With an alternative plot to that of the influential feature film that preceded it, GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX features the police investigations of Major Motoko Kusanagi and her allies in the terrorist and cybercrime unit Section 9. STAND ALONE COMPLEX continues in the steps of the GHOST IN SHELL Animé films with its state of the art animation, ruminations on the philosophical effects of high technology, and exciting action sequences. VOLUME FIVE features episodes 17-20 of the series. In these episodes, the members of Section 9 investigate a heist, an assassination plot, and the kidnapping of a prominent politician's daughter, when suddenly their old nemesis, the criminal hacker the Laughing Man, returns.