Sometimes a franchise that sparks success around the world comes from a less than auspicious beginning, and so it is with Ghost In The Shell. Shirow Masamune's original manga was for my rather unsatisfying, with a narrative brimming with ideas and yet not developed or executed with ant finesse. Perhaps this is due to Shirow's proclivity to shoehorning his own brand of humour into his tales that can leave the narrative stilted and disjointed, or his fetishistic eye for technology that takes time and pace away from the flow of the story. And yet when Ghost In The Shell has fallen to the creative hands of others this franchise has blossomed, and delivered some of the finest story telling around. So far you will have been able to sample this success with both of the Ghost In The Shell movies currently on release, or the first season of Stand Alone Complex that has already seen release here in the UK. Well Ghost In The Shell: Stand lone Complex is back for a second season entitles 2nd GIG!

After the shocking climax to the Laughing Man case that dominated the first season of GITS: SAC, the outlook was appearing rather bleak for Section 9. The situation has not improved much in the intervening months as the Major and her unit are operating outside officially sanctioned lines, still under the clandestine direction of Aramaki. But the political landscape has changed and the Section are going to have their work cut out to convince the powers that be that Section 9 area a worthy asset to maintain.

Episode 1: Reembody

A group calling themselves the Individual 11 have taken a group of hostages in the Chinese embassy and have issued demands that the Prime Minister announces a policy change in relation to the Asian Refugee Crisis or they will start executing hostages. Section 9 are offered a deal: formal recognition and acceptance by the government, but only if they can resolve the hostage crisis without any of the hostages coming to any harm. But any screwup and the Prime Minister will disavow all knowledge and brand Section 9 as Terrorists...

Straight back into the action it is then! Following a rather similar premise to the opening episode of

the first season of GITS: SAC, Section 9 find themselves trying to resolve a tense hostage situation with far reaching political implications. The action is everything we have come to expect from this show, and the characters are instantly familiar, the camaraderie between them forged by the Laughing Man case is clearly evident and helps to bring the viewer straight back into the group dynamic that is so important in understanding this show. And this episode also sees the return of the Tachikomas from the first season. Thought you'd seen the last of them? I know I had, but thankfully it looks like a few survived decommissioning and are looking forward to being a part of Section 9 once again. A great opening episode that may have more than a little hint of the first season, but still works to engage the audience fully.

Episode 2: Night Cruise

A down-on-his-luck cyborg war veteran is suffering from paranoid, psychotic delusions. These hallucinations in which he targets and kills the people that he identifies with running the country into the ground. As his psychosis starts to spiral out of control he moves closer to carrying out one of his violent episodes, until he encounters a woman that he divines as pure and true. This woman who bears more than a passing resemblance to Major Kusanagi. Is this more fantasy, or are the walls between psychosis and reality blurring?

This episode seems to have divided viewers. On the one hand many people have noticed and commented on the lack of Section 9 appearing in this episode, and that the events being generally psychotic delusions we are unsure where reality begins and ends sometimes. But for me I found this episode thought provoking and completely engrossing. The mental breakdown is played completely straight, with the antagonist completely unaware of the impact his episodes are having to his recognition of the passage of time leading to some rather odd conversations with his employers. The delusions does leave the audience second guessing whether the current on screen events are actually happening, but this uncertainty made the show all the more enjoyable in my eyes. Not the best Stand Alone Complex episode so far, but still a worthy addition, that

really did something different with the plotline.

Episode 3: Cash Eye

When one of the country's leading industrialists gets targeted by the infamous thief Cash Eye, Aramaki and Section 9 get called in to investigate under the orders of the Prime Minister. But not everything is as it seems, crimes are hidden, and thieves sometimes come dressed in tuxedos, and the Major and her team have their own objectives!

This episode proves once again just why you cannot pin down just what GITS: SAC has in store for its audience. This episode is just a lot of fun, and does not take itself as seriously as other episodes. From the burglary scene, the banter between the agents of Section 9, the bizarre perversions being catered to at this industrialist's soiree, as well as how everything comes together at the end to show what the real reasons behind Section 9's involvement have been. This episode with its fun attitude, and humour it levels at the absurdly rich works as an antidote provides a suitable counterpoint to the rather dark episode that preceded it. Also once again nice to see the Tachikomas contributing to an operation, Section 9 were just lost without those indispensable think-tanks.

Episode 4: Natural Enemy

During an Army training exercise a cyborg pilot in an attack helicopter unit dies and his machines AI programme goes rogue. Cutting off all response to its HQ, the copter breaks off from the designated practice run and moves into the city, circling over one of the largest refugee camps. In an effort to halt any escalation of the situation, Section 9 are brought in to handle the situation, but are only given the orders to go ahead when under the watchful eye of Cabinet Special Intelligence agent Gohda. But in the politically charged atmosphere of growing resentment towards the burgeoning refugee population, any foul up could have disastrous consequences. But once again it looks like the Major and her team may be putting their lives on the line without all the facts...

The final episode on the disc, and this opening volume of 2nd GIG goes out with a bang! The group of attack helicopters taking Section 9 armed with the Tachikomas is the best action scene so

far for 2nd GIG, and ranks right up there with the best action scenes from the first season. The manner by which the Tachikomas are completely outmatched by the attack copters and yet still throw themselves into the fight. The think-tanks philosophical musings on life before going into battle provides further depth of character to these adorable war machines. But once again I found this episode far too similar to one of the episodes from the first season, when the Section were drafted to take down a rogue battle tank that was making its way into the city. But whilst there is a sense of having seen this all before, this still remains a great episode to cap this opening volume!

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG is a welcome return to one of the best titles released in the UK in 2005. This series has created a lot of buzz, and I am pleased to say that is does not disappoint. The episodes are all of the quality that we have come to expect from the GITS franchise, and the disc quality finally looks to have gotten over all of the nagging problems of the first season. Also returning are the Tachikoma Days shorts we even end each episode with the comical misunderstandings of these characters. These animated shorts, whilst completely dispensable to the plot of the main story, do generally poke fun at what has just happened in the last episode and allow for a degree of levity to enter the otherwise quite sombre and serious tone of the show.

This opening volume is everything I wanted to see from this series. Yes, it could have used a bit more originality in some of the episode plotlines, but when the delivery of these episodes is executed so well it is easy to overlook the retreading of old ground. This series should also benefit from all of the staff from Production I.G. who were tied up working on GITS: Innocence now being free to contribute to 2nd GIG. If this volume is anything to go by than this latest instalment in the ongoing Ghost In The Shell franchise will certainly be one to watch in the coming year!