DVD Review (region 2)
Directed by Kenji Kamiyama
Starring the voices of Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Koichi Yamadera, Osamu Saka, Yutaka Nakano, Toru Okawa, Takashi Onozuka, Taro Yamaguchi
Release Date August 20 2007

Stand Alone Complex gets the big screen treatment, two years on…

Solid State Society follows on two years after the events that transpired in the series, Stand Alone Complex. The year is 2034, and Security Dept. Section 9 now has a new leader, Togusa. Chasing former colonel Kagael, who has taken a girl hostage, they are in time to hear him warn of the coming of "Kugutsu Mawashi", or the Puppeteer, before he kills himself.

Who is the Puppeteer? And what does he/she have to do with the mass suicides, or the disappearing children? Section 9’s former leader Major Motoko Kusanagi returns to Section 9 from her sojourn in the net, but will they heed her warning to stay away from the ‘Solid State Society'?

Kenji Kamiyama has reassembled the voice and production team from the hit Stand Alone Complex, and this follow up is every bit as good. The animation is superb, as is the characterisation and story – Nissan contributed to the budget for this movie, and the film features several of their concept cars.

Motoko Kusanagi's return to Section 9 never fully solves the mystery of the Puppeteer’s identity – we can only guess, but the story is no less for that. Multi-layered and superbly put together, Solid State Society is a worthy successor to the series that spawned it.

On this two-disc edition, you get the option of watching either the dubbed or subtitled version of the movie, and also viewing it with ‘storyboard subtitles’. On the second disc, there are featurettes on anime and car design, an English production interview, a 'world workbook' and an interview with Mitsuhisa Ishakawa. Marie O’Regan

VERDICT: 9/10
Mystery abounds in Section 9, as the Puppeteer walks amongst us.