3 episodes in review from a GitS poster veteran
HI GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS ROSE DO YOU REMEMBER ROSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having caught up to the 3rd episode that just aired of the new Ghost in the Shell series, and being a lifelong fan of the franchise and absorbing it directly into my DNA and such, I do have some things I really like, and some things I really dislike about the direction of the new series adaptation.
What it does well:
It is truly almost a full 1:1 adaptation of the story of the OG manga. Although there are slight variations in scenes and direction of a scene, sometimes composition of a scene or an addition/elaboration of a sequence, you can go through the manga and follow along and it is 1:1 what is also happening in the anime.
The animation is spectacular, it's smooth, the scenes are well-composed, the color grading is phenomenal, there were multiple times throughout these 3 episodes alone that I had went "ooouh" out loud during a scene or sequence because it was done so well. The shot of the guard behind Ishikawa when the lightning flashes and turns everything gold E1, the music and Motoko's loss of control when Ishikawa is ghost hacked in E1, the sequence at the beginning of E3
Visible homages done by the director and animators to parts that they enjoyed in other series. I think E2 is the weakest episode so far for me (i know man out of three episodes thats crazy), but there is a sequence when the trash collector is warning the puppeted-hacker-would-be-assassin that's a reference back to the pause/slow-down sequence done in the 1995 movie, and I thought that was neat. I think we'll see more of these too.
The Tachikoma dream sequence is addictive to watch. I hope we get a longer one as a bonus, LOL
Which brings me to the point -- once again, the music is very good for the series. The mixture of jazz fusion, minimal techno tracks, and big-band action music is awesome and sets the tone for what they're going for very well.
Now, what I dislike about it:
The politics of the world of Ghost in the Shell are necessary to be coherent and presented in an easy to follow way in order for people to follow along with the plot itself. One of the things that people complain the most about when it comes to GitS as a series is that it's very politics-and-philosophy-dense. I think that the way that the politics are presented in this series is hard to follow, even for a viewer that's used to following it in a GitS installment. The reason why I think it's harder to follow is because I think that they are adding too much distracting information, especially regarding character individuality or other details, while they are explaining the politics. I think there is a fine line and they've overcorrected to making it harder to understand. Which brings me to my next point:
The characters in the OG manga were goofier, had some quirks, yes, were a little more light-hearted. I think that the direction of this series overcorrects again on this note and now has reduced the general sense of maturity that even the characters in the OG possessed. This ranges in voice direction contributing to the character animation.
Which is a part of my next point: The Major Motoko Kusanagi is being presented in this adaptation as a very Very girlish character, almost to the point of it being OOC even for her original. I want to write a full comparison post to elaborate and link back to it here this week. From her voice acting direction in certain scenes to her hip-swaying character animation, it feels like they're putting a modern lense on how they'd interpret her quirky side, and I don't like it. It's pervier than the original, and it's coming off as childish and tacky rather than raunchy like the OG was. I think there is a point where they could've expressed her femme sensibilities that she had, I think again that they've overcorrected and tried to make her into a cute girl rather than a cute woman.
And I thought the lesbian sex scene sucked. I think that they can get away with a lot more than they were clearly willing to do for the scene, we have seen a lot worse in anime, and if it's about ratings, I can't imagine why Ghost in the Shell thinks it needs to stay around a PG-12 while trying to homage a lesbian sex scene in the first place; but then again that's a part of the precious, unreproachable Otaku culture over there that we can't critique ever! Kakegurui was R-15 and got away with girls straight up fingering themselves on the toilet and like drooling and fondling themselves and pissing and whatnot, so how come GitS is afraid to show the Major getting fingerblasted to go up a rating? Don't be shy, now, since you're willing to show Kurutan/Curtain moaning and panting over the idea of having sex with Ran's new body in an extended animated shot that wasn't present in the original, and then again when she's added into the lunch for the scene between the Major and Ran for the conversation about verifying one's own humanity later. It's a kind of added element that I don't think is necessary and detracts from the kind of eroticism that Ghost in the Shell was known about. Like this is the "faithful adaptation of a 90s series" horny, but with 2020s goonerbait horny added into it.
I know, I know, my criticism slots are a lot longer than my what-I-liked slots. Scary!
We are *still* only into just the third episode though. Like, we're not even to the Russians yet in Hokkaido. We still have quite a ways to go and the opening suggests that we're getting THEE full Puppet Master arc.
I have a lot of faith in what they're doing here, Science Saru is a studio that has a lot of very good talent working on this series, and so far I have been actually enjoying watching it. I will say, I will be able to say for sure that SAC+2ND GIG+Innocence are my favorite installments only once this is done.
Anyways that's my RoseReview. See you all next week for Episode 4..............
