Stand Alone Complex/Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society I've seen this stand alone (no pun intended) movie based on the anime series, Stand Alone Complex, a couple of times. You can watch Solid State Society without having to have seen all 52 episodes which make up the 2 series. Without spoiling too much, Section 9 have to investigate the mysterious suicides of thirteen operatives of the disbanded Siak Republic in Indonesia, remnants of which found asylum in Japan. As you'd expect from Production I.G, the animation is top notch. With beautifully done hand-drawn animation, and a blend of CGI - all of which melds to a degree where the CGI never looks out of place. The animation really shines when the action heats up. If there's one thing I admire about the Japanese, it's their uncanny knack of portraying the human form and the weight the human body has. Not just the human form, but also mechanical, moving objects - in this case, mechs and Tachikomas. Little details like joint movement and weight distribution are all handled in a realistic way. This is expecially evident when you're watching the Tachikomas moving around their environment. It's something the West hasn't really been able to match. The one example I can give is Gears of War. Men wearing massive, heavy looking armoured suits. Yet they come across, more so in cutscenes (which is a form of animation), like they're really quite lite and have no real weight to them. The Japanese are also able to do sci-fi which is quite believable in its execution. Anyhoo. SSS is a very good anime film in its own right - even if you haven't seen neither series. Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society - 9/10