I watched the last two DVD volumes (V6 and V7) of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2nd Gig) yesterday. I’d watched the earlier episodes on Cartoon Network a year or so back, but somehow I missed the last 5 or 6 episodes, so I picked up the DVDs. This is a pretty dense series. The episodes on V6, in particular, have a whole lot of exposition going on. The action ramps up in V7, and the series does indeed end with a bang, but there’s quite a lot going on beneath the surface.
One nice extra on the DVDs that was cut out of the CN showings is “Tachikomatic Days,” a bunch of funny little shorts that are stuck at the end of each episode. They’re almost funny enough to make me want to pick up the earlier DVDs just for these bits. (Maybe if I see the DVDs on sale cheap at some point.)
There seems to be a movie out that’s basically cut together from the 2nd Gig series. This guy has a review up, as does DVD Verdict. I’ll have to watch for this, if it shows up on CN or maybe Starz, though it sounds like it doesn’t contain anything that isn’t already in the series.
There’s a bit of a preview of the new PiQ magazine here. I mentioned this a little while ago — Newtype USA is basically being relaunched as “PiQ.” It sounds like it will be a more general “geek culture” magazine, with a smaller size and page count than Newtype, and a lower price. (And no bundled DVDs. Darn.) There’s one sentence in this preview that makes me a bit pessimistic about PiQ: “Essentially, the otherworldy Japanese ‘object’ that was Newtype USA is gone, to be replaced by something that very-much resembles Wizard in size… and in tone.” Um, that doesn’t sound good.
Right Stuf is having a blowout sale on ADV DVDs. They did this with Geneon a little over a year ago, and I would up buying a bunch of DVDs. I think I can manage to avoid buying 25 ADV DVDs. Most of the stuff from them that I like, I already have. I might go with the 10 for $50 deal though. There are a few things I wouldn’t mind paying $5 each for…