Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 – Season 2 – Blu-ray – Collector’s Edition Review

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

An Introduction to Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 is a Japanese Original Net Animation (ONA) series based on the iconic 1980s manga Ghost in the Shell by Shirow Masamune. This series exists within the continuity of Stand Alone Complex, a well-known narrative offshoot of the Ghost in the Shell universe. While it features many returning original characters like Major Motoko Kusanagi and Batou, it presents a new chapter in the saga.

The Story and Setting

The series is set eleven years after the events of Solid State Society, in the wake of a global economic catastrophe called the “Simultaneous Global Default.” This event wiped out the value of all paper and digital currency, leaving many formerly wealthy people destitute and sparking a “Sustainable War” among the world’s powerful nations. The former members of Section 9—Kusanagi, Batou, Saito, and others—now work as mercenaries under the group name “GHOST.” They are reluctantly reunited to confront a new dual threat: a mysterious, dangerous programmer and the emergence of superpowered “post-humans,” all while a malicious program targeting people’s cyberbrains is uncovered.

Season 2 continues this thread, with Section 9 hunting a dangerous superhuman who is establishing a colony in Neo Tokyo. This colony is populated by people disconnected from the main Net and infected with the software discovered in Season 1, operating on a separate, secure network. The protagonists must also race to stop a devastating plan that they uncover.

A Convoluted and Heavy-Handed Narrative

There is a lot happening in this new series, and some of it can be difficult to follow. However, this confusion does not stem from the complex, multilayered storytelling the franchise is known for. The story arc is simply convoluted and overly “on the nose.” The series makes obvious references to real-world issues like endless wars, U.S. geopolitical pressure on allies, and financial crashes, but it presents them without subtlety or effective metaphor. Furthermore, the plot feels disjointed, as it abruptly shifts from an investigation into dangerous post-humans to a focus on a dangerous software program.

A Step Down in Animation Quality

Putting aside the confused story, the animation style is not up to the standard of this great franchise. The 3DCG has awkward and unnatural motion, and the character models lack detail, making the series look terribly low-budget. Comparing it to the stunning, hand-drawn 2D animation of the original 1995 film is an exercise in disappointment; this series does not fare well in such a comparison.

Redeeming Qualities and Final Thoughts

Despite its flaws, the series is not all bad. It successfully captures the mood and some of the aesthetic fans expect from Ghost in the Shell. On a macro level, some of the large-scale action sequences are visually stunning, provided you can overlook the poorly animated hand-to-hand combat, which suffers from particularly terrible motion.

The Video

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 is brought to Blu-ray in a 1.78:1 AVC 1080p encodement. Like Season 1, the 3DCG animation looks as good as it can, but it has the same flaws that are most likely inherent to the 3D rendering rather than the enocodement. There is banding in color fills, especially darker areas, and some of the edges of characters and objects show some stairstepping. Otherwise, the image is colorful and has good shadow detail and overall detail. In the scenes without banding and noise, the image looks crisp.

The Audio

The audio options remain the same for this release and sound the same. Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 gets its original Japanese-language audio in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo mixes in this Blu-ray release. The audio is the standout in this release, with full mid-range and dialogue clarity, big extension into the low end that manages the sound effects like explosions and gunfire with staggering effectiveness, plus an aggressive yet balanced use of the surround channels for solid sounds mixed through the room. This is an outstanding reference mix that is levels above the sound of the streaming mix on Netflix.

The Supplements

This collection from Shout! Studios is housed in the same a beautiful glossy box as season 2 and comes with a 100-page artbook, 4 art cards, and a foldout poster, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette with the crew and more.

Limited Edition Content for Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045

• 100 page artbook
• 4 Art Cards
• 11.7″ x 16.5″ poster

Bonus Features:

• Behind the scenes 
• CG Breakdown
• Clean Opening
• Clean Ending
• Teaser trailer
• Trailer

The Final Assessment

Shout! Studios delivers a beautiful collection of this middling entry in the Ghost in the Shell franchise. Fans may still like it, especially the awesome 5.1 and stereo mixes, but other Stand Alone Complex entries have been better and it goes without saying the first two original feature films are in a class by themselves.

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 – Season 2 – Blu-ray – Collector’s Edition is out August 23, 2024 from Shout! Studios

• Rating Certificate: TV-MA
• Animation Studio: Production I.G | Sola Digital Arts
• Distributors: Netflix | Shout! Studios
• Directors: Kamiyama Kenji | Aramaki Shinji
• Written By: Kamiyama Kenji
• Run Time: 300 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Secondary Audio: Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo
• Subtitles: English
• Street Date: 16 September 2025