons of SAC, you either love or hate the characters of Section 9 by now. The only real disappointment here is that they didn’t utilize the Prime Minister character as much as one might have hoped. She proved to be a strong character in the second season, and while you see her, she’s pretty much just a cameo. It feels like a slightly missed opportunity, but again that all goes back to the idea that they can’t do as much in a movie as they can in a full blown season. Presentation – 8/10: There’s certainly nothing wrong with the way SSS is presented, and in many cases, it really shows a lot of visual and audio prowess. The animation is sharp and crisp, and it has all the things going for it that the show had. The downside here is that this is a movie, and you’d expect that the visual production level would be higher. But in the end, it again seems to simply be a long episode. The bar for the animation levels in this franchise were set impossibly high by the simply stunning beauty of Innocence, and SSS doesn’t come close as a movie to reaching that. While its visuals match the show, but don’t surpass it, I actually felt the music took a slight step back. I love pretty much all work by Yoko Kanno, and while I felt that 2nd GIG was among her better sound tracks, I thought that SSS was somewhat lacking. There are a few really enjoyable songs, but they don’t seem to stick in your head as much as some of her previous works. And there are even a few pieces that I simply felt were out of place or jarring. The music isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but once again, it simply fails to live up to what has come before. Overall Enjoyment – 7/10: Solid State Society is good for giving you some continuation after the events of 2nd GIG ended, and it’s always fun to come back to the enjoyable members of Section 9. But this outing just seemed a bit lackadaisical in comparison to everything before it. Solid State really feels like more of an extended episode than a movie, and with a couple of exceptions, it seemed like it failed to draw me in as much as I’d hoped. I’d say that part of the problem is the lack of a solid antagonist. With the previous two seasons, this team has been tested against fantastic enemies who were brilliant. In this movie, you just never get the sense that the enemy is as strong, and thus it seems to lack overall for that. In the end, it’s enjoyable as a standalone episode, but only if you’re already a fan of the show. I did enjoy Solid State Society, but that’s likely due to the fact that I’m a fan of the Stand Alone Complex series. As a standalone movie, I don’t know that I’d suggest it to people, as it’s not as strong. It certainly seems to fall well short of the other movies in this franchise, but at the same time, it adds more to those that are fans of the shows. Ultimately, that’s who this is aimed at, so if you enjoyed the GITS:SAC shows, then you should definitely check out this movie. If you’ve never watched the shows, this movie probably isn’t for you.
Beatnik
The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV anime series is one of, if not the best in the history of TV anime in my opinion. There hasn't ever been such a topical and relevant anime to Japan. The fact that it's written intelligently demanding the viewer pay attention, and is filled with all the hallmarks of a compelling moving picture makes it a classic for the ages. No hyperbole, I'm totally serious. Solid State Society is a feature length anime that continues the character arcs left dangling from the second season's conclusion. Motoko has left Section 9, Togusa has takenher place as captain and Batou is all moody because Motoko's not around. Not only is it an original thriller but its also another great homage, not only to Masamune Shirow's original Ghost in the Shell manga, but to Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell feature length anime film. Uber fans will notice all the respectful nods to original source material immediately. The story broaches issues like Japan's high percentage of elderly due to low birth rates, the abuse of children, and contemporary issues of race and nationality; all prevalent issues in Japan's society today that you will barely see examined in mainstream feature films, let alone anime, which makes this all the more astonishing. The music by Yoko Kanno is excellent as always, the voice acting perfect, the animation top notch. Production I.G continues to push anime forward.
Animanga