Ghost in the Shell ARISE Borders 1 & 2 (Blu-ray & DVD) Unboxing

A fellow good friend wanted to sell some of his anime and I picked up a few. The first part of two for this particular series is a Ghost in the Shell title!

Note: The photos in this unboxing have been updated on 18th May 2019, but the content is identical.

Ghost in the Shell ARISE is a 2013-2014 OVA series from studio Production I.G and published by Kodansha. ARISE is a prequel for the franchise as a whole, and also particularly not well-liked among the community. There are even two versions available; a four episode OVA series and a twelve episode TV series with a new arc known as Pyrophoric Cult.

The franchise had always been released under Manga Entertainment, but for ARISE, in this case, Funimation acquired the license for the OVA series. The English dub has a new cast (with some VAs returning for different roles) and they only released the four OVAs and the Movie rather than the entire thing (they do have streaming rights to the TV series called Alternative Architecture but they haven’t done anything to it).

This particular release by Funimation covers the first two OVA episodes, also known as borders 1 & 2. The OVAs are Border:1 – Ghost Pain and Border:2 – Ghost Whispers, released in June 2013 and November 2013 respectively. Funimation’s packaging for this release is interesting as it matches their older limited edition releases but without a chipboard art box, instead opting for a cardboard slip box. The set does feature the booklets for each border as a nice little bonus.

The Funimation release includes the two OVA episodes across 2 Blu-ray and 2 DVD discs with English & Japanese audio with English subtitles. As you may have probably noticed, the discs themselves are region locked to A & 1 only, and the subtitles are locked during playback.

This release is available to order on Amazon US.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: English, Japanese
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Video: 1080p High Definition Native format with 16:9 ratio
Region: A
Subtitles: English
Locked Subtitles: Yes
Discs: 2

DVD Specs:

Languages: English, Japanese
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: 480p Standard Definition in NTSC format with 16:9 ratio
Region: 1
Subtitles: English
Locked Subtitles: No
Discs: 2

Plot Synopsis (via Funimation):

Border:1 – Ghost Pain
When cyborg hacker Motoko Kusanagi is hired to investigate a devastating bombing, she must fight her way through a maze of phantom memories to unlock her mysterious past – and track down the evil mastermind behind the attacks.

Border:2 – Ghost Whispers
Witness the formation of the legendary Public Security Section 9. When a clandestine organization hacks every car in the city, Kusanagi recruits a lethal team of cyber operatives that includes a badass brawler with Special Forces training, an explosives expert, a technology specialist, and a chain-smoking jack-of-all-trades with a sordid past. Together this ruthless gang of enforcers sets out to clamp down on the chaos and make the city safe again.

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features (Border:1 – Ghost Pain):

Ghost in the Shell: Arise at Anime Expo 2013
Logicoma Beat
Promotional Video
News Flash Type A
News Flash Type B
Theatrical Trailer
Border:2 Teaser
Textless Opening

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features (Border:2 – Ghost Whispers):

U.S. Cast & Crew Audio Commentary
Logicoma Court
News Flash
Theatrical Trailer
Decode 501File
Border:1 – Ghost Pain Cyberbrain I.G Night Talk Show
Border:1 – Ghost Pain Cyberbrain Cast Night Talk Show
Promotional Video
Commercial
Blu-ray & DVD Spots
Surface X Ghost in the Shell Arise Another Mission
Pacific Racing Team X Ghost in the Shell Arise Promotional Video
Textless Opening
Textless Closing
U.S. Trailer
Trailers

DVD On-Disc Extra Features (Border:1 – Ghost Pain):

Ghost in the Shell: Arise at Anime Expo 2013
Logicoma Beat
Promotional Video
News Flash Type A
News Flash Type B
Theatrical Trailer
Border:2 Teaser
Textless Opening