Django Wexler over at SF Signal reviews anime he watches, and this week he has a short piece on Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

SAC rounds things out by having great voice-acting, excellent production values and action, some wonderful bits of humor, and good, if sometimes complex, overall plotting. It may not be the visual breakthrough the movie was, but for my money it’s the superior experience, and the second season is nearly as strong as the first. Not every episode is a winner — some characters are stronger than others, and some of the SF conceits get a little silly or cliche — but overall it easily makes it on to my all-time best shows list.

I almost completely agree. I was in my mid-20s when I saw the original anime film so I enjoyed the speechifying and philosophy where Wexler didn’t, however, the Stand Alone Complex is some not only the best anime available (the English voice acting in particular is superb), it is some of the best science fiction I have ever encountered. If you haven’t seen Ghost in the Shell or the Stand Alone Complex you owe it to yourself to do so.

MS