Watching this first episode was incredibly nostalgic for me, but not for the original movie or the SAC series. I watched those a long, long time ago and barely remember anything about them (especially the movies) other than the vibes. As a franchise, Ghost in the Shell is fascinating, because what it’s actually known for — the iconic female lead, the brooding tone, the slick but dark visuals, the philosophical navel-gazing towards the end of the first movie — are all… well, they’re not exactly drastic departures from the original work. I would say they’re heavily reinterpreted. Of course, that isn’t a bad thing. Mamoru Oshii’s original movie is an inspiration that crossed cultural barriers, becoming a massive influence on so many other cyberpunk media. But the original manga with the original Mokoto Kusanagi got a bit lost in the process. Until now, of course. But if you’re used to the Major being a certain way, prepare yourself for a very different character. The new adaptation brings not just a ton of color to the character, but her surroundings as well. Personally, I love her energy in this adaptation. All her expressions give her much more personality than her previous incarnations.

But returning to my original point about nostalgia, this episode flashed me back to that feeling of being a kid trying my best to wrap my head around science fiction novels for the first time. The breakneck pacing, the gritty themes and topics intermixed with random, overt sexualization, the futuristic jargon that doesn’t wait around for you to get up to speed, so on and so forth. It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten exactly what it means to have a ghost. I think it’s the thing that separates humans from robots, so something like a soul? But a little more scientific? Ah well, science fiction does this and it does this a lot. It demands you to keep up. You’ll get it… eventually. At the same time, however, of all the shows to get a two-episode premiere, I wish it had been this one.

We have a shady deal between corrupt officials, Mokoto crashing the party and assassinating someone, Mokoto forming a new team to investigate cybercrimes under Public Security, the gang investigating an orphanage that is brainwashing kids, an operation that nearly goes haywire and falls apart only for a last second victory, then a quick debrief at the end that has our Major making the minister punch himself. Oh yeah, don’t forget to leave room for the OP and ED as well. All that in one 24 minute episode. At the same time, there are these bits of translated text that show up for just a second before disappearing. The show looks fantastic — I could spend all day geeking out over the visuals — and I actually enjoy the soundtrack rather than forgetting that it exists. But man, pump the breaks a little. Gimme a second to catch my breath.

For the most part, Science SARU hit it out of the park. If my only complaint with this episode is that it tried to cram too much into 24 minutes, well, again, this is reminiscent of science fiction works in general. The major difference here, however, is that you control the pacing when you read a book or manga. If you want to slow down and smell the flowers, you can. Reread a passage until you fully digest it. Lavishly pore over the manga art. On the other hand, with an anime — film, series, or otherwise — pausing judiciously kinda ruins the experience. But there’s something to be said about crafting a work that demands multiple viewings to fully appreciate, and maybe that’s what they were going for. I thought about rewatching the two movies as well as the TV series. In the end, I just didn’t have time for it. But y’know, maybe that’s not a bad thing, because I can approach this show for what it is.

Stray thoughts & observations:

— Mokoto’s mind is unsurprisingly a hot mess, but who’s the girl making the kissy face?

— I guess you can’t control how much you share when you let others hack into your brain?

— I get that this girl is “just” a robot, and they can fix her right up. But why make it so she can not only bleed and also bleed red? It’s one of those science fiction tropes that you just take for granted, because almost everyone does it — everyone wants to make robots feel human. But then we still draw a hard line in the sand with the ghost thing.

— Even bullets flying towards and tearing through the bad guy apart gets a song.

— I thought Mokoto’s words to the kid at the end was a little harsh. Sure, they can’t take the kids with them. They have no means to house, cloth, or feed all of them. She also encouraged him to more or less seize his fate. Still, I get the sense that there are a lot of facilities like the one we see in this episode, and all they can really do is prevent any of them from getting much worse. Though that is very cyberpunk… sobering, cynical, and uncompromising.

— Cool eyecatch from the Metal Gear artist at the end.

— I’ve never seen a second of the live action film. Is it possible that it’s good? Shrug.

— It’s Maaya Sakamoto voicing the Major, right? I know she’s done the role before. Still, it’s too bad the original voice actress from the films died two years prior. Not that I think she should reprise the role, but it’s always neat when actors get to see their peers continue carrying their legacy forward.

— If this is show is the reason why the next Dandadan season is pushed far back, then I’m okay with it.

— I got some bad news prior to watching this episode. I don’t think it affected me too much in writing this post, but if something feels off, well, now you know.