The franchise is everything that exists with GitS written on it. There’s an actual definition. That’s not debatable.

You’re coming up with one, because you feel this new piece of it doesn’t fit the parts you like. Nevermind that there are already parts that are like this. You’re just disregarding them.

And no-one is claiming it’s all the same. In fact, GitS is one of the most non-homogeneous franchises there are, even excluding the manga. (Movies, SaC, Arise, MANY games). Multiple versions that are in no way sequentially related. Few other franchises do something like that.

And that’s all fine. Like the parts you like. But you’re really leaving no room for tastes to differ.

Confirming you’re incapable of comprehending the other position really doesn’t reinforce yours.

So, from my point of view, this is definitely offensive to the franchise. It’s like turning John Wick into a pastel colored show about a petting zoo and saying that it’s still the same because the theme of him liking dogs is still intact.

About a petting zoo?

Did you miss the part where the Major assassinates a foreign national because he’s a problem?

Or the child brainwashing factory?

Your example would be accurate if the dog still dies and John still goes on a killing spree. But the style is cuter.