Out now are two titles for fans that are all about girl power:
First we have Ghost in the Shell, the American action/sci-fi film directed by Rupert Sanders based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow (for our recent feature on the animated Ghost in the Shell steelbook release, click here). The film tells the story of Major (Scarlett Johansson), a futuristic cyborg supersoldier who was designed to fight against cyber-crime but discovers that events in her past may not be what her creators led her to believe. As she delves into the mystery of her own identity, Major is forced to follow what is left of her human instincts to decide who she can and can’t trust, and must reconcile who she thought she was with who she may truly be instead.
The film is now out on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and DVD. In addition to the film, the Blu-ray sets also boast almost an hour of extras, including “Hard-Wired Humanity: Making of Ghost in the Shell” (a 30-minute behind-the-scenes feature with interviews from the cast and crew, covering topics such as character preparation, stunts, costume-making and the adaptation of the manga source material into the current film), “Section 9: Cyber Defenders” (an 11-minute examination of Major’s crime-fighting team and their individual specialized super-soldier abilities), and “Man & Machine: The Ghost Philosophy” (a ten-minute featurette that takes a look into the real-life science behind robotics and the future possibilities of human cyber enhancement). The disc and digital versions are all currently available on Amazon, with the DVD and the Blu-ray Combo Pack both going for $19.99, 4K Ultra HD for $29.72, and the Blu-ray 3D for $48.99. With so many options, it’s up to you which fits your needs / wants best if looking to purchase. Just a note of reminder, though, that the DVD doesn’t offer the bonus features like the other sets, and since Amazon is currently offering it for the same price as the Blu-ray Combo Pack (which itself includes the DVD), there’s really no reason to not choose the latter of those two.
Next up is Sailor Moon S: Part 2, the second half of Season Three (episodes 109-127) of the Sailor Moon anime (based on Naoko Takeuchi’s original Sailor Moon manga series about a young schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino who becomes a magic-wielding soldier tasked with saving the world from evil forces). In this portion of the storyline, we see the continuation of the quest to summon the Holy Grail (with Sailor Uranus and Neptune being targeted by the Witches 5 as they all search for the three talismans), Chibi-Usa becoming friends with a mysterious girl named Hotaru (whose powers put her on the radar of friendly and enemy forces alike), and the threat of a coming apocalypse from the Messiah of Silence, with Sailor Moon and her friends summoning all their forces to try and stop it.
Sailor Moon S: Part 2 is now out on three-disc DVD and six-disc Blu-ray DVD Combo Pack. Both sets feature all nineteen episodes of the second half of Season Three as well as clean opening and closing segments and official series trailers. In addition, the Blu-ray Combo Pack includes a digital art gallery and interviews conducted with members of the English voice cast. For a limited time (while supplies last), fans can also receive a special set of ten art cards featuring the Sailor Guardians, Tuxedo Mask, Professor Tomoe, Mistress Nine, Eudial, Viluy, Tellu, Cyprine, Ptilol, Mimete, and Kaolinite when ordering the Blu-ray Combo Pack at RightStufAnime.com (where it sells for $62.99). Both formats are also available on Amazon, where the DVD is currently priced at $39.95 and the Blu-ray Combo Pack is priced at $50.61—-remember that this option doesn’t include the art cards, so it’s up to you to determine if you think the $12 difference between pricing on Amazon and RightStufAnime is merited by that extra bonus…if it is, grab it while you can!
