Now, as some friends have known that after completing the impressively mounted-if overlong fantasy prequel, The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance, the goal for me was to cut off the Netflix behemonth completely, as the service had become less and less a home for interesting cinema, and more a receptacle for mid-level long form stories with an often samey visual sheen. And despite my best efforts to cut that cord for myself, since friends and loved ones continue to subscribe, the months long announcement that my personal favorite anime and manga franchise would indeed be returning in a twelve episode event, well the current Stay At Home situation, felt like a stage was set for a brief return. Original Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex television series director and his team collaborating with mecha design legend, and prolific mocap CG fest director, Shinji Aramaki stoked me with both curiosity and nervousness. It’s a high wire risk that could surely sink a series beloved for its unusual levels of visual grit. So my coming back to the streaming service could be seen as a morbid move, especially sporting more youthful designs via longtime Behance and DeviantArt icon-turned character designer, Ilya Kuvshinov. This unique combination of elements reeked of risk for a multimedia franchise that has seen a number of them over the last decade.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, Ghost In The Shell SAC_2045 is at best an interesting experiment featuring the further adventures of the Japan’s once legendary/notorious anti-cybercrime unit, Public Security Section 9; a team of heavily augmented and skilled agents tasked with the detective and military prowess to save the nation numerous times over, led by the fully prosthetic, Motoko Kusanagi, whom the team has long dubbed, The Major. Where the risks emerge on the story front, is in the opening crawl which describes the world falling into chaos mere years after the events of the 2006 SAC film, Solid State Society. Everything from governments collapsing, creating what is known as Sustainable War, or rather a global scavenger campaign for whatever remains as economies have all but completely dissolved. Our once very busy heroes, now unmoored by government oversight, is working overseas as a group of mercenaries, taking on patches of raiders throughout the Americas. Currently, their trip to my childhood background of PALM SPRINGS (jarring) pits them against teams of amateurs claiming to be fighting malevolent one-percenters. It is in these first five minutes that despite the sunny, clear skied backdrop reminiscent of Aramaki’s APPLESEED films, that my worry collided with a genuine curiosity at the series’ dramatic break from SAC’s twilight landscape often complimented by hard greys, and intense LEDs. It’d almost seem like a poor fit if this scenario didn’t feel like an inevitable consequence of the previous installments’ overload of unmanaged interconnectedness. It’s all been blown to hell, and Section 9 is still out there torn between attempting to pick up the pieces, and simple nostalgia for the wartime life.

While the team finds itself stalled in a barricaded part of the city, former member and still the mostly human detective, Togusa in Japan receives a call from the still kicking and now working for the Minister of the Interior, Daisuke Aramaki, who’s work with a new and very caucasian prime minister, seeks to locate and get the old band back together in the name of a new potential alliance with the American Empire. Togusa, since last we saw him is now divorced, the casualty of his workaholic ways as he attempts to find out what has happened to his former colleagues. All of this while The Major, Batou, Saito, and newly joined member, the appropriately named, Standard find themselves tumbling into a plot involving PMCs, fabled “good one percenters”, and a suited man in dark shades that feels like a far too late nod to Aramaki’s past. I say Aramaki’s past, and not the Wachowskis since this shady man-in-black character is much closer to the shadowy B.D. of Megazone 23 than to a certain Agent Smith., so it’s more of a cycle back..to the beginni- YEAH YOU GET IT.

And this is pretty much the deal throughout this initial season. I say initial since the ink has dried on a planned two-parter, with Aramaki taking over fully next time. Which still leaves me mildly nervous. Saying this as a longtime fan who is more than happy with the material that has come before. Particularly prior to Kazuchika Kise’s ARISE, which felt like a muddled overture to a mainstream viewership. SAC_2045, feels more authentic to the classic Stand Alone Complex experience, while wearing this occasionally awkward outfit that makes every character not a think tank doll-like and lifeless. Oh, and did we mention the return of the irrepressible, and hopelessly cool tachikomas? The cute cadre of badass tanks make a splash here as the medium change suits them perfectly, which was probably one of the biggest reasons for the transition. It’s just too bad they don’t really find much to do here except provide backup and comic relief from time to time.

A lot of SAC_2045, finds itself so mired in plot mechanics that it often neglects the more personal sides to our heroes, making this a more detached affair than is usual for the franchise. And even as the GiTS world is suddenly paying off almost two decades of story implying that human evolution has taken a dramatic turn, which is causing the strife at the center of things, the new series has a hard time pausing long enough to let us take it in. Perhaps where the Aramaki stuff hinders matters. His action is fantastic, but a huge part of what made the original Stand Alone Complex and 2nd Gig so powerful to me, was its ability to humanize the stakes of such technological advancement. Where upon the original manga by the one and only Masamune Shirow, presented a world that was at once overwhelming to the point of humorous, the Oshii helmed feature films rendered the world haunted and contemplative, while SAC television series fashioned the mythological landscape into one that is at once enthralling, thought-provoking, and ultimately wholly relatable.

With SAC_2045, the best we get is an action gamer’s playground version, which might work better as a one-off feature. But like most Netflix projects, continuously threatens to wear itself thin. so while it isn’t ARISE levels of flat, there is a lack of humanity on display that renders this incarnation a little lacking. And as giddy as I am to hear the old voice cast from the best incarnations back in fighting shape, the mask only leaves me longing for something more literate and thoughtful.

And as a finale note, while I still lament the loss of one Yoko Kanno as music composer powerhouse, the current Soundtrack via Nobuko Toda, is pretty engaging and is as musically diverse. Again, the problem being that the direction here despite the return of master scribes like Kamiyama and Dai Sato, there is a decided lack of depth to the proceedings, which is ironic considering the whole affair is attempting a three-dimensional approach. Again, as an experiment it’s an occasionally fun diversion, albeit a wildly unnecessary one.

It really is summer isn’t it?

Blockbuster it up, I guess.

And yes, despite all this I prefer it to the 2017 Hollywood film.

Lastly; If Purin Ezaki is what the future of Koukaku Kidotai holds, check please. .