Ghost in the Shell ARISE Borders 3 & 4 (Blu-ray & DVD) Unboxing

A fellow good friend wanted to sell some of his anime and I picked up a few. The second half of the Ghost in the Shell ARISE series was also picked up in the haul.

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 last two OVA episodes, also known as borders 3 & 4. The OVAs are Border:3 – Ghost Tears and Border:4 – Ghost Stands Alone, released in June 2014 and September 2014 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 on the Blu-ray discs 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:3 – Ghost Tears
A terrorist bombing and the mysterious death of a detective trigger a deadly investigation involving prosthetic legs and members of a rebel group leftover from an international conflict. When all signs point to a master of cyber warfare known as Fire-Starter, phantoms from the past come back to haunt Major Motoko Kusanagi as she struggles to keep her personal and professional life separate.

Border:4 – Ghost Stands Alone
Motoko Kusanagi is closing in on the dangerous hacker who created the false memory virus. After a mass shooting leads to the capture of a key witness, the team finds themselves in a race against the clock to unravel the secrets she’s keeping. With enemies appearing all around them and the stakes growing higher by the minute, it’s time to find out once and for all: Who is Fire-Starter? And how can they be stopped?

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features (Border:3 – Ghost Tears):

Inside the World of Ghost in the Shell Part 1
Logicoma Heart
Ghost in the Shell: Arise – Episode:[.JP]
Blu-ray & DVD Spots
Memory of GR -Making of Arise-
Promotional Video
Commercial
Theatrical Trailer
Textless Opening and Closing

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features (Border:4 – Ghost Stand Alone):

Logicoma Root
Blu-ray & DVD Spots
Border:less Project: Color
Border:less Project: Foreseeing 2027
Border:less Project: Working High
Border:less Project: Memory
Border:less Project: Yuki Will Never Forget Kenji
Promotional Video
Ghost in the Shell New Movie Teaser
Theatrical Trailer
Textless Opening
U.S. Trailer
Trailers