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Click here to visit the Official Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex site! As you may have read from my review elsewhere on the site, I am not a huge fan of the original Ghost In The Shell film. I found it to be overrated, dull and the dialogue tedious despite all the promise that the plot showed. Visually fantastic but flawed overall I felt, so you can imagine I was not really expecting much from Stand Alone Complex (SAC), but thankfully I very much enjoyed it. Just to recap on Volume 1 of SAC, Volume 1 really contained all the elements that are the reason so many people enjoy anime - intelligent plot, fantastic action, good comedy and amazing visuals. Volume 1 of SAC really was what the film should have been! But now it is on to Volume 2 of SAC and my hopes are higher for this then they were for Volume 1. The opening episode of Volume 2 of SAC is entitled The Copycat's Chant and focuses on the continuing search for The Laughing Man hacker by Motoko and the gang. Their evidence leads them to Nanao A, a policeman's son with a history of computer programming and terrorist links. I apologise if I have not managed to make this episode interesting, but it unfortunately was not interesting and is a sign that SAC could end up like the film. The episode contains many long-winded, overlong and uninteresting explanations from the characters and contains little character development as it instead focuses on lots of government/top brass decisions, characters philosophising and little else. In fact it plays very much like an episode of the American drama 24 in places as it attempts to distract the viewer with impressive set pieces and throw them off the main plot so you do not see the twists coming. Unfortunately you can see the twists coming a mile off and the ending of this episode you will probably guess long before it happens. It's not all bad though as the ending does suggest that the next episode will be infinitely more interesting and will move the story in a better direction. Let's hope so. The next episode is part 2 of The Copycat's Chant and, I am pleased to say, is a significant improvement on the previous episode as it improves on it in every way. The episode starts off where the previous one left off and as soon as this episode begins the relevance of the previous episode is immediately obvious - hey, the previous episode wasn't so bad after all! The plot suddenly becomes a lot more interesting with some good honest action which keeps the episode interesting throughout and, coupled with a good plot, I did not become bored once. The superb soundtrack is at it's very best in this episode as well, with great techno and some more melancholy beats making it thrilling (the opening track still sounds like a Lord of the Rings remix though!). Best of all though it that the cheeky Tachikomas are back after a notable absence in the last episode and they get some humour back into the already excellent proceedings. Hoorah! This episode is a triumph that as firmly restored my faith in SAC as the standard is above even that of the excellent episodes on Volume 1. Great stuff! The next episode is entitled Idolater which is good episode that is unfortunately let down by being surprisingly predictable throughout, which is a shame as the script of this is above that of the other episodes and there is some absolutely mind-blowing action. The plot of the episode does have a very '80's action film' feel to it though, what with it's Latino drug-lords, cheesy hotel shoot-outs, excessive violence and impressive mullets. This is easily look past though as it is pulled with such style it can be overlooked, style over substance has always been a strong point of all the Ghost In The Shell incarnations (or weak point depending on how you look at it?). The highlight of this episode is still really the soundtrack as it just keeps coming up trumps with its original sounds that are perfectly suited to the situation, but it isn't quite enough to make this episode up to the standard of past ones. This is a great episode by itself and I really did enjoy it, but it is very clichéd and is responsible for one of the worst final lines in anime history (I nearly cried) so don't expect anything brilliant, just expect some good action. Episode four - entitled Missing Hearts - is a fine return to form for the series as it goes back to a fantastic mix of action, intrigue and comedy in a formula that is just right. The plot revolves around a girl that has had a heart transplant when the parents of the donor did not give consent and this leads to Motoko and the gang meeting one of the funniest characters to grace the series, a great car chase and more laughs with the Tachikomas. It is a great episode and episode four is probably the one that best illustrates that SAC is only truly brilliant when all of it's main ingredients (action, intrigue and comedy) are in sync with one another. The majority or episodes on Volume 1 achieved this, but only episodes 2 & 4 achieve it on Volume 2. So overall Volume 2 of SAC is only just a mixed bag. Yes the quality is above that of many other sci-fi actioners, but the script often lets down SAC as it is just too patronising to the viewer by assuming the viewer is unable to grasp simple situations and at other times it is plain boring. The action is superb however and when mixed with a sensible amount of plot it really is a series to behold, but when it tries to be serious it just doesn't work as SAC just works better when it is all about action with flashes of great comedy. If you loved Volume 1 then you should definitely buy this as it does suggest that the series will continue to be great fun. Feature:
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