This Week in Anime

Ghosts in the Shell

Coop
After seeing that, I'd probably infect my cyberbrain with a memory virus too, Sylvia.

Thankfully, Science SARU's refreshingly retro take on this foundational text is right around the corner, and woo boy... We've all been thoroughly reminded why almost everyone has had a thing for the Major at one point or another.

Truly, a Major for all seasons.

But I see why Moko-chan and the gang at Science SARU are going back to the original flavor Major for their adaptation. Masamune Shirow's original manga is bursting at the seams with character and charm. Yes, the cyberpunk grim and philosophical questions are there, but it reads with a strong sense of humor, never taking itself more seriously than it has to. The world is lived-in for sure, but I wouldn't call it cynical. If anything, Shirow's tightrope walking reminds me a lot of The Fifth Element for similar reasons. And now "Motoko Kusanagi Multi Pass" is stuck in my head.

Speaking of funny points about GITS, it seems to me that the new series is the first time Shirow's stories have been committed to cel. I've been reading through a bit of manga recently, and I couldn't help but catch a couple of shared scenes between the original and upcoming adaptation.

There's another conversation to be had about straight adaptations versus reinterpretations, but this shows how flexible the series' premise is. The Major, Batou, Aramaki, and the rest of Section 9 are so well defined that they can work in just about any story. Not unlike the Lupin Gang.

I know you're probably thinking all about that boat too...

There's been a great story making the rounds regarding Shirow's random horniness, and I'd probably do the same, dude.

The late great Toren Smith once regaled us with a tale of an event that occurred during the translation/localization of one of the extra smutty Ghost in the Shell arcs; when asked "Why all this sudden fanservice?" Shirow replied "Ah, that was when I didn't have a girlfriend!" 😆

— Elin Winkler (@doronjosama.bsky.social) May 15, 2026 at 1:55 AM

Aside from Tenchi in Love, I can't think of another DVD at the video store that had me going "I can't let my mom catch me looking at this" when I was un bébé.

That must've stuck with me, because I didn't watch the Mamoru Oshii flick until 2017-ish...and I wasn't a fan of all the philosophizing at the time. I came around on it a few years back, but that was probably because I'd sat through most of the Patlabor series by then. Oshii's GITS would be right at home in a double feature with the first Patlabor film, as both are tight action films with a little more to chew on hiding under the surface. We are talking two completely different source materials, but the Oshii connective tissue does a lot of heavy lifting here. Two properties about highly specialized public servants surviving their day-to-day while futzing with deeper personal questions? It's in Oshii's wheelhouse.

Speaking of uncanny, the handful of CG scene recreations in Ghost in the Shell 2.0 are fascinating from a weird, cool stuff standpoint, but they don't really hold a candle to the original hand animation in my opinion.

True! As you said, that factor oddly fits in quite well with the work's explorations of identity in a world that's boiled people down to the electronic pulses in their brains.

I know that I'm far from alone in saying that Stand Alone Complex was my first proper go-around with Ghost in the Shell. The Bandai Entertainment DVDs were something I'd pick up from the local FYE on occasion in the late aughts, and I remember being kind of mesmerized by the show's highly watchable procedural format. I never did finish the first season, but 2nd GIG aired so much on Adult Swim that I know it's broad strokes fairly well. But after revisiting that first season for this column, I can safely say that's still one hell of a compelling series. It's seriously styled, but there's a bit of a "you caught a random episode of Law & Order on TV and ended up watching the whole thing" whimsy to it.

And back on my earlier Patlabor point, there's just enough difference about Ghost in the Shell's jump to television from its film that makes the two series feel like kindred cop procedural spirits. Not to mention the likely handful of shared staff between properties, films, and series. With the right bit of thread pulling, someone could make a convincing argument about how the Major is the next evolutionary step in the Lum line after Noa Izumi.

Speaking of Section 9...

SAC's English voice cast is iconic. Be it the sultry tones of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as the Major, Richard Epcar's wisecracking as Batou, or the sharp comebacks from the late William Knight's Aramaki, the entire cast absolutely kills it. Not to mention the explosive chemistry they all have with each other. It's hard for me to imagine any other people in these roles. Seriously, this is probably one of the strongest dubs of its era. Then again, the series has had rock-solid dub work from the very beginning.

Seeing these for the first time last week was simultaneously fascinating and delightfully baffling. Looks like it was just a few hairs before my time on the internet.

On the topic of those official subs, the series' Blu-ray release (from 2017) is deeply bizarre when compared against what fans are used to today. No chapter breaks within episodes, weird audio quirks, noisy video, and a screen that asks you to do this at the end of each disc.

I haven't seen that since the last time I played Metal Gear Solid. Well, at least this release can easily be found in your local Walmart and the like.

I'll always go to bat for CG anime as it continues to evolve, warts and all, but I frankly just can't do that for SAC_2045. Despite the immense talents of the returning voice cast, designers, and animators involved, the visuals on display are simply not ready for prime time. Movements feel weightless, gestures haphazard, and the environment lifeless. There are also moments in which the characters are speaking to each other in cyberspace, and their models are clipping into each other. Perhaps you could write that off as "they're in cyberspace," but it doesn't look great. I really feel this series needed more time in the oven to reconsider its approach and style. As is, SAC_2045 simply doesn't work, and that's even before the plot slid off the side of my head.

I hate to say it, but if the Alien vs. Predator show that Disney allegedly shelved looked like this, it was probably for the best.

I revisited Arise's first episode in preparation for this column, and it does a solid enough job of setting up a "here's how the band got together" story while dipping its toes in the same procedural goodness that makes SAC sing. I'm intrigued enough to watch the rest of the series, perhaps, but then again, I've got SAC just sitting there under my TV—weird discs and all. Though, for what it's worth, I believe both SAC and Arise do an amazing job of selling the Ghost in the Shell cast as characters you can plop into all sorts of situations.

Meanwhile, the Scarlett Johansson flick does not.

As someone who has actually seen the movie, it's so confusing whether it wants to rehash material from the Oshii film or S.A.C. 2nd GIG, and it becomes mush in the struggle. Johansson shouldn't have been cast in the role, but a keen filmmaker could've pulled on that thread even if they couldn't talk the producers out of this terrible choice. There's some real meat in a story about someone who's had their identity, culture, and heritage stolen from them, realizes it, and fights like hell to reclaim it. Hell, it would've fit right in with a good chunk of the series' themes, but that idea's punching way way way above this film's weight.

Its opening cinematic goes so hard. I remember seeing it on G4's Cinematech back in the day. Also, I feel like this intro was remastered a while back and disappeared, but I'd love to see the laserdisc this clip came from go through one of those Domesday Devices...

And oil, but that's a story for another time.

If that's not truly powerful, I don't know what is.

The things you see while on the net.