'Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045' Season 1 Review: A fast paced, riveting return to a fascinating cyberpunk world
Spoilers for 'Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045' Season 1
'Ghost in the Shell' returns with new episodes on Netflix, exploring a cyberpunk future whose economy is built on the concept of "sustainable war" as an industry, where people's cyberbrains are hackable, and were the line between the real world and the digital one is very, very thin.
It can be a bit of a challenge, when the show begins, to remember that you're not watching a cutscene from a brand-new video game - a feeling that is not helped by the intermittent first-person viewpoints that are employed. The 3DCG animation of 'Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045' has ventured far through the Uncanny Valley, but every so often a quieter moment with waxy-looking figures pulls you back from it.
Fortunately, it's not long before the action pulls you right back in to being utterly engrossed, and there are moments where it's hard to tell if you're watching heavily CGI'd live-action or very realistic animation. From the light, to character and machine design, to the digitial interfaces - everything carries powerful visual appeal.
The show takes full advantage of the world it's set in - the virtual worlds on display are hypnotic and intense. The futuristic chops on display is at the very height of technological capability - it's smooth, slick, efficient. All technology in the world of 2045 is dripping with a sense of cool. There's something incredibly satisfying about watching the action scenes of the show, which is where the series excels. Characters operating at peak efficiency, with explosive, fast-paced moves and counter-moves feel incredibly satisfying to watch. It's not unlike the feeling one gets from watching a perfectly executed speedrun of a video game - not one move is out of place, and everything is being used to maximum efficiency.
The show balances its intense action and visual scenes with intricate story arcs that all hint at a much more intricate world than we get to see. Set 15 years after the events of the 'Stand Alone Complex' series, the show has built upon some extensive worldbuilding, but never relies too heavily on obscure details to get to the heart of the story it's telling. It's perfectly welcoming to newcomers, and does an artful job of delivering exposition that shows just how much thought went into the show without miring it in excessively detailed information. There are a lot of interesting political, technological and philosophical questions being raised in the background, but none of it gets in the way of the story that the show is trying to tell.
In a world where one can make a decent living off sustainable war, the former members of Section 9 have been living their best lives, taking one mercenary job after another. However, the rise of "posthumans" - people with near godlike control over anything with a signal - requires the reformation of Section 9.
The season takes its time setting up its story, benefitting from the binge-able style of Netflix's shows. It feels more like a long movie being divided up into 12 chapters than it does 12 separate episodes. The series' end, in fact, feels abrupt enough to leave viewers wondering if all 24 episodes of the first two seasons were written to be released together.
If the show has one flaw, it's its treatment of women. The female characters on the show are all either damsels in distress, doe-eyed ingenues, or literal sex dolls who double as killer robots. The one exception, Major Motoko Kusanagi (Atsuko Tanaka), who is ostensibly the show's main lead, gets little in the way of character development or moments. Her second-in-command, Batou (Akio Otsuka) and the more human Togusa (Koichi Yamadera) get more focus than she does. It leaves a sour taste in the mouth for what is otherwise a highly enjoyable show.
The show is a wild ride, from start to finish. Combining great action with intelligent writing, every episode is a riveting exploration of a fascinating potential future. Old fans of the franchise and newcomers alike will find a lot to enjoy, and with a second season already confirmed, there's a lot to look forward to far as the 'Ghost in the Shell' franchise is concerned.
'Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045' Season 1 is now available to stream on Netflix.