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REVIEW: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man DVD


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Mmsven



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 86
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:26 am Reply with quote
I agree that the new dub is pretty good, especially Motoko and Togusa's dubs. The only ones that bothered me were Batou and The Laughing Man. Batou's voice actor was really sloppy, and Laughing Man's voice actor didn't fit with the character. I would be bothered by them even if I hadn't seen SAC. The original SAC dub had everything perfect though.
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 7:15 am Reply with quote
I enjoyed the Individual Eleven film more since it felt more coherent and flowed better. Kamiyama on the extras on the Individual Eleven DVD mentions how they really were pressed for keeping scenes on the Laughing Man DVD which is still a very long film. He also mentions how he got better at editing down a series to 2 1/2 hours between these two films. I think he could have done a much better film had he had even an extra half hour. The only way the Zeta films were able to be coherent with a similar ratio (50 episodes into 4 1/2 hours) was from huge chunks of the films being reanimated (unlike the awful Seed TV movies which had the same editing ratio) to make sense.

I also wish that the DVD would have had two different editions like all the precious SAC DVDs so that the tins would match and we could get a Japanese DTS track. I also miss the OP credits (once again a time issue) since even SSS got it's OP sequence.
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gits03



Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:34 pm Reply with quote
I'm usually not snobbish about this sort of thing, but I refuse to buy these 'movies' because they didn't use the original actors. I feel they were perfect before and Im certain I would be disappointed by this new cast.
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Alucalb



Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:25 pm Reply with quote
Same here. No Mary and Richard = do not want! Sad
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Ryusui



Joined: 22 Jun 2004
Posts: 461
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 2:04 pm Reply with quote
Ditto here. What the hell made them think this was a good idea?

It's gotten almost to the point that the only company I trust anymore is FUNimation (I'd list Geneon, but they're defunct now Razz).
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Murasakisuishou



Joined: 22 Jun 2006
Posts: 1469
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:05 pm Reply with quote
I'm toying with the idea of buying this, but a new dub cast is really throwing me off. The original SAC cast contains three of my favorite dub actors (Richard Epcar, Crispin Freeman, William Knight), and while I'm not a huge fan of Mary Elizabeth, by this point she's my one and only Major :p

Still, is there anything in this movie that you can't get out of the TV series, or is it really just the existing animation mashed down into a movie-length feature?
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murph76



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 3291
Location: Akron, OH
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:19 pm Reply with quote
Murasakisuishou wrote:
Still, ... is it really just the existing animation mashed down into a movie-length feature?


That's my impression of it. From the review, it sounds like they may have animated new transitions so it flows better from scene to scene.

I'd have to put this one down as a rental. I already own all of SAC and 2nd Gig, and I enjoy some of the stand-alone episodes it offers.

-Murph
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adam_omega



Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 256
Location: Seven Seas
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:28 pm Reply with quote
You get over the shock of the voices in about 5 minutes, so go ahead and pick it up. The actual story of the movie more than makes up for any of the VA changes.
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TsubomiKoneko



Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 247
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 4:51 pm Reply with quote
>_> You could always just turn on the Japanese and watch it with subtitles anyway if you're unhappy with the voice actor change (or just turn off the volume if you really need to).

I just wouldn't call it a valid reason not to get something.
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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:27 pm Reply with quote
TsubomiKoneko wrote:
>_> You could always just turn on the Japanese and watch it with subtitles anyway if you're unhappy with the voice actor change (or just turn off the volume if you really need to).

I just wouldn't call it a valid reason not to get something.

But for those of us that are used to watching the whole series dubbed, this isn't the best solution, either.

I wonder why the cast changed in the first place...
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Murasakisuishou



Joined: 22 Jun 2006
Posts: 1469
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:30 pm Reply with quote
murph76 wrote:
Murasakisuishou wrote:
Still, ... is it really just the existing animation mashed down into a movie-length feature?


That's my impression of it. From the review, it sounds like they may have animated new transitions so it flows better from scene to scene.


Ah, then forget it. I have both seasons of SAC and SSS anyway. I might rent it, though, just out of curiosity.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4575
PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 6:35 pm Reply with quote
As someone who owns the full first season, I don't see any reason at all for watching it, much less buying it. The Laughing Man storyline smushed together, minus all of the wonderful stand-alone episodes, and with a different English cast than the excellent original to boot? Sounds like an utter waste to me.
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KAtchan15



Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 460
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 11:29 pm Reply with quote
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's voice fits Motoko's character perfectly. I don't see why they even thought about changing the VA in the first place.
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LeeBarnes



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:41 pm Reply with quote
I saw this movie at best buy on monday and i considered buying it since i don't own the series proper.


after reading this review, i'm glad i didn't.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:19 pm Reply with quote
Looks like the negative point of this anime is pissing a lot of us off. I think I wouldn't watch this either. A good question, whose lame idea was it to change the actors anyway?
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