Synopsis
Section 9, Japan’s high-mobility anti-crime unit, is back in action! The Major’s got her work cut out for her as she leads her team on a series of new cases now that the Laughing Man case has been closed.

Uprisings over the treatment of a wave of Asian immigrants threaten the political landscape, and the new Prime Minister brings in Section 9 to offer their services - but on a much tighter leash than they’re used to. After being reinstated, they must stop an assassin who is killing high-ranking officials, outmaneuver an incredibly talented thief, and unravel the reason a high-tech helicopter malfunctioned. And all under the supervision of the mysterious and disturbing man known as Gohda.

Review
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is back, now making its ‘2nd GIG debut.’ I have not seen enough of the first season, so I would not be able to compare the two. So let us start off fresh…

Major, Batou and the rest of the gang again has to do their usual work; kicking ass while taking names. This sequel to the much liked season one is a bit on the disappointing side. The episodes move by slowly and seem to drag on at moments with the boring conversations. I actually caught myself dosing off… until these critters made their return to Section 9. Man did that make a big difference in the show. All of a sudden it became more enjoyable and I began to focus more after that… yes, a little stimulation comes a long way, I guess; that and tack on Major wearing some sexy formal attire, is just like putting the icing on the cake.

Production I.G’s role in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is a huge one. The animation quality is superb, as expected from any Production I.G work. While the visual qualities of this show are high, the episodes do not seem to connect to each other or I just do not sense any. I believe that it is probably one of the negatives of this show. It is like starting brand new continuously, which certainly gets tiring. Maybe this feeling I obtained from watching the show was due to the fact that it is volume one and the show is just trying to get all the viewers acclimated to the environments of 2nd GIG. The sounds of this series are astonishing. From the opening theme to the closing theme I felt the music really jumped started the engine alright, it was just the execution that bogged the flow down.

This volume was not impressive at all, and I cannot lie about that. There were only two episodes that got my interests going. The other episodes were unbelievably, whack. Yes, you read that right. Whack. Hopefully in my next review for volume two, things will improve, until then, unless you are a diehard Ghost in the Shell fanatic, I would not recommend this series, yet.

The Breakdown
Time to move onto volume two and see if Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 2nd GIG can bounce back! (Man I am getting cramps from typing out that long title name ^_^).