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.

I admired and enjoyed Kenji Kamiyama’s work in SAC and 2nd Gig very much. I loved how, particularly in 2nd Gig, he masterfully made the Major so much more human by digging into her past, delving into her Unfinished Love Story with Kuze; likewise, the same master strokes with the back stories of Saito and Pazu. But I didn’t feel that the length and structure of the movie allowed, afforded him the time, the space to weave together the different plot threads and personal stories in the same way. The Major’s angst, about the simultaneous freedom and powerlessness of the individualistic individual, seemed almost trite, even petulant. Likewise her leaving and rejoining. It just seemed a step backwards from how SAC and 2nd Gig had dealt with this tension between individual and group action; Section 9 isn’t about teamwork, they said, but surpasses that with each member acting in their own way to produce the Stand Alone Complex.

The Major’s possibly splintered subconsciousness, which interested me the most, was left as a ‘Surprise!’ at the end, almost as brief as the hint in the beginning. I had adherently hoped for this to be explored more fully, drawing on the materials from the Human-Error Processor and/or Man-Machine Interface manga but alas.

In contrast, despite watching them again and again, I’ve never gotten sick of the first GITS movie or Innocence, even though I was a tad ambivalent about it after the first time watching it in at the now defunct Odeon cinema that was on Wardour Street. As such, I agree heartily with jpmeyer’s claim that ‘Masamune Shirow does not make an anime good. Masamune Shirow is only good at drawing cheesecake pinups. Ghost in the Shell was good because of Mamoru Oshii.’

For a start, visually, I preferred the darker brooding noire style. And Oshii’s two movies had a strong focus on one major character, Motoko and Batou respectively. Both are great characters and had the shoulders to carry a movie from start to end. There was a lot of brooding and casual pseudo-philosophizing that could have been irritating but I never really was irritated with the Major or Batou.

I’ve also come to appreciate Innocence for how much more deeply, yet quietly, the absence of the Major was initially felt and conveyed, mainly through Batou’s sullenness. And how much more impact she had when she graces us again with her Ghost. As such, perhaps because the prequel nature of GITS:SSS left it at a serious disadvantage; by the time of Innocence, she has moved on. She is, as she tells Batou, at peace. Once lost, Paradise or Innocence cannot be regained but once one has moved on, looking back to where one has moved on from seems almost unbecoming. Between the existential melancholy of the first GITS movie and Batou’s slow burn melancholy of Innocence, the diluted melancholy of GITS:SSS’s Motoko Kusanagi was that much less satisfying. Keep moving onwards and engage with the newer material already!

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

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!

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

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.

Back home in our glorious democratic people’s island paradise republic, I had bought the Blue Max Full Metal Panic! DVD set at SGD 47.80 (with 10% discount for Citibank credit card holders). But as we like to say colloqually, there’s no such thing as cheap and fresh and also big breasts. For a start, there’s no running time and other technical data that collectors look out for. There’s no chapter selection option (though the Angelic Layer thinpak didn’t have this feature either). Each ‘DVD’ contained about a pathetic 500 MB of data for about 4-5 episodes in each disc.

In contrast, the Angelic Layer DVDs had over 5 GB of data on each disc for 5 episodes per disc (6 in the final disc) while the Haruhi DVD had a whooping 6 GB of data for four episodes (00, 1, 2, 3) and a whole bunch of extras like trailers, advertisments, creditless OP/ED, the making of, Adventures of the ASOS Brigade etc, not to mention a beautiful box and other goodies like Haruhi headband. [See a much more detailed review at The Otaku Spot.] Suddenly, the Blue Max DVDs don’t seem such a bargain after all – but I don’t rule out buying more stuff from Blue Max in the future if the price is right and/or quality improves.

And I’ve already placed a order/pre-order the special limited edition Haruhi DVD 2-4 boxes (with Bandai 40% off sale, of course) at USD 37.99 each from TSRI. Looking forward to November!

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.