Ghost In The Shell - S.A.C. - 2nd Gig - Vol. 1

A few years after the highly successful adaptation of Masamune Shirow's manga, Ghost In The Shell, a TV version of the manga hit screens. It retained the intelligence and introspection of the original movie, but took some of the focus away from Major Motoko Kusanagi, spreading it around the rest of the team of Section 9, and inserting an element of humour missing from the movie.

The result was in turns fascinating and frustrating. Introducing a compelling mystery encompassing industrial espionage, kidnap and cyber-terrorism that spanned the entire series made it frustrating when multiple episodes would have nothing to do with this story.

Thankfully, director Kenji Kamiyama learnt from this mistake and although the '2nd Gig' starts with the exact same formula as the first series did (three stand alone episodes that ease you into the shows concepts, before the introduction of a series-encompassing mystery), each of the first three episodes eventually tie into the main story in a way that they never did last time around.

It helps that this time out, the stand alone episodes are also far more entertaining than they were before. The last episode on this disc introduces the team to a major player throughout the series - Gouda.

Just as last season, the voice-acting is absolutely superb, and as great as the animation was in the first series, this one actually manages to surpass it.