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Kokaku Kidotai S.A.C. Solid State Society
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Animation - 9.6 |
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Sound - 9.0 |
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Story - 7.8 |
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Character - 8.4 |
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Value - 8.4 |
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Enjoyment - 8.8 |
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Average - 8.4 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society is a high quality 105 minute long Ghost in the Shell movie that follows on from the storyline of Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig.
The graphics and animation in Solid State Society are identical to the Stand Alone Complex series, but are slightly more detailed and contains practically no errors. The use of computer generated graphics is still a very nice touch, although the quality and quantity is not as impressive as in the movie Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Then again, what is as impressive as Innocence?
Solid State Society both starts, and ends with a bang when it comes to soundtrack. The opening theme fits in perfectly with the overall Ghost in the Shell theme, and the ending theme is even more impressive. The voice acting is of the same high quality as in all the other Ghost in the Shell episodes, as is the background music.
The storyline of Solid State Society is, just like the Stand Alone Complex episodes, complex, but not to a confusing extent. The length of this movie allowed the storyline to develop more, and introduce a number of plot twists, in addition to the exciting lengthier action sequences. The storyline of Solid State Society is certainly better than most Stand Alone Complex episodes, and far more exciting as well.
The cast in Solid State Society is the same as in Stand Alone Complex, and the further development of the characters is excellent for existing Ghost in the Shell fans to watch. Not many new characters are introduced, and the ones that are introduced have very insignificant roles. Overall, Solid State Society carries on from Stand Alone Complex very well.
Solid State Society can be seen as one long Ghost in the Shell episode with its very own storyline. It is not different from Stand Alone Complex episodes in terms of looks and cast, although slight improvements can be seen. Solid State Society might not be a good movie by its own right, but as a follow up from Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, it is excellent. I would recommend it to all Ghost in the Shell viewers, especially those who have enjoyed the Stand Alone Complex series.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Does this story make sense? Yes but there are lots of things which don't make sense in this and really is quite a frustrating anime as the story is really quite complex as all GITS seem to be. The story also does not have a proper ending to it. The only things driving this anime is the animation and sound and just maybe the GITS brand which people like to see a lot. The rest is just nothing really.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Solid State is good... but not that good. From an overall perspective, it has all the necessary elements to make a pleasurable and enjoyable viewing. However, in light of the other GITS movies which had a hefty integration of philosophy and action, Solid State Society just feels lukewarm. The main reason being that this is essentially an add-on to the GITS:SAC season 2 storyline, rather than some self-contained storyline. In other words, Solid State Society is basically a 100 minute version of Stand Alone Complex (of course with new material).
SSS begins with the continuation of the investigations of revolutionary groups involving immigrants into Japan. However, as the now expanded Section 9 dig deeper into this group, they realize that there is much more than what meets the eye. A mysterious presence, "The Puppeteer", seems to causing a series of forced suicides and it is up to Section 9 to figure out the ties with these revolutionary groups, The Puppeteer, and abducted children.
The story itself is very Ghost in the Shell-esque: convoluted plots that go beyond a simple good guy bad guy standoff, cyberhacking, espionage, government corruption, revolutionaries, purists against immigrants, etc. Solid State Society has all the stuff needed subject material to make for an interesting story, but I never really felt any sense of urgency or strong dilemma. Aside from maybe the event with Togusa, I never really felt any of the Section 9 characters being pushed into a corner. The Puppeteer just didn't seem like too menacing a foe despite its Wizard Class hacking powers. The ending felt extremely rushed and unsatisfactory. It almost felt as if they willingly planned it so that a sequel will be coming out dealing with the characters that were "introduced" here.
Nevertheless, story qualms and unsatisfactory endings aside, Solid State Society felt had great animation and a hefty dose of action scenes. Plenty of robot tank battles, gun shoot offs, hackings, destruction, etc. If you watch this from more of a "Bring it on!!" perspective rather than "I'm going to defeat you in a mental tactical battle of planning", I think you'll be able to enjoy it that much more. All the more if you haven't even seen Stand Alone Complex Season 2 - a lot of the characters here are a direct carry over from the end of this season including the new cabinet minister, the new android helper, the new rookies, etc.
Overall, Ghost in the Shell is an awesome fictional world that is difficult to mess up. While Solid State Society isn't exactly as intense as its alternative fictional world movies nor as mentally stimulation as hoped for, it is still an engaging action movie.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| (first kudos to the unknown fansubber(s) who made this title available to non-Japanese anime fans world wide)
Assuming there's hardly an anime fan who hasnt heard at least once about GITS (if not watch at least SAC1), I'll say directly that initially this movie looked as if they extended a 24 minute episode from SAC series to a 108 minute movie.
At last this is the first GITS movie that patches up the missing plot parts of the series and the movie.
Unfortunately the artistic detail of the 2004 movie is missing here. Instead this movie focuses simply on action and feels like a continuation from the series and a precursor to the much awaited SAC3 series.
For serious action fans this movie is a must watch. Action combined with detailed sci-fi plot (though less complicated than the series, probably due to short length) makes SSS one of the best anime movies of 2006.
The plot revolves around some children gone missing and this time Section 9 begins yet another mission to find the perpetrator ''Puppeteer'' whose origin is left unsolved even in the end.
Animation is just like the series with better detail (though not reaching the quality of the 2004 movie) and a little more splatter. In other words very good.
Sound also good, with gunshots sfx (assuming this is a movie it would be better to watch it on cinema).If you know that Y. Kano is involved here, that is enough for good quality in that department too. Russian opening song again, and other nice score as well
Characters are also good for an action title and are just like the series, without any major change (except a scene full of tension with Togusa). Dont expect any deeper or melodramatic moments since this is GITS. But for serious action and deep plot, the movie is excellent.
Story is interesting with a very good and agonizing ending, even better than the first GITS movie and the last episodes of SAC1&2. Hopefully SAC3 will have an even better ending. And probably some unanswered question of the movie will be answered there as well.
A must watch for GITS fans. I'm eager to watch SAC3 even more.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| GitS: Solid State Society is a continuation of the "Stand Alone Complex" series (not the GitS movie series) meaning, while it does contain cyber-philosophy, it is not as rife with the philosophy as the other two films are and focuses more on the cyber-police aspect than the cyber-philosophy aspect of GitS.
Solid State Society, as to be expect of the Ghost in the Shell series, is a complex and entertaining cyber-mystery anime which (in the style of the other Ghost in the Shell titles) will throw in a major plot twist every 5 minutes or so to keep you on your toes and keep you entertained.
The setting is 2 years after the events of the 2nd GIG; Section 9 has expanded in order to take on more cases, Togusa is now the operational leader in place of the Major, Motoko, who mysteriously left Section 9 soon after the events of 2nd GIG.
The plot involves the sort of political intrigue and complex cyber-philosophy that we have come to expect from Ghost in the Shell, and if you enjoyed the other Ghost in the Shell titles you will love this plot. The plot twists are unpredictable and while there arn't many battles there is a lot of drama and action as Section 9 races to figure out what the "Puppeteer" is up to and thwart him.
The characters rely a lot on development from previous titles; the only characters who are explored more deeply in this anime are Togusa, Batou, and Motoko. As usual, the dialogue at the end of the movie explains much about the development of the characters and expounds upon the philosophy of the movie, which I found very interesting. Even though there are many more Section 9 agents we see only one or two consistently on screen; I don't even know if they were given names and they had only one or two lines in the movie.
I especially enjoyed the development of Togusa with relation to his family and Batou's relationship with Motoko, as well as the conflict within Section 9 between Togusa and Batou.
The animation is spectacular; it is obvious this is a 2006 movie with good funding. The animation is extremely fluid, the backgrounds are lively even when the focus is elsewhere (the focus character is speaking/acting, but other characters are also moving in background or water is moving or the wind is blowing some plants). The animation is also detailed, with subtle facial expressions and good special effects throughout the film.
The music, as is typical of GitS, is great. Though some of the songs are definately reused from other GitS titles, it doesn't change the fact that the music was great. The voice actors also performed extremely well.
I would reccomend Solid State Society to all fans of the GitS series, especially those fans of the Stand Alone Complex titles. The story will keep you entertained throughout, and the animation is so spectacular that you will never be able to rate another anime as "10" in animation again.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| After much waiting I finally got to see Solid State Society and I'm very pleased with the results.
SSS takes place 2 years after the end of 2nd Gig, Motoko has left Section 9, Togusa took her post, and S9 has grown exponentially; bizarre suicide cases inside a rogue military group have been puzzling S9 recently, and they all seem to be connected to a virus, child abducting, and political forcesin Japan; strangely Motoko Kusanagi seems to be involved in all of this much to S9 surpise; is she a friend? and enemy?
The plot is very good, series caliber good, though you probably need to see it two times to get all the details, and a few of them aren't explained very thoroughly; though definetely the core material is great , and makes for an entertaining, yet slow-paced movie; you won't get a lot of action till the end, though it didn't bother me a too much because the plot is very entertaining.
Character development depends a lot of your past exposure to the series though we do see some very interesting developments, especially with Togusa, Motoko and Batou.
The animation is in the style of the TV series, but seems a bit more fluid and detailed, and it's very consistent through-out the movie.
The music was a let-down with a few exceptions; the opening, climax action, and ending music are great but the rest is forgettable, yet good, Kano music, and there's also a lot of recycled song from the previous two seasons.
I was very pleased with this movie, the plot is great, has a lot of political intrigue and mystery, as well as a few philosophical hintings more akin to the movies, so fans of the show and movies alike should like this one; it defintely lives up to the GITS name and I can't wait for the english version!
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