ANI-MOVIES, *Ghost In The Shell: Solid State Society

As the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series achieved a level of popularity not seen in the franchise since the original GITS anime, a movie followup to the series was a no-brainer. Like some films that act as conclusions to an anime TV series like Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, and Nadesico, this brings the entire original cast back together for one last ride.

About two years after the second season of the series(2nd Gig), Matoko has left Section 9 to go work on her own. Since then, Togusa has stopped bleaching his hair and become field commander, while Batou is off being picky about which cases he takes. A foreign colonel kills himself on Togusa's watch for fear of a master hacker called the Puppeteer. The colonel's father is an exiled aging dictator under Japanese asylum, who is soon found to be dead by a micromachine virus. Batou goes to arrest someone connected to the virus, but runs into Matoko. He keeps this a secret from the other Section 9 members because he thinks she might actually be the Puppeteer. The investivagation leads into something called the Solid State Society, which is a secret government orginization running under a project titled Noble Rot. where abandonned or orphened children are left to take care of eldery citizens with no one left to leave their inheritence to. The Solid State was actually brainwashing these children and grooming them to be a docile next generation, with the wealth and power coming from their foster parents. They're also responsible for kidnapping thousands of children from abused families. The true Puppeteer turns out to be an individual A.I. that emerged from the collected consciousness of all the puppet personas that Matoka herself used through prosthetic bodies she controlled over the last few years. The children are then sent back to their families, and Matoko rejoins Section 9.

Solid State Society was a fine continuation of Stand Alone Complex, it however was a little lacking in the kind of production seen in a theatrical release. The quality was too similar to the that of the TV show, and when you're taking an animated series and turning it into a movie, it has to be a better than the original format. Considering how realistic some of the shots in GITS: Innocence and the recent GITS 2.0 reproduction, SSS should've been more polished than it was. The story fits well together, but anyone who hasn't seen the original SAC series will be pretty lost on some of the nuiances of the plot(like what the hell happened to the Tachikomas!). Unless there's going to be anything more from the GITS anime world in the next few years, this was a fitting finale to Shirow's cyberpunk saga.

JESI THE GENIE, *Part 6: Page 7

Story by Jer Alford. Art by Isabel Marks.

MISC. MANGA, *Hollow Fields

At around what was kind of the beginning of the steampunk movement in the geek zeitgeist, Hollow Fields was one of the original English language(or "OEL")manga put out by Seven Seas Entertainment. This all-ages comic was first shown online, then as separate a three-volume mini-series, and then as a single large graphic novel omnibus.

Nine-year old Lucy Snow is sent off to an all girls school, but ends up making her way to a mysterious estate in the middle of the dark scary forest. There, she is greeted by the strange clockwork maid Notch who mistakes her for a new student in the school of Hollow Fields. Lucy is a little intimidated at first, but after hearing the school offers free tuition and boarding, she signs the contract to stay there. It seems okay at first, but she gets put down by most of the other students by being the newbie. Plus, the entire staff is made up of equally weird clockwork creations that were originally completely human, like the creepy Miss Weaver who school's head and founder, as well as teacher of the robotics class. Lucy's first week keeps getting worse and worse as she finds out the school is meant for up-and-coming young mad scientists. Coupled with that is the fact that every week one student is sent to detention from which they're never heard from again. After being given an impending assignment from Miss Weaver to make a functioning robot, Lucy finds some solace in a talking puzzle box who used to be a teacher at the school named Dr. Bleak. He instructs her on building a nearly passable robot which just saves her from being sent to detention, afterwards she dedicates herself to finding out what is happening to the missing students and the mystery of Hollow Fields.

This is an impressive work for creator Madeline Rose, who later went on to do another steampunk-themed manga, Clockwork Sky. I'd highly recommend getting a hold of the full Omnibus Collection version. A must for all steampunk fans, or for young fantasy like Harry Potter.

ANI-MOVIES, *Planet Hulk

After about a year, Marvel comes back with yet another Hulk animated movie. However, this one is a full-length OVA instead of a double feature. Similar to the Ultimate Avengers films, this one is an adaptation of an existing Marvel Comics storyline.

Hulk wakes up with a bad hangover to discover he's on a spaceship bound for a distant planet. A secret group heroes(known in the comics as the Illuminati)banish him from Earth because he's too destructive. Hulk gets pissed and derails the ship to the savage planet of Sakaar. Once there, he is ambushed by a tribe of insects, only to get taken and enslaved by the local imperial soldiers. Hulk gets roped in with some other captives to take part as a gladiator, and fighting robots and monsters for the pleasure of the tyrannical Red King. Even though they are all controlled by special nano-device, Hulk manages to advance him and his friends to the last fight, who it turns out is against Beta Ray Bill, a horse-headed alien that was given the power of Thor by the Asgardians. Hulk busts Bill's controller, and Beta sets the rest of the gladiators free with a lightning blast. Hulk threatens the Red King if he comes after him, and then he seperates from his former teammates. Desperate to save face for her king, the royal bodyguard Caiera goes after him, and proves to be just as strong as Hulk. However, a plague of parasites called Spikes are sent to the city where Hulk's teammates are at. Caiera is shocked to find out that the were sent by the Red King himself, because they were the same Spikes that wiped out her family as a child. Hulk, Caiera, and the others then head back to the capital to brutally kick the Red King's ass. Hulk then becomes the leader of the newly freed Sakaar with Caiera as his queen.

Planet Hulk features probably the best animation in a Marvel animation movie to date. I'd say that the Marvel movies has better animation, although the DC Universe ones have better writing. Hulk totally goes full-mad in this one, beating the living crap out of anything that gets in his way. Some comics fans might be a little pissed that Beta Ray Bill replaced Silver Surfer(for licensing reasons)from the original story, but they should keep a sharp eye out for cameos by Gamora, Adam Warlock, and Grandmaster. This movie adds a deeper level to the Hulk character rarely seen outside the normal comics, and way better than anything Ang Lee put together! Whether this will lead into a World War Hulk movie though is yet to be seen.

JESI THE GENIE, *Part 6: Page 6

ANI-MOVIES, *Batman: Mystery Of The Batwoman

Even though it might be considered the weaker of the original Batman: The Animated Series movie trilogy, Mystery Of The Batwoman is very unique for several reasons. One is that it was the very first made-for-video animated movie based on a DC Comics, which set the standard for the DC Universe line. It also was supposed to be the final regular title in the B:TAS storyline.

Set a little while after the end of Season 4 of the series, a new female vigilante called Batwoman is making things hectic for the new troika of Penguin, Rupert Thorne, and gangster Carlton Duquesene. After the movie confirms that Batwoman is not either Catwoman or Batgirl(who wants to make out with Bruce, eww!), Batman narrows his search down to Duquesene's daughter, Kathy. Although he sees Batwoman attack Penquin's nightclub while dating Kathy as Bruce Wayne. Another suspect is Rocky Ballantine, a metullurgist working for Wayne Tech whose developed a new kind of shapechanging metal that Batwoman used against Penguin. However, Batman also believes the new female police detective Sonya Alcana(apparently Montaya left to become The Question)might be Batwoman too. He later on realizes that its really all three of them working together and taking turns as Batwoman to throw off suspicion. They're all trying to shut down Penguin's latest scheme as a laser gun arms dealer to foreign countries. Bane is brought in as Penguin's muscle against Batwoman, and takes charge of shipping the weapons out of Gotham. Kathy raids the boat that's delivering the lasers, but is caught by Bane, and revealed to her father and the others to be Batwoman. Batman and Robin(Tim Drake)arrive to stop them, and Batman and Bane apparently have one last fight while the burning ship sinks into the harbor, possibly with Bane still on it.

Mystery Of The Batwoman is a great animated film, at least for Bat-fans. This acts as a decent conclusion for the original animated series, as well as lead-in to Batman Beyond as Batwoman's costume is a possible present day template for the future Batsuit, including the same emblem. There's some decent new voice casting in this too, with Hector Elizondo taking over as Bane, David Ogden Stiers replacing Paul Williams as Penguin, Kyra Sedgwick as the voice of Batwoman, and oddly enough Kelly Ripa as Rocky. The animation in this isn't really up on the same level as either Mask Of The Phantasm or Sub Zero, but its still a worth a look. You can get this either on its own, or as a double-feature set with Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker, plus the DVD comes with a bonus Catwoman short!

Marty, aka: Nyan Cat: 2010-2012