History repeats itself, Marx has said, first as tragedy, second as farce. Or as blood out of a stone of a venerable and much beloved anime franchise. I’m not saying that Solid State Society sucked, but it certainly did not live up to my astronomically high expectations. For Haruhi’s sake, this is Ghost in the Shell after all, Ghost in the Shell!
I went into it with my eyes open, informed, in equal parts, by Washi’s review *gentle poke for post-raw thoughts* and by a raw I downloaded. Bought the GITS:SSS DVD from Forbidden Planet. It was beautiful, it was well paced, it was entertaining, it built on the stories of GITS:SAC and 2nd Gig, it ended nicely with the major threads tied up but also with a big loose end hanging out there. That is, GITS.
But the formula seemed somewhat diminished. Still good, relative to many other anime OVAs or movies, but rather less good, relative to its own franchise. There’s only a certain number of times that the Major can leave. And then return. Likewise for the tachikomas. Or for stories, drawn from the original manga, retold in a different light, in a different context.
Continue reading ‘The Melancholies of Motoko Kusanagi’
When I first started buying anime DVDs in the UK, the Shaftesbury Avenue mothership of Forbidden Planet was my outlet of choice. And I enjoyed my purchases of Azumanga and Noir very much. Nonetheless I felt the pinch of skipping lunches to save up for one DVD a week and was enlightened about how it was often better value-for-money to buy thinpak boxsets from The Right Stuf. Popular titles (e.g. Ghost in the Shell) were also deeply discounted at Amazon.co.uk; the UK arm of the Bezos empire also offered free delivery for a minimum spend that the price of one DVD easily covered.
But I’ve been impressed by FP’s fightback for my wallet. After browsing comics yesterday, I saw that it was selling Paprika (which I enjoyed tremendously) for GBP 14.99 which matched Amazon UK’s price while it had marginally undercut Amazon UK price of GBP 15.48 on the GITS: Solid State Society DVD with its offer of GBP 14.99 and won hands down on the Vision of Escaflowne box sets - Amazon UK at GBP 34.98 each; Forbidden Planet GBP 24.99 each.
Of course TSRI could beat FP (marginally after factoring in Got Anime! 10% discount and international S&H, or hands down if there was a 40% Bandai sale) but the desire for instant gratification, especially with the current postal strike, and the fear of GENEON contagion led me to make the above purchases. Forbidden Planet, good job!
These babies have been waiting for me in London since mid-summer. Now I’m back in the UK, it’s time to inspect the goods! I was led to TSRI by moyism’s praises and felt really satisfied with my first ever purchase - the Cardcaptor Sakura boxsets.
Value for money. The GITS:Innocence OST was USD 9.99; Angelic Layer DVD thinpak boxset was a great bargain bin find at USD 25.99; thanks to the Bandai 40% off sale, the Haruhi DVD 1 Limited Edition special box was a much more affordable USD 38.99.
Continue reading ‘The Right Stuff: What’s in a Bargain?’
On Day Two of the Tokyo expedition, this Zaku took it easy. Slept in to nurse my worn out leg servos and gyros, blogged yesterday’s happenings before having lunch with an old university friend and only after that did I launch off towards Nakano Broadway via the Tozai line. Less photographs than yesterday because of the high staff to area ratio, making it much harder to get away with snapping close-up pictures of stuff and thus having a high risk of breaking the 11th Commandment.
Continue reading ‘Fool Metal Zaku Fufufu in Nakano’
How many times can one tell the same story? Or to re-use the same motifs, albeit in different iterations? The 1.5 locates this series after the original manga from which the first GITS movie drew on for the puppet master conspiracy and is a bridge to the Man-Machine Interface compilation which concentrates the post-merger Motoko.
In ‘Fat Cat’ (Issue 1-2), Section 9 investigate a rich businessman who might be dead but is walking. Togusa and Azuma investigate if he is indeed a remotely controlled zombie and what his puppeteers are up to. This is the first time I’ve had more than a superficial impression of Azuma and it was quite different to see Togusa in the role of mentor rather than rookie. Nonetheless, while I got a sense of why Azuma was recruited, the short story couldn’t convey the strength of partnership the way Innocence delivered on the Motoko-Batou relationship - even though the former is physically absent for most of the movie.
The Major does make an appearance in ‘Drive Slave’ (Issue 3-4) in her Chroma The Hunter remote body. In this story, Batou and Togusa are protecting a police witness he undergoes a surgical procedure to remove a nano-explosive device that has been infiltrated into his heart. The Major once again does battle with a tank-like enemy and is severely mauled but triumphs with through sheer endurance, cunning, the help of insect-like robots (which also feature in Fat Cat).
Of all four covers, I liked the Issue 4 one best (bottom left) which is her Motoko Aramaki corporate warrior incarnation; the suit jacket-like top, short skirt, lace trimmings on skirt and boots, fingerless gloves and the whole Sharon Stone Fatal Attraction type seating position. :D~~ Just wish that the four issues had more of this type of art as the were nowhere as sensuous or fanservicey as in Man-Machine Interface.
Despite my belly-yakking, it’s just a bridge [rejected offshoot - see comments] from GITS to MMI so no expectations of a grand over-arching narrative here. I’m still looking forward to the conclusion of these vignettes (4 arcs - 8 issues in total).
History repeats itself, Marx has said, first as tragedy, second as farce. Or as blood out of a stone of a venerable and much beloved anime franchise. I’m not saying that Solid State Society sucked, but it certainly did not live up to my astronomically high expectations. For Haruhi’s sake, this is Ghost in the Shell after all, Ghost in the Shell!