Series: 5*€Boxed set: 2*

I really enjoyed this series as fansubs (before it was released here) so I bought the boxed set.

Unfortunately the subtitles are riddled with mistakes (they had already been done correctly in the public domain so I don't know why they felt the need to do them again incorrectly).

The other problem is that the menus have English dubbing soundbytes all over which sounds horrible; dubbed is also the default playback mode, which should be Japanese with subtitles.

In short, be aware what you are buying before you give money to the publishers for their lack of effort. They really should have done better with this.

When i saw the first Ep i couldnt stop watching !!
Great Box set, every Ep is amazin!
Must Buy

The one thing that stands out from this series is the colour palette, which seems to abandon the typical dystopian setting of colours for a more bright and airy Naruto feel, which is certainly not the way forward for GiTS given the strength of animation and palette in the movie. In fact, calling this GiTS is quite a large feat as the philosophising element is practically abandoned completely in this entire series, something I was disappointed about.

The method of storytelling is the real downside here, mainly because the Laughing Man tale is (above all else) incredibly good and interesting throughout. Unfortunately this is dispersed by many a hit-and-miss Stand Alone episodes, many of which start out poor and eventually turn decent, or many which wouldn't go amiss in Naruto filler, especially the diatribe seen in Volume 5. The issue here is that they all seem rushed, and if fleshed out more could be decent, but it's full of too much cliche, the story of the defiant child wishing to take revenge against his parents, the tale of hostages helping criminals to take down the middle agents is all too predictable, and something I wish GiTS was above of. That being said, there is a small Tachikoma arc about AI in Volumes 3-4 which I find both amusing and well directed, which was impressive, and Batou and Togusa remain consistently strong characters throughout, it's a shame others aren't as fleshed out.

SAC is a very pretty high budget TV show that seems to have lost sight of what made the movie so great. On the cheap it's a half decent purchase but the series lacks considerable flow in it's method of storytelling, and with many individual episodes being lacklustre at best, it's hard to call this as groundbreaking as the movie. Subs are a tad hit and miss but on the whole acceptable fare throughout.

really good anime the animations is drawn so well its one of the best visually stunning animes ive seen. not watched it all yet so dont want to comment on the story too much but from what ive seen so far it been great. the boxset is really nicely presented the art looks good and i like how they used the skinny dvd cased but the biggest surprise for me was the quality of the box lol is really does feel solid unlike some dvd boxes that jus woble and get ruined easily.

BUY IT NOW!!

I challenge any first time viewer to resist the temptation to sit for hours watching this whole series back to back.

I generally hate when a critic uses the term riveting; but when it comes to this series if you have to sum it up with only one word and come close to doing any justice then riveting is the only word that fits the bill.

I won't go into plot details as play has courteously included a synopsis however; to highlight some of the key selling factors to this series.

Sci-Fi fans looking for something that goes beyond the conventional, look no further, it's here.

Each episode takes your brain through numerous turns and catches your thought's off guard and entices the viewer to think more laterally. Enough cliff hangars to keep your butt glued to the seat until you have to jump out of it to go to the next disc

Mind blowing blend of hand drawn animation seamlessly connected with CGI imaging... Sheer eye candy

Ghost in the Shell- manga classic, followed by an era-defining film.
Stand Alone Complex- no manga. Just a genre defining, truly marvellous TV show. A sci-fi thriller with a heart and a mean streak of plot twists.
As any fan of the franchise beforehand should know, this series' main character is the beautiful, deadly and mysterious Mokoto Kusanagi, a woman with a fully robotic body. However, the series is not entirely related to the films- there's Section 9, and there's Batou and Togusa- but the series is an alternate reality of sorts.
Mokoto works as an agent of Section 9, a secret police department, under the command of the enigmatic Aramaki. Their job is combat incidents above the level of the average police. As such, this show is just a futuristic police drama- or is it?
The answer is no. It's a show about how the human race survives, how people live out their lives, and how one can define humanity. And it also contains a darn good action drama, too. The series is composed of two parts, usually integrated with one another- the Stand Alone episodes, usually non-important to the overall plot (apart from a stretch halfway through) and the Complex episodes, a complex (ha!) drama about the Laughing Man- the ultimate hacker, obsessed with bringing criminals to justice.
The dub is suberb- Elizabeth McGlynn pulls off a stern yet emotional Mokoto, fan favourite Crispin Freeman voices the family man Togusa in an entirely believable way, and Sandy Fox is perfect as the Tachikoma- the adorable, entertaining 'thinktanks' of S9. Despite the often quite serious trappings, the show is sprinkled with humour- Episode 9, on organ transplants, is a real hoot, and the Tachikomatic Days shorts which follow every episode are really very funny.
Being a Yoko Kanno affair, the music is wonderful, fits the scenes, and is quite memorable, especially the action theme 'Run Rabbit Junk'. The OP and ED are both good songs, with the Latin-Russian-english of Inner Universe being quite a heady mix.
To sum up- if you have any interest in modern sci-fi, cyberpunk or cop shows, or just well defined action and drama, you need this boxset.

Ghost In the Shell: sac is the best anime series ever. If you only going to buy one anime series this year you bether make this one the One. The story is innteresting and the action is great. Perfect mix of drama, thriller and action. All of this with a soundtrack made from Eden.

One of the best series i've ever seen. Liked it on first viewing, loved it on second viewing. You need to watch it more than once just because there is so much to take in visually and narratively but well worth the investment of time. Characters are explored in more depth than is possible in the films (also great) and the Tachikomas are so interesting, well worth the amount of time focused on them throughout the series. Can't recommend highly enough (everything written here is applicable for the 2nd GIG as well). £18. You're joking! A must buy.

It's unfortunate that animé has yet to gain widespread mainstream acceptance (even if, god help us, we're likely to have a US-based live-action version of AKIRA inflicted on us at some time in the not too distant future) because every now and again the genre produces something that is truly exceptional. First gig is a prime example, even if most of the folks you know have never heard of it.

This first series of GITS addresses complex societal and psychological issues, examines where the increasing use of technology is likely to take mankind, has a soundtrack by Yoko Kanno - one of the finest composers to ever come out of Japan - and delivers kick-ass action and the cutest robots ever to feature in a science fiction story. Quite why this series hasn't been given a prime time showing on British television is beyond me, as it outclasses pretty much everything else on the telly. It's that good. Buy it.

This is a brilliant side production to the 2 movies and is probably a lot better as it is of course longer, full of action and mature complex cases. The good thing about the set is that it has 26 episodes which is good for £30. And it has individual episodes alongside one main storyline which is brilliant. So i advise all the mature Manga fans to buy this and both 2nd gig.