What I did find irritating was the inconsistencies in the pronunciations of the main character's name. Half the time it is hard to tell if people are saying Honoka or Hanukkah. Her name isn't even that hard to say, so I don't know where the confusion is. What's worse is that a lot of the English voice actors seemed to be reading their lines off of cue cards. That flatness and reactive emoting of feelings is a dead giveaway to a voice actor reading their lines with their face in the script. The Japanese voice acting is delightful and, with this DVD, I definitely would recommend watching this one is Japanese. The translations seem solid and the script makes perfect sense. There are some pretty significant differences between the subtitled translation and the spoken English translation, but nothing to get too worked up over. The English narration does leave out some of the exposition, but any information omitted is either obvious or learned in a following scene.

The Third is a very strong title that is worth picking up. It has a fair amount of humor and the plot development is very thorough allowing ample time for the main characters. There is plenty for everyone on this DVD. 

Character designs are either cute or pretty as in all bishounen anime. There is plenty of eye candy to go around, as I did not see one ugly person in any of the four episodes. With the exception of the perverted doctor, but he is supposed to be really old and, as ballast, his android assistant is smokin.' Background characters all dress in a different way that shows their profession. Farmers dress different than technos, bounty hunters have cybernetic implants, miners are dirty, everyone is wearing something that seems to have a little story about who they are. There is an interesting old west kind of feel to a lot of the technology used that seems intertwined modern warfare machinery.

This is an odd mix, but it is one that seems to work pretty well. The 3D models and animations used rock. The 3D model for Bogie is simply awesome. Unlike a lot of 3D that is to be integrated with 2D, detail wasn't spared to help with the blending. The action sequences that use the 3D for effects, as well as machinery, really stand out. These scenes just looked so cool.

Special features are indeed special with this DVD. On the disk itself there are two music videos that are done really well, but do contain some spoiler material. There are also voice actor interviews with the Japanese voice actors for Honoka and Iks. Of course there are the obligatory trailers, but there is also a character bios section that comes with commentary from the Japanese voice talent. Always a personal favorite of mine is the character art gallery. There are model sheets for six different characters that include changes in clothing as well as accessories.

The DVD itself comes with a reversible artwork for the cover. The second side does not feature the Japanese cover art, just an alternative cover art. Inside the case is a 12-page booklet with a nice card board cover that has some additional character art and some poetry no less. On a side note, one thing that was added in the DVD was a real comment card. Not just some 3x5 thing with a box to check if you liked the title or not, but a real questionnaire giving the fans an opportunity to give some constructive feedback. My suggestion is for everyone that buys this DVD fill it out. All of the cool special features show that the producers want to give fans what they have been asking for, so help them to help all of us fans by filling it out and sending it in. I know I did.

All in all The Third is a very strong title that is worth picking up. The story has a fair amount of humor that is actually funny, and plot development is very thorough allowing ample time to get to know each of the main characters very well. There is plenty for everyone on this DVD, and I think it is nice to see a samurai mech anime that isn't full of angst for a change.

The popularity of the Ghost in the Shell manga has spawned two features, a sequel manga, an anime series titled Stand Alone Complex, and now a new feature based on the series. © 2006-2007 Shirow Masamune-Production I.G/Kodansha.

Ghost in Shell: Stand Alone Complex-Solid State Society
(2006) movie. Director: Kenji Kamiyama. 108 minutes. Bilingual DVD $19.98 Limited Edition $39.98. Distributor: Manga Video

Back in 1996, an anime feature film was released based on Masamune Shirow's cyberpunk manga Ghost in the Shell. The Ghost in the Shell feature, while not completely faithful to the original manga, was groundbreaking in its use of cutting edge 3D animation and extremely highbrowed plotline. The immense popularity of this original movie sparked renewed interest in the original manga, and spawned a sequel manga and second equally groundbreaking film. Both of which were followed by an anime series titled, Stand Alone Complex. This new series is set in the same world as the manga and films, but followed its own story independently. While the action and adult content had been toned down somewhat for television, the same heady political and philosophical plot devices along with surgical military strike action that made Ghost in the Shell so intense still remain. Now after two seasons a new feature in the Stand Alone Complex universe has been created at a reported cost of more than $3 million.

Solid State Society takes place two years after the end of Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG. A lot of big changes have happened, but Section 9 is still standing. I don't want to say too much, but this one should definitely be seen after 2nd GIG.