Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man OVA Review
What, exactly, are the point of compilation films? In the context of popular TV anime shows, it seems they mainly exist to re-package and re-sell the same material to existing fans. Perhaps there are some exceptions — I’ve heard the original trilogy of Mobile Suit Gundam films are a better way of experiencing the story than slogging through the entirety of what is now a very dated, very lengthy show. Puella Magi Madoka Magica’s movies, in true Studio Shaft fashion, do have some upgraded visuals, though I still prefer the more complete story of the TV version. Only this year, even musical anime Bocchi the Rock got a couple of compilation films with which to part fans from more of their cash.
Stand Alone Complex (SAC), Kenji Kamiyama’s 2002 iteration of the Ghost in the Shell (GitS) franchise, perhaps uniquely lends itself to a more compact, digest version of its main story. Kamiyama took an X-Files-esque approach to constructing SAC’s first season — a mix of “case of the week”-style police procedural drama (so-called “Stand Alone” episodes), interspersed with increasingly serialised arc plot installments (“Complex” episodes). SAC’s first season originally ran from October 2002 to October 2003, two episodes per month on ANIMAX, a pay-per view satellite channel, before eventually streaming weekly on the terrestrial Nippon TV during the first half of 2004.
This 2005 OVA version eschews almost everything from the first season’s Stand Alone stories, and instead streamlines the twelve Complex episodes into a more or less coherent, linear story, focusing on Public Security Section 9’s investigation of The Laughing Man case. The only Stand Alone stories with footage used for the film are the first episode — SECTION-9, which even in heavily cut-down form still provides a good introduction for Section 9’s team of individual specialists, and episode 15 — MACHINES DÉSIRANTES, because it’s essential in explaining the little blue think tank Tachikomas’ situation in the back half of the story.
After the hostage rescue scene from the first episode, we jump straight into episode 4 — INTERCEPTER, 5 — DECOY, and 6 — MEME, before jumping ahead to 11 — PORTRAITZ. Edited versions of these make up the first hour and are mixed together smoothly, the plot is simplified and streamlined in a very effective fashion. This section is heavily Togusa-centric, almost to the exclusion of every other character — even Major Kusanagi barely appears in this first hour. The extraneous Kusanagi-centric online chatroom tale episode 9 CHAT! CHAT! CHAT!, despite being “Complex”, has been completely excised, which is fine. Bits of the Tachikomas’ story from episode 15 are edited in between scenes of Togusa investigating the suspicious Public Welfare facility from episode 11.
The remaining ninety minutes or so comprise the final seven episodes of the first season, which were heavily serialised already, though the Chief Aramaki-centric events of episode 22 — SCANDAL are completely excised for being irrelevant. The climactic final battle and dissolution of Section 9 are just as exciting and well-paced as in the TV show, and it looks like very little material was cut from these episodes. Major Kusanagi and Batou’s respective battles against their mech-suit wearing enemies are brutal and exhilarating, especially Kusanagi’s rage-filled retaliation with a massive rifle at short range, and Batou’s bodily destruction. This footage looks completely unchanged from the already high quality TV original.
One aspect that loses some potency due to the heavily cut-down format is the ultimate fate of the Tachikomas. During the series proper, the viewer really gets to know these daft, squeaky-voiced little AI-powered tanks. Their selfless sacrifice comes across a little flat without all of the extra context provided by the multiple episodes featuring them, most of which have been cut. We also don’t really get to know most of the other Section 9 team members very well, outside of Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa and Aramaki. The scene transitions can sometimes also be quite awkward, where it’s clear significant amounts of time have passed between one scene and the next.
The Laughing Man still manages to preserve many of the standout moments from the TV show — such as the evil blue-haired doctor who tries to erase Kusanagi’s ghost, to the breathtaking reveal of the “real” Laughing Man who abducts Serano Genomics CEO the second time. In cutting out most of the material not directly related to the central story, The Laughing Man does succeed in telling a well-constructed, coherent and complex story that does, incredibly, manage to stand alone as a decent film. It’s obviously been cobbled-together from multiple sources, and it isn’t structured like a proper movie, but it’s a good way for fans to refamiliarise themselves with season one’s main story, without having to re-watch twenty-six episodes. In a couple of instances, the film even managed to clarify a couple of plot points I’d always been a little confused about. I’d hesitate to say it’s suitable for new viewers, who might find the initially slow setup confusing and tedious. I’d still very much recommend watching the full first season over this digest version.
A further aspect where this film falls down compared to the TV show is in regards to the Dub. Stand Alone Complex’s English dub cast are beloved for a reason — they’re all uniformly excellent, especially Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Kusanagi, Richard Epcar as Batou, Crispin Freeman as Togusa, and the sadly-departed William Frederick Knight as Aramaki. For reasons best known only to the tight-fisted localisation company, neither this compilation film, nor its sequel, use the original cast. The replacement cast from Ocean Productions are nowhere near as high calibre. Alison Matthews does a good job as Kusanagi, but the rest of the cast are severely lacking, and much of the dialogue delivery falls flat. It may be best to stick with the subs for this one.
Overall, The Laughing Man is hardly essential GitS — it’s completely redundant considering the existence of the TV show, which is a superior way to enjoy this story in almost every other way except sheer length. I’m afraid I didn’t notice any new footage of any significance in this. For a not-so-brief recap of the main story for existing fans (this thing is over two-and-a-half hours, after all), then I suppose it’s fine. In a way I’m glad this kind of streamlined experience exists, and I did find it worthwhile going back to review the very complicated story — but I wouldn’t do so straight after watching the show. Giving it a few months at least is probably for the best.
I’ll be back again soon to review the second compilation film Individual Eleven. I’ve heard there are more substantial changes and extra footage in that one!
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man
Director: Kenji Kamiyama
Writers: Dai Sato, Junichi Fujisaku, Shotaro Suga, Yoshiki Sakurai, Kenji Kamiyama
Based on: Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow
Music: Yoko Kanno
Studio: Production I.G
JP release: 23rd October 2005
US release: 2nd October 2007
UK release: 31st March 2008
Runtime: 154 minutes
Languages: Japanese audio with English subtitles, English audio
BBFC rating: 15
