CGI in anime has come a long way. For most of modern anime history, CG either meant poorly rendered buildings and cars or unconvincing, stiff character models (or, in the case of Transformers: Energon, both). But in the 21st century, things have improved by leaps and bounds. Witness the dynamism the CG robots in last year's Studio TRIGGER smash hit PROMARE were able to move with, or the jaw-dropping visuals of Studio ORANGE's work on shows like BEASTARS or Land of the Lustrous.
Unfortunately, Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 isn't dynamic and, if jaws are dropped, it's only in slack boredom or disbelief at how dull it all is. The first reiteration of Masamune Shirow's legendary cyberpunk manga since the awful Hollywood version, this turns out just as egregious -- perhaps more so given how it sullies a better show in the bargain.
While it's not been touted heavily as such, as the name implies, this is in fact, a sequel to what's probably the best-known incarnation of Ghost in the Shell outside of the original film: Production I.G.'s Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV anime, which ran for two seasons in the 2000s and was a staple on Adult Swim for years, spawning its own movie spinoffs.
That show's writer/director, Kenji Kamiyama, is back for the ride here as are franchise stewards Production I.G. (although Kaniyama now co-directs with Shinji Aramaki) as are the original Japanese and English casts (although the dub was not immediately available upon 2045's release). But there's an additional wrinkle: whereas the original Complex was some of the best CG-assisted anime of the 2000s, 2045 is completely CGI thanks to Sola Digital Arts. And unfortunately, that's the biggest impediment.
The series opens with text screens explaining that an e-disaster known as the Simultaneous Global Default has rendered all paper and e-currency completely worthless, with the various global superpowers now engaged in permanent "Sustainable War" as the only means of spurring their economies. In the aftermath of this, Major Kusanagi (Atsuko Tanaka/Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), her right-hand man Batou (Akio Otsuka/Richard Epcar) and most of the rest of the now-disbanded Section 9 are now working as mercenaries calling themselves GHOST. The series proper begins with them trying to defend a gated community in the now-decrepit Palm Springs from bandits and sees them get caught up in conflict with the CIA and eventually other parties.
Meanwhile, Section 9's erstwhile Chief Aramaki (Osamu Saka/William Knight) has persuaded Japan's new prime minister to let him get the band back together and has dispatched the now-divorced Togusa (Kōichi Yamadera/Crispin Freeman), the human heart of Section 9, to find his former comrades.
That's all well and good, but it's all rendered moot and uninteresting by the uninspired CG animation. While the passion and verve are clearly still there, the life and vibrancy are gone (barring the series' mascots, the spider-tank Tachikomas (Sakiko Tamagawa/Melissa Fahn, who, being cel-shaded CG in the original show, make the transition well), practically leeched.
There's no impact to watching these CGI models move around and their limited facial expressions give the still-clearly-game voice casts so little to work with and play off of. On top of that, the series suffers the same fault as any number of other big-budget prestige shows like Ozark: being so darkly lit that it's impossible to discern what goes on. When a member of GHOST/Section 9 appears to die in the second episode, it's nigh-impossible to care as the action is barely comprehensible enough to notice.
Despite an intriguing new status quo (that reverts back to the old one far too quickly, incidentally), some inspired fight sequences and a propulsive score by Nobuko Toda (who's no Yoko Kanno, but does game work with things like scoring a fight scene with a killer sax line), the stiff, creepy, weightless animation drags it all down. It's a little like watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children or the recent CGI remake of Mewtwo Strikes Back: it's bright and shiny; the effort is clearly on display; it comes from a good place. But there's just nothing there visually for the audience to hang onto and, as a result, it slides off the eyeballs.
Check it out if you're a completist and have worn out your DVDs of the original show, by all means. But otherwise? Hunt down the original 1995 film; at not even 90 minutes, it's both a quicker look at why the Major is so iconic and it's still visually exciting enough you'll remember it after it's over.
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 is directed by Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki. Season 1 is streaming on Netflix.