The DVD:

The DVD is broken up into three features, with a total running time of about 90 minutes.

Highlight Flash  is a 37-minute overview of the series.  This presents some of the plots (and fights) of the first half of the series along with text (in Japanese with optional English subtitles) that explains the background and puts the clips in perspective.  A very nice overview of the series, though you really can't do it justice in half an hour.  The only thing I really have against this is that anyone who would by this book/dvd combo would have seen the series making this a little superfluous.

The Interview Archive has 33-minutes worth of interviews with the director and voice talent.  Most, if not all, of these interviews were included on extras on the original R1 release of the series, so there's not a lot of new information here, but it is nice to have them all in one place edited together.

The DVD is finished off with 9th Studio Digital Works, a 20-minute tour of Production I. G.'s offices, the studio that created GitS: SAC.  They show the working environment and how some of the effects were achieved.  This is all new material, and was really interesting.

The Book:

The reason to purchase this set is really for the book, which covers the series up until episode 19.   I was expecting a fluff piece with a lot of stills from the show and very little information, but I was wrong.  The book covers the show very thoroughly in an entertaining manner.  I was very impressed.
It starts out with a history of the series, with sections on the comics, movie, video game and TV show.  There are interviews with the writer and executive producer of SAC also.  Then we move on to the meat of the book, a large full color section that has character profiles all of the major characters.  It not only presents important facts about the character, but tells you in which episode these facts were revealed.

There is also an episode guide to the first 19 episodes presenting a synopsis and points out small details that may have slipped past some viewers.  This section poses questions about the episodes that many not have occurred to the audience, and explains some plot points that may have seemed confusing, like the significance of the term "left-handed catcher's mitt" that appears in episode 11.

The book then goes on to a black and white section that has character designs (including 75 different costumes for Kusanagi) interviews, and a look at some of the gadgets and technology in SAC.

The most impressive thing about this book is that the text is very readable, it isn't just a listing of facts and figures.  The descriptions of the episodes and background information are presented in entertaining manner that makes this an easy book to read.

This is a really neat package.  The hardcover book comes with a clear dust jacket, and imbedded into the front cover is the DVD.  Both of these fit inside a slipcase that matches the slipcases on the LE DVD versions of the series.  It looks very spiffy.

Audio:

The various features on the DVD are all in the original Japanese with optional English subtitles.  They sound good, with no distortion or dropouts.

Video:

The DVD is fullframe, though the clips from the show are matted to 1.85:1 when they are shown so you don't lose any information.  While the video is good, it isn't as stellar as the show itself on the individual releases were.  The interviews were recorded on tape, and they just didn't go to the time and trouble (not to mention expense) to make them look as crisp as the show.  The video quality isn't distracting though, and looks good enough for what it is.

Extras:

None.  The whole disc is pretty much just bonus features.

Final Thoughts:

I was really excepting this to be something that was thrown together to cash in on the popularity of this series.  I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that this is much more than that.  It's a quality production and well worth owning.  Though the DVD doesn't present a lot of new information, the book really compliments the series, giving it more depth and explaining several things that might have slipped past some viewers (and reviewers!)  It would be a mistake to write this off.  Though a little pricey, this is a "must buy" for hard core Ghost in the Shell fans, but this is even Recommended for casual viewers who will enjoy it and learn a lot.