Both Volume 4 and Volume 5 arrived from on hold at the library at the same time, so I had a veritable Ghost in the Shell film fest this past weekend.
Volume 4 was good, each of the four episodes standing well on its own. They developed characters and one episode’s ending was actually rather poignant, though another’s “twist” ending was transparently obvious from a mile away.
Volume 5 gave a couple glimpses into the character of Aramaki (the “Chief”) through a visit with an old friend and the death of an old comrade. One episode was a standard police/crime drama (which isn’t to say it wasn’t good) and the last was a return to the Laughing Man thread. But it will be at least a two-parter. I got cliff-hangered but good in the last episode on the DVD. One of our heroes ends up unconscious and bleeding on the sidewalk with no help in sight. I may end up waiting about 3 or 4 weeks to find out what happens next.
Neh 