Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment have announced their joint DVD release of the first volume of the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex for release in July. Volume 1 will feature the first four half-hour episodes of the 26 episode sci-fi series. The complete series will be released bi-monthly and presented on seven DVD volumes over the next year.

Female cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi and her fellow police officers of Section 9 hunt down a host of criminals in both the real and online worlds. In the first four episodes Kusanagi and Section 9 must resolve a hostage crisis, hunt down a runaway state-of-the-art killing machine, solve a mystery behind recent android suicides and investigate a high level conspiracy involving a mysterious computer hacker.

Two versions of the first volume will be available. Both will carry the episodes in anamorphic widescreen with audio in English and Japanese. The standard edition will contain interviews, trailers and DVD-ROM content. The special edition will additionally carry a second disc with four episodes in DTS and a third disc with the original soundtrack. A booklet is also included.

Both versions will arrive on July 27th and carry suggested retail prices of $24.95 and $59.95.