Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex—The Laughing Man

More of a repackaging than a new release, The Laughing Man features the first major plot arc of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series edited into a seamless version. The tale of a superhacker driven to unveil the government's dirty secrets regarding a serious cyber illness and its potential vaccine, this anime dives right into the heart of what makes Ghost in the Shell so compelling to some and boring to others, with its trademark elaborate hacker crimes, twists and turns of international intelligence, and multi-layered corruption, pieced together with lots of exposition and the occasional heart-racing action sequence. The narrative arc here is certainly solid enough to stand apart from the series, and this would in fact make a fine introduction for new viewers. For fans, however, the decision to re-dub the English dialog with a new cast is puzzling, while the shearing away of the subplots loses some of the character development and sense of humor that flesh out heroine Motoko Kusanagi and the other operatives in Section 9. If you can't buy the complete series, this 13-up rated dual-language disc and the similar release Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex—Individual Eleven both offer fine single-volume adventures, but the original series is still the preferred purchase. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (R. Brenner)