Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 15
Running Time: 58 Mins
Audio: English DD 5.1 & Japanese DD 2.0
Release Date: 24/11/2014
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
The first of a four-part series, Ghost in the Shell: ARISE Borders 1 & 2 is set before the Kusanagi and Section 9 team have come on the scene and concentrates on what happened before these events.
In Border 1 it is the year 2027 and comes at a time where the non-nuclear World War IV has ended, a bomb has exploded in Newport City, killing an arms dealer who could have ties with the 501 Organization. Daisuke Aramaki hires Motoko Kusanagi to investigate the case knowing she is a full-body cyber prosthetic user and hacker. Assigned to her are Detective Togusa, and Batou, known as the "Sleepless Eye." Togusa is investigating the murders of several prostitutes he thinks could be related to the explosion; though Lieutenant Colonel Kurtz of the 501 wants to have Kusanagi followed.
Ghost in the Shell: ARISE Borders 1 gets into the intro screen straight away, forgoing any advertisements, which is greatly appreciated as the menu screen unfolds into a sophisticated animation before showing the scenes, setup and bonus material. The music also fits the futuristic theme. Once the episode starts, you get to see the towering skyscrapers of the rich dwarfing the urban sprawl of the poor and needy, as though they have been forgotten. The opening animation takes us through the characters who in this are not so familiar as they are in the early stages of development.
When a prosthetic unit and cyberbrain is a prized asset, burying the one who died in it is seen as a waste of valuable resources. The authorities decide to exhume the body for that reason, but there is someone very familiar to viewers of the previous movies. The body is of a murdered officer who was suspected of taking bribes. Thinking the body will be there, they open the coffin only to find a woman's body - who turns out to be a well-placed assassin.
In Border 2: Ghost Whispers, Motoko Kusanagi has to build on her working relationship with Aramaki as tempers could become frayed. This story focusses on Logicomas being hacked by mysterious assailants. Batou gets his own help in the form of Ishikawa, a former army intelligence officer and Borma, a former air artillery expert. He's not alone either as Kusanagi gets Saito, an ace sniper and Paz an undercover cop - this is the start of Public Security Section 9. Section 9 and their enemies go head to head against each other - the outcome uncertain.
At the supreme court, Colonel Kazuya Soga is being charged for crimes against humanity while in Qhardistan and the only sentence they can give him is death. Elsewhere Major Kusanagi 's Logicoma has synched with someone or something else when it's normally in sleep-mode with the others. Aramaki is worried it might be another inside job so he wants her to personally investigate it.
Ghost in the Shell has had its fair share of full-length episodes. Here we get to see Kusanagi in the early days before Section 9 came to be. The far future is a setting that the Japanese are very fond of and we are too. A lot of effort has gone into the production of these two episodes. The colour choices are dynamic, the animation itself bordering on hyper realism. Kusanagi's red leather outfit even down to the scrapes on her helmet when she is attacked on the road helps define the realism of the animation. It isn't short of action sequences with a high-speed car chase with enough power to rival most action movies. In fact the whole two episodes start out with action and continues all the way through.
Bonus Material: Disc 1: Ghost in the Shell: ARISE At Anime Expo 2013, Text less Opening, Logicoma Beat, Promotional Video, Newsflash Type A, Newsflash Type B, Theatrical Trailer & Border 2 Teaser. Disc 2: Play US: Cast & Crew Audio Commentary, Logicoma Court, Newsflash, Theatrical Trailer, Decode SOI File, Border 1 - Ghost Pain Cyberbrain IG Night Talk Show, Border 1 Ghost Pain Cybogram Cast Night Talk Show and Promo Video.
Verdict: Both parts are enlightening and action-packed - can't wait for the rest!
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