I have a hard time reviewing Ghost in the Shell material, despite my fondness for it and the fact that I have a fairly gigantic jumble of thoughts regarding it. It just doesn't lend itself very well to my review style. Plus, there's already rather a lot that's been said and will be said, and I'd rather jump in on something with a little less coverage.

That said, I spent last month rewatching both seasons of Stand Alone Complex in preparation for the SAC movie, Solid State Society. I'll skip going over what a monumental achievement the SAC series is or how even a tough killer like me gets a little choked up during the Tachikoma death scenes at the end of both seasons. I'd heard that the movie was less like the other two movies and more like a very good three-episode arc from the series, which is exactly correct and not surprising given that the entire SAC crew as involved with writing and creating Solid State Society. And I know some fans of the two movies didn't entirely get the procedural, multi-character approach of SAC, but I wasn't among them. As much as I love the two movies, I love SAC that much more, and this movie was really something fabulous, though I think in terms of sheer power and intensity it lacks the punch of the final couple episodes of each season of the series. It takes the story -- picking up two years after the end of 2nd Gig -- in a logical direction that showcases growth and change in the characters. I've often compared GitS to Patlabor, which probably isn't a feat considering that they share a number of contributors (the culmination of the 2nd Gig story, in particular, reminded me of the Patlabor OVA and second movie). I like that, although a lot of people tune in for ass shots of Kusanagi, SAC always took the time to concentrate on every character, so much so that by the end of things, you are as interested in guys like Saito as you are Kusanagi -- and if you are like me, even more interested in Togusa and Batou than the major.

If you're a fan of the series, Solid State Society won't let you down, in my opinion. It's tightly written, though every bit as plot heavy and convoluted as the series episodes, which may turn some off. But like the series, it's all very much worth puzzling through. Most of the story, as with the second film, focuses on Batou and Togusa, and it looks more like a well-animated version of SAC than it does the visually stunning first and second film. Still, I absolutely love Kenji Kamiyama's take on the GitS universe and his approach to the story (far more, in fact, than I do Masamune Shirow, who is a genius with concepts but tends to lose himself in his obsessions, allowing everything to fall apart as he goes insane).

Worth checking out, if like me, you crave anime that maintains a mature, thoughtful atmosphere and doesn't feature screaming people who turn super-deformed or have mouths that grow gigantic when they scream or any of that other ridiculous stuff.