Solid State Society Review and Case Photos
Posted by: CalAggie in Anime, DVD, Reviews, tags: DVD, ghost in the shell, movie, review, solid state society
This month, I lived up to a “promise” I made back in August 2006 that I would buy Solid State Society when it came out. I managed to get the limited edition for $16 from Best Buy three weeks ago and decided to review all three parts of the package: the feature itself, the extras disc, and the soundtrack CD. I wrote the feature part right after I watched it (and revised it slightly recently) but I somehow managed to misplace the extras disc until a few days ago so this entire thing was delayed until now.
The Feature:
This sequel to the Stand Alone Complex series starts two years after the end of 2nd GIG. It seems that Motoko left Section 9 then and since as been working as a loose agent. There is a plot involving senior citizens, abducted children, a nursing network, and a hacker nicknamed the “Puppeteer” (not the same one as from the first movie!) Social issues relevant to modern Japan such as radical nationalism, declining population growth, and state welfare of the elderly, are intertwined.
One reason why I have liked about the Ghost in the Shell series is the portrayal of how cyberization affects society’s personal sense of self and how things like memories and perceptions can be, and often are, hacked and overwritten. Remember that scene from the original movie where Motoko and Batou are drinking on a boat and Motoko is talking about her Ghost and individuality? That made me think about the question of what makes someone human and how much, taking into account the cyberbrain technologies in Stand Alone Complex.
Well, what little philosophy that resides in THIS film is more ethical than epistemological and I can boil down it to one question: is it fine to take children away from abusive parents and brainwash them into being inheritors of dying retirees’ legacies in order to develop a steady workforce and grow tax revenue? (I know that is rather blunt but that’s what I could get from it…)
The movie looked very nice, featured good music by Yoko Kanno, balanced action and story well for the most part, and had some interesting social commentary. Also, it was a welcome change of pace to see Motoko competing with Batou and the rest of Section 9. She came off as more human here, which I liked, but she still retains her military training and battle command skills. My favorite character Togusa took more of a lead role as he assumed Motoko’s position within Section 9 and protected his daughter from the child abduction threat. Unfortunately the epilogue gave me this hollow feeling that none of the focal social problems were going to change in the near future. Perhaps that was the intended effect… Other negatives are that the film lagged in parts and also that it lacked some of the “energy” of the TV series, being the length of four regular episodes. So I give the main feature a B grade because it’s different than the TV series in more good ways than bad while keeping the technical quality great and the general feel similar.
The Extras:
The first disc sports only Uchikomatic Days and storyboard subtitles while the second disc has more substantive extras. The featurettes include “World Work File”, “Making of Tachikoma Robot”, “Anime + Car Design - Designing the Future Car”, an English Production Interview, and an interview with Mitsuhisa Ishikawa from Production I.G. I enjoyed watching them because they helped me better understand how the film was made.
“World Work File” goes through the plot of the movie in thirty minutes and has the production staff commenting on various little things such as changes in Togusa’s and Aramaki’s hair styles, the fact that Motoko’s prosthetic bodies do not blink, and trying to emulate the darkness of a housing project at night. “Making of Tachikoma Robot” (17m5s) is about the small-size Tachikoma that was built as a promotional item by Tomotaka Takahashi of Robo Garage. In it, Takahashi discusses how his interest in robots started, the aesthetics and future of functional design, and how he went about making the blue robot. “Future Car” (24m8s) regards the two concept cars, the Nissan Sport Concept and Infiniti Kuraza, that were featured in the film and the collaboration between Nissan and the CG team. Finally, the English crew interview (9m29s) features the ADR director, the dub actors for Motoko and Batou, and two producers from Zro Limit Productions and Ishikawa’s interview (8m41s) was mainly about the management of getting SAC developed.
The Soundtrack:
The third disc in the package is the official soundtrack for the feature. Composed by Yoko Kanno, it has 14 tracks that add up to a duration of over 60 minutes. There were some nice songs, like “born stubborn” (twangy guitar and bass!) and “date of rebirth” (Russian rock from ORIGA), and some others that I would expect to hear on a GitS:SAC soundtrack (”player” and “zero signal”). The one I admired the most was “solid state society” because it builds gradually from subtle piano notes to intense drums and guitar. It would have been nice to have a track listing card for if you’re listening on a stereo but the lack of space within the steelcase eliminated that option.
Track listing:
02: Ilaria Graziano - replica [5:23]
03: Yoko Kanno - zero signal [4:05]
04: Yoko Kanno - solid state society [4:40]
05: Yoko Kanno - tempest [2:52]
06: Yoko Kanno - born stubborn [3:25]
07: Gabriela Robin - she is [2:35]
08: Ilaria Graziano - from the roof top~somewhere in the silence (sniper’s theme) [6:34]
09: Yoko Kanno - undivided [2:03]
10: Yoko Kanno - blues in the Net [6:41]
11: Yoko Kanno - human step~aramaki’s theme [3:32]
12: ORIGA - date of rebirth [4:40]
13: Gabriela Robin - take a little hand [5:05]
14: Yoko Kanno - remedium [3:10]
Case Pictures:
The limited edition steel case is the same size as a normal DVD case, which is good for storage. There is no room for inserts so the disc details were attached to the back.
The outside of the case when spread open reveals an picture of Motoko’s head surrounded by various data circles.
On the left is the soundtrack CD that has 60 minutes of music from the movie. The main feature is on the top right in green and the bonus disc is in blue.
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> Is it fine to take children away from abusive parents and
> brainwash them into being inheritors of dying retirees’ legacies
> in order to develop a steady workforce and grow tax revenue?
> (I know that is rather blunt but that’s what I could get from it…)
Right on the money.