Koukaku Kidoutai: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man

In 2024, the terrorist incident known as "The Laughing Man Incident" occurred in which Ernest Serano, president of the groundbreaking micromachine company, Serano Genomics, was kidnapped and ransomed. One day, the case having remained unsolved for six years, Detective Yamaguchi, who has been investigating "The Laughing Man Incident," sends word that he wants to meet with Togusa from Public Safety Section 9. However, soon after sending this message, Yamaguchi, crucial to the success of the case, dies in an accident. Many days pass and in the midst of a police interview relay concerning suspicions behind interceptors, a forewarning is received from "The Laughing Man" of his next crime. The incorporeal hacker begins to move once again.

(Source: ANN)

Kusanagi, Motoko Main

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Batou Main

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Togusa Main

Aramaki, Daisuke Main

Tachikoma Supporting

Tamagawa, Sakiko Japanese

The Laughing Man Supporting

Saito Supporting

Ishikawa Supporting

Nakano, Yutaka Japanese

Aoi Supporting

Pazu Supporting

Onozuka, Takashi Japanese

Kunisaki, Hisanori Producer

Kamiyama, Kenji Director, Script, Storyboard, Series Production Director

Wakabayashi, Kazuhiro Sound Director

Yamamoto, Hideyo Episode Director

Reviews

Oct 28, 2007

DarksideLuke

Recommended

Story:
Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX: The Laughing Man OVA is taken directly from Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex ~1st Gig~ story arc of the same name. It is mostly a retelling of the TV series (Think Cowboy Beebop TV episode 1 Vs. Cowboy Beebop: The Movie). Even though the animation was completed prior (in the first season of the TV series), it is not necessarily a cut and paste job. There is some additional material (not included in the TV series) and dialogue. It's not a lot, or easily noticable - if you haven't seen the TV series recently, you ... may miss it, but most of the additions portray the scene more completely and provide some necessary background information taken from the TV series' context. This OVA can stand on its own as the concept seems to be that this OVA could have been a full fledged theatrical release (Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man - the 3rd movie in the GITS universe).

The Section 9 crew has to solve a 6 year old case that has resurfaced; perpetrated by a talented (almost autistic) class A super-hacker. The group must use all of its' resources to solve a case that at first seems to lead to many dead-ends. Motoko, Togusa, Batou and Aramaki use all of their talents to outsmart politicians, expose government cover-ups, and track down the real reason(s) behind recent events of corporate terrorism.

Art:
The animation in Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX: The Laughing Man is exactly what one would expect from Production I.G.. The color, movement and visuals are all consistent with what one would expect from the GITS universe. The action sequences are crisp and the timing is perfect (not too fast). The ideas, concepts and portrayal of the Net has always amazed me.

Sound:
From the begining, with the original Ghost in the Shell movie, I have fallen in love with Yokko Kanno. He work with Origa and Gabriel Robin has produced wonderfully smooth, jazzy, electronic, and trance-like (the list goes on and on) OSTs. Her ability to evoke emotion and empathy with the action on the screen is second to none.

Characters & Voice Actors:
The R1 Voice acting is, by far, the most controversial aspect of Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX: The Laughing Man OVA. I do not care to speculate on the reasons for different voice actors in this OVA versus the rest of the GITS & GITS-SAC universe. All of the primary and secondary characters' voice actors are different than the Movies and TV series (I doubt that the background characters were re-dubbed). For the die-hard GITS fan, it is sacrilegious to replace Mary Beth McGlynn (Motoko), Richard Epcar (Batou), Crispin Freeman (Togusa), etc. from their respective roles. Alison Matthews, David Kaye, and Trevor Devall must have had an uphill battle to compare to their counterparts. They all have a decent track record in other anime roles, and I imagine that even they thought it tough to fill McGlynn's, Epcar's, and Feeman's roles.
There are subtle differences in the VAs portrayals of their characters. For example Matthews has a tough time pronouncing Diasuke Aramaki. Batou (Kaye) comes across a little more emotional.

Enjoyment:
After getting over the different voices, I was stunned at how smoothly this (TV series') story arc was put together. The story was one that I was already familiar with and I watched with a certain amount of preconception and expectation. Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX: The Laughing Man OVA's concept was nothing new to me, and I wanted to be as objective as possible while watching - even before knowing about the VA difference. The Laughing Man met my expectations and it was a truly enjoyable time comparing it to the TV series.

Overall:
Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX: The Laughing Man OVA is now an integral part to the GITS universe - as a retelling or otherwise. Opinion may diverge greatly for this title - especially with die-hard, rabid fans. It would be tough to recommend this title to viewers, unless they were die-hard, rabid fans. I have come to accept this OVAs as theatrical release #3 in the amazing Ghost in the Shell Universe.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 7, 2007

Jeff_J5Films

Mixed Feelings

it used clips from the show but all of the voice acting was redone, most of the time with different actors, for example in the show the laughing man sounds like a kid but in this he sounds like an adult with a deep voice, and alot of the words were changed completely form what they said in the show and you don't learn anything new from this it's just a 3-Hour recap of the first season of the show.

As for disk 2 THERES NOTHING ON IT! the best they hav is a 2min episode of tachicomic days and an awesome trailer to one of ... my fav animes Eureka seven. but both of those I'm sure you can find on you tube or something.

I found this a compleat WASTE of $30(Canadian).

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 29, 2025

XCT3

Not Recommended

Spoiler

Having just watched Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex season 1, this is just 12 recut and redubbed eps from that, resulting in a lack of tachikoma (the runaway tank, natural oil, and kleptomania eps are pretty vital to explaining the Major's decision), fanservice (no closeup of her bedmates?) aside from her usual near-Aeon-Flux getup, and music (no Lithium Flower!). Okay for people more into serious black ops business who don't have time to watch all 26 episodes of the original, and prefer lower quality over the philosophy of the 1995 movie.

- The story is not unique as it's just a recut of an ... existing series. The genre is okay as real life is full of drama as well.
- The art style is worse than the 1995 movie and the Arise prequel series, but suitably dark and bleak for cyberpunk.
- The characters have flaws and strengths such as the Major being stubborn but capable and Batou being soft compared to the others, which resulted in one alive serial killer and firing at the sky while showing more emotion about an invisible gift giver than when his gf got shot (suitably toned down in this dub but still).
- The tachikoma sound less cute and have less screen time.
- The Major is even meaner to the tachikoma without the context of the series. Section 9 should use some of its budget on communication training.
- Badass women and edgy philosophy are popular so others will enjoy this. I personally prefer less suicidal women like Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, and Lina Inverse.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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