What They Say
An in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the explosively popular Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Contains 90 minutes of DVD footage and a 148 page book! This is a limited item – only 15,000 copies released.

Book Contains: An Introduction to GITS – What is Ghost in the Shell? Created by Masamune Shirow, the world of GITS is thoroughly explained, including manga, movies, games and TV episodes; Character profiles, including Kusanagi and the other characters from Section 9 including bios, personality and combat data; Thorough analysis of each episode from the GITS creative team, including technical terms and background information; Interviews with the main character designers, mechanical and background artists and exploration of the artistic world of GITS; Stapa Saito’s essay on GITS: SAC, in which he explores the advantages of the Cyberbrain life.

In Summary:
Not only is it rare for a series to get books like this but very few series actually deserve something like this. For that to happen and for it to be released in North America is even more of a surprise but a very welcome one as items like this are relegated to either being admired at online shops or actually bought just for the pictures and the shiny material but not for actual reading. The fact that we do get to read it all is of course a huge plus but also that the material is interesting and builds upon the show, revealing some of its secrets and parts of its nature that were implied before. This is the real essential handbook to most of the first season and a very welcome addition to any Ghost in the Shell TV fans library. Very highly recommended.