Randomness reigns in the zany series Excel Saga. This box set contains the complete series rendered in the standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio and playable in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound in either English or Japanese with optional English subtitles. Extras on these discs include clean opening and closing in English, clean opening and closing in Japanese, the original Japanese trailer, original Japanese TV spots, Japanese CD single TV spots, Japanese CD soundtrack TV spots, original Menchi advertisement, Menchi recipes, an interview with Shinichi Watanabe, "Find the Mint," opening credits timing sequence, opening credits first cut, Puni Puni Poemy OVA preview, interview with Yumiko Kabayashi, Wantanabi's Puni Puni Poemy interview, Puni Puni Poemy staff interview, Puni Puni Poemy character designs, Daitenzin commercial, interview with Koshi Rikdo, Episode 25 clean closing, Episode 26 clean opening and closing, and Puni Puni Poemy information.

Todd McFarlane's acclaimed comic series comes to the screen in all its grim glory with this release featuring all 18 episodes of the animated series. Al Simmons (voice of Keith David) was a killer-for-hire under a government contract when he unexpectedly died in a fire and found himself in Hell. Desperate to see his wife again, Simmons made a deal with the Devil to lead his armies on Earth in exchange for spending time with the woman he loves. Now Simmons works in collusion with the horrific Clown (voice of Michael Nicolosi) as he struggles to do Satan's bidding while following his own agenda.

Ghost in the Shell, following in the footsteps of Akira, is one of the most critically acclaimed animated movies of the 1990s. Director Mamoru Oshii's bleak cyber-punk anime makes for a good, but flawed DVD. Picture quality is outstanding. The 1.85:1 widescreen transfer does the movie's bold vision justice, and color contrast is excellent. The sound, however, is problematic. The English dialogue track is very good, the voice acting is acceptable, and the sound effects are commanding. Turning on the subtitles while listening to the Japanese audio track, however, reveals flaws. The voice acting on the Japanese track is particularly awkward; the actors simply read their lines without emotion. Also, sound effects are buried on the Japanese track, no matter how loud the volume. The DVD's special features are not as exciting as the case's artwork would have viewers believe. The 30-minute "making of" featurette is dull and offers little insight or substantive information; it's similar in nature to the promos found on cable television, but infinitely less professional and interesting. The theatrical trailer is also a waste of time. "A Guide to Ghost in the Shell" brings up nine areas of background information, such as character bios, crew bios, a plot summary, and some design information. Ghost in the Shell is Grade-A anime and maybe a Grade-B DVD.