I wanted and expected it to be the best GitS media but they kind of fumbled a little towards the end IMO. Great show regardless and I would recommend it. It’s probably the best looking adaptation but it was just very hard to follow at times despite lots of exposition. The exposition was just not where I needed it. To me it only ranks 3rd after the movie and SAC, unfortunately. I just liked what they did with the material more plus the themes hit much harder back then than they do now. (Honestly some of the themes in SOC still hit harder now than anything in the latest show)

Not the end credits song I was expecting!

Anyways, great show. This easily beat out Stand-Alone Complex as the best Ghost in the Shell adaptation in my eyes, and I loved Stand-Alone Complex.

Unlike most people, I didn’t particularly like Oshii’s movies, so going into this season, I didn’t expect The Ghost in the Shell to become one of my favorite series this summer. Considering that Naoko Yamada is at the helm of the second TV adaptation produced by Science Saru, I didn’t even expect to rank GitS above Jaadugar – and yet, here we are.

I really liked how the show’s creators managed to blend comedic elements with the serious and philosophical layers of the story. At no point did I feel those awkward shifts in tone that often occur in such situations in other productions, where creators clumsily try to weave jokes into the plot. I think the humorous elements actually helped in conveying the more serious and complex aspects of the story, because thanks to them, the characters didn’t come across as perpetually gloomy and one-dimensional. I think this is also reflected in the background art, where the modern cybernetic world was presented without a gloomy, depressing color palette. Instead, they used a lot of bright colors and that didn’t feel out of place at all.

If I were to go into detail about the things I liked, I’d probably have to write an entire essay, so I’ll skip the obvious elements like the animation and the actors’ great performances, and I’d just like to draw special attention to the audio design and direction. They did a truly great job here. I can’t wait to get my hands on the soundtrack.

Although this final episode wasn’t packed with suspenseful action, the creators managed to present an ending consisting mainly of dialogue in a fairly seamless way, making it clear that the story we watched was, for the most part, Motoko’s personal journey.

On the downside, the only thing that comes to mind is the breakneck pace of the action throughout the entire season, which was particularly noticeable during scenes consisting mainly of conversations. That said, I appreciate that the viewers weren’t treated like idiots and that everything wasn’t spoon-fed to them. I like when we are allowed to piece the narrative together based on fragments of information scattered here and there.

Ultimately, I rate this adaptation very highly. With a score of 9/10, this series earns a spot in my top 3 for this season.