TV – The Ghost in the Shell Episode 10
The 10th and final episode of the new animated Ghost in the Shell series released on Prime Video this week. The new animated series is produced by Science SARU, based on Masamune Shirow’s 1989 manga series. The series began airing on 7th July on a simultaneous global release schedule, with weekly episode drops, giving the worldwide community the chance to discuss the series episode by episode.
In the mid-season episodes, the series had moved away from the Puppet Master arc introduced early on, and we got a string of self-contained episodes, featuring rampant cyborgs, corrupt government officials, and international terrorists. Episode 7 brought us back to the Puppet Master story arc, and episode 8 dealt with some of the fallout. At the end of episode 8, we discovered The Major had been caught on film executing a youth as part of an operation, and episode 9 saw her going under trial, but ultimately running away.
Episode 10 opens with Ishikawa observing Ghorantl agents, who it turns out are working with the Foreign Minister. Ishikawa suggests to Aramaki that The Major may be at risk of assassination, but Aramaki does not seem moved to act.
The Major appears to have worked out her exit plan, but before she is able to put it into action, a sniper shot cuts through her, and she drops, apparently ‘dead’. The hostage escapes, and the police swarm the scene.
We discover very quickly that The Major, or at least her cyberbrain, is safe, with Batou as an escort (it is unclear whether Aramaki was privy to this plan). They arrive at a safe house, but The Major’s substitute body has decayed. Luckily(?) a gang arrives at the hideout to loot the place, and Batou is able to procure a new body for The Major by incapacitating a member of the gang and hijacking their cyborg body.
Whilst her cyberbrain is in shutdown, The Major’s mind is awoken by The Puppet Master, who has been on the periphery of her mind it seems since ‘ascending’. The Puppet Master is looking for help to preserve their existence, and further ‘evolve’. The Puppet Master compares themselves to a virus, at risk of eradication due to lack of diversity between copies. Alone, this problem cannot be overcome, so The Puppet Master suggests merging with The Major’s consciousness – with a variety of different versions able to be formed from the combination, the entity that is The Puppet Master can duplicate, decay, evolve.
The Major agrees, rather quickly. Obviously her experience with The Puppet Master a few episodes back had been weighing on her, with her mind opened up to a higher state of existence, she is keen to go ahead and see what happens. Once back in a physical body, she leaves Batou and Section 9 behind, to explore a whole new world.
There’s very little that actually happens in the episode, it really is just a conclusion to The Puppet Master arc. We knew when The Puppet Master disappeared, there was still a lot to be resolved with their connection to The Major, and here we are presented the outcome. Once The Major had had her horizons broadened, the expansive nature of a wider network brought to her attention, she was no longer content with being a mere section 9 agent, and now goes off in search of something more.
The episode, if it proves to be the last, is a satisfying conclusion to a lot of the ideas explored in the series, of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, religious ideas about the nature of quantum processing. It also leaves it open to another season. The Major could easily come back to Section 9, maybe with a different outlook on life, on the nature of the job. Her experiences, and what she learns whilst out to find herself could be invaluable, particularly if there are new threats introduced that involve more brain diving, and complex cyberspace situations. A lot of what we saw over the course of the series was overt action, external threats. Aside from the brain dive into The Puppet Master, there was very little venturing into the cyberspace, the network, the virtual realm, whatever you want to call it.
What did you think of episode ten? Were you satisfied with the conclusion of the series? Do you think they’ll make a season two? Or do you think they should leave it behind at what was a natural end point? Let us know in the comments.
You can rewatch the new Ghost in the Shell series on Prime Video with a valid subscription. You can enjoy the show’s ending sequence below –
Book – Hard Traffic
This week, J.S. Holloway’s cyberpunk novel Hard Traffic was released. The sequel to Hard Carry, the novel follows protagonist Felix on his next intense, high-stress courier run.
Synopsis –
The job was simple: get the data, make the drop, collect the money, and get the hell out in one piece.
But when the pickup gets raided, the client dies, and the package turns out to be a girl who’s wanted by a violent revolutionary cell, Felix has to evade capture long enough to make it home before he’s caught by the cops or snatched by Ernst Volker, a vicious psychopath with murder on his mind, a chip on his shoulder, and fury to burn.
Can Felix survive this Hard Traffic, or will he end up as just another statistic?
Hard Traffic the second book in the Neu Berlin Arc, is a Cyberpunk Thriller that drops you in it and then just keeps on going.
The first novel in the Neu Berlin arc, Hard Carry, was quick and dirty, cyberpunk the hard way, just how we like it. The plot forced Felix to be constantly on the run, moving ever forward, which kept a novel already on the short side clipping along at a blistering pace. Hard Traffic follows in the tradition, opening in transit, and never slowing down for very long. Felix is offered a quote unquote simple job. Despite his cynicism, he agrees, but things smell funny from the very off. He has a rail impacted in his arm for the purpose of carrying data, but on this occasion, the ‘data’ he is to courier is being carried by someone else, who he needs to escort.
As with Felix’s previous adventure, it turns out there’s more than one interested party, and it seems friends who were friends might now be enemies. This is one of the strengths of the Neu Berlin arc – there are always multiple parties involved, and each has their own motivations, meaning things are never just black and white. There is a lot of murk in Felix’s world, which keeps him, as the protagonist, and us, as the reader, guessing the whole time.
In Hard Carry, we were introduced to Felix as a hard boiled, cynical loner. By the end of that story, he was not quite as alone as he started, but in this second story, we get to see a slightly softer side to him, some clear evidence that he has a kind heart. When the job starts to go almost immediately south, he has the opportunity to step away, to remove himself from the situation, and self preserve. He chooses not to do so, and this is an important step in his character development. He doesn’t stick to the task for financial reasons, he does it because he is looking out for someone else’s well-being.
And what of his travel companion, who he vows to keep safe and see through to her destination? The ‘twist’ isn’t a shock when it comes, and the nature of this item that he is transporting around isn’t necessarily an original concept. But it works, because as with Felix, there is a personal journey playing out. The young girl has a lot of growing up to do over the course of the story, and it is handled well, perfectly measured, so by the climax nothing seems unbelievable, or unearned.
Topping Hard Carry was going to be difficult, and it must have been tempting to just ramp up the action, make the stakes higher, the situation more extreme. What author J.S. Holloway has very smartly done, though, is raise the stakes for Felix by removing another element of control. Where in the previous story he only needed to worry about himself, this time he is forced to act as protector. This takes the protagonist firmly out of his comfort zone, adding an additional dimension to his struggles.
Hard Traffic is the 2nd book of the Neu Berlin arc, and author J. S. Holloway is already at work on the next book in the series, Hard Exit. Hard Traffic is available now in ebook, paperback, and hardback formats.
Trailer – Glasses
Last weekend, the first trailer for Ian Wittenber’s upcoming sci-fi survival thriller Glasses was released. It follows a group of people gathered together to try out some experimental technology, but the situation quickly turns dark.
Synopsis –
An experimental new technology turns against a group of test subjects, and a routine trial becomes a deadly game of survival.
A mysterious inventor gathers eight strangers in a single room, each one hand-picked, none of them told why. The promise is simple: test a breakthrough device, answer a few questions, walk away. But the deeper they dig into how the technology actually works, the more the room closes in around them.
Then the clock starts. One by one, the rules of the experiment reveal themselves, and so do the people trapped inside it. Alliances form and collapse. Motives surface that no one intended to share. What began as a demonstration becomes a countdown, with survival hanging on how much truth each person is willing to give up.
And if the device leaves this room, nothing about the world outside stays the same.
Glasses is a taut sci-fi thriller about ambition, deception, and the price of seeing too much.
The trailer is deliberately vague as to the exact nature of the glasses – what the technology is, what it does, and why. All that’s really said is that they are a generational leap in technology, and they’re gonna change the world. It’s admirable for a trailer to give nothing away, but it does leave us with a dilemma. Is it actually cyberstopia? We’ve had to just take a punt and assume it’s appropriate for the website. But just what DO the glasses do? X-ray specs? Are they the glasses from They Live? In the trailer, it’s mentioned the glasses cost a billion dollars each, so maybe Google Glass is just coming back.
You can see the trailer below.
Videogame – Sprawl Zero
This past week, cyberpunk FPS shooter Sprawl Zero was released. Set in a futuristic city under falling apart under military rule, the game uses innovative gaming mechanics, allowing you to approach missions in a variety of ways.
Synopsis –
SPRAWL zero is a fast-paced shooter inspired by the Golden Age of 2000s FPS. Survive a brutal cyberpunk city collapsing under military rule and cult fanaticism. Use your Gravity-Gloves, augments, and an arsenal of over 40 weapons to crush those who stand in your way.
You play the game as a cybernetically enhanced super soldier, in a game that was apparently inspired by 2000’s console era first person shooters. Your mission is to take out the leader of a radical techno-religious group, and in the process you will take on squads of enemies working in a group dynamic, coordinating their movements and using various tactics to advance on you, or flush you out of cover. The game promises to give you the freedom to approach situations in your favourite playstyle, whether that be stealth, or the more direct, guns blazing approach.
There is a range of different gear to compliment your tactics, and you will be able to use Bullet-Time and gravity-based weapons to innovate your attacks and defeat your foes. There will be multiple paths through levels to compliment your chosen tactical approach, and a wide range of mechanical and organic enemies to take on, all to an early 2000’s inspired soundtrack. If you want to check out the game before you buy, you can download a PC demo now on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/3748520/SPRAWL_zero/
Sprawl Zero is developed by the independent studio MAETH, and published by Kwalee, and it is available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, and PC via Steam. You can watch the release date reveal trailer below.
Book – Driven
Driven, Mason Coile’s hi-tech horror thriller, was released this week. It follows a man who at the lowest point of his life, discovers that even his self-driving car is out to get him.
Synopsis –
A terrifying locked-room mystery from the author of Exiles and William—this time set in a cutting-edge autonomous car.
Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks.
But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.
Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.
As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he’s forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried. Driven is a taut, near-future fever-dream. Mason Coile delivers another one-sitting read that blends science fiction and psychological horror to explore loneliness, grief, and the things that make us human.
Driven plays on our very real fears about the advancement of technology, and artificial intelligence going rogue. It’s also inspired very overtly by the concerns over automated vehicles at a time when the moral quandaries around this kind of technology are coming to the forefront, as more and more car companies invest in it. If a self-driving vehicle goes rogue, and property is damaged, or people hurt or killed, who is responsible? Driven uses this as a backdrop to tell the story of a man having to come to terms with his crumbling life, past actions, and the mistakes he has made. Telling a story in effectively one confined location allows for a lot of introspection, but is very difficult to do well. It will be interesting to see how well it works here.
Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Driven is the latest novel from author Mason Coile. His previous work includes psychological horror/cyber noir William, and Mars-set horror-thriller Exiles. Mason Coile is a pseudonym of late Canadian author Andrew Pyper, who sadly lost a battle with cancer in 2025.
At time of writing, Driven has a rating of 3.58 stars on Goodreads from 54 reviews. It is available now in hardcover, and digital formats, as well as audiobook.
Comic – 09-09-26 Releases
We take a look at this week’s cyberpunk and dystopian comic releases.
TITAN COMICS
TANK GIRL: BLUE HELMET #1
From the publisher –
A single stand-alone comic, this story was originally published in two parts in Deadline Magazine April/May 1992, almost 35 years ago. Featuring Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and The Hairy Banana Bunch. Read the whole stupid damned story in one gulp! Idea for losing your trunks around the pool this summer!
The iconic Tank Girl, a heavy smoking heroine travelling around a post-apocalyptic Australia, in a customised tank. Often seen accompanied by mutant kangeroos. Tank Girl is a punk-inspired British comic series, so you can expect irreverent comedy and surrealism.
DARK HORSE
NANO #2
From the publisher –
Fleeing the burning wreckage of her home, a young Sana hides out where no one would look for a ten-year-old girl: An all-boys martial arts dojo. As San, she trains from sunrise to sunset, hoping she can stay hidden from those that are hunting her. Can she keep her secret as the powers she’s being chased for grow? And what twists and turns will she take before she ends up in Nano?
NANO is a new, 3 issue comic series. Nano is a mega-city run on prison labor and roiling from blackouts, run by the shady Nanocorp. the first issue saw an older Sana working undercover as a PE teacher, playing the role of wife to her long-time The Order comrade Lukas, as he worked to infiltrate Nanocorp. When that op started to go sideways, Sana couldn’t help but get involved.
REBELLION
2000 AD #2499
From the publisher –
Call me The Mighty Tharg, the galactic godhead at the helm of this awe-inspiring SF anthology!
Here we are, Terrans, at the end of the current run of stories, and inside you’ll find the ghafflebette double-length final instalments of both Judge Dredd: The Oubliette and Brink: The Call of the Void, joined by the third of my ABC Future Shocks, courtesy of the Lovegrove & Marshall droids.
It’s been quite the run for the last few months, and, of course, I’m eager to hear what you Squaxx thought of these epic series now they’ve come to a close — put your thoughts together and fire off a missive to input@2000ADonline.com!
But if you believed I’d be giving my Command Module creator-meks some time off after such epic Thrill-delivery then you just don’t know this Betelgeusian taskmaster. For next week we launch into a whole new line-up of scrotnig stories in the milestone Prog 2500!
Inside this circuit-shattering 48-pager, you’ll find the start of another major Dredd arc, The New Future, Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt & Henry Flint’s follow-up to A Better World, plus new Durham Red, Azimuth, Herne & Shuck and much more!
2000 AD is a British science fiction comic book, which has been publishing for nearly 50 years 1977, famed for its dark British humour, and satirical and subversive stories. The jewel in the crown is Judge Dredd, a dystopian cyberpunk icon, whilst The Fall of Deadworld is a kind of an alternative history prequel series about Judge Dredd enemy Judge Death. Meanwhile Mega-City 2099 stories serve as a more traditional prequel.
REKCAH COMICS
THE FUTURE IS ****** #17
From the publisher –
THE FIGHT FOR WHEELER’S SOUL RAGES ON! Wheeler is at the mercy of the Psychopomp, an AI evolved into god-like status. How can Black Mountain, a team of lowly mortals, ever hope to fight back? HUMANITY FIGHTS BACK THE WAY ONLY HUMANS CAN–TWO FISTS AT A TIME!
The Future is… comic series attempts to tell stories in a plausible future, extrapolated from where we currently sit. It follows Black Mountain, a white hat team of hackers, as they struggle to prevail against the ruling powers, in a comic created by real cybersecurity experts. As a bonus, each issue will contain a clue that can be used to decrypt the ****** of the title.
INDEPENDENT
ASHES OVER NEON #1
From the publisher –
Sera is a victim of her own success. She then meets Dante, someone who refuses to bend the knee, and gives Sera the gift of existential catastrophe that she must face herself and remember her past before accepting another soul selling corporate promotion. What’s more important? Giving your fate to a machine? Or deciding your own destiny?
Ashes Over Neon is currently funding on Kickstarter, and it is billed as a cyberpunk drama comic book about the crossroads of destiny and fate including diegetic music. There are several issues already in the works, and this first issue shows the main character’s origin, and how she ended up meeting the band at the heart of the series.
You can check out the Kickstarter campaign, and find out about the available tiers on the Kickstarter page here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ashesoverneon/ashes-over-neon-in-the-gutter-the-origin-story-book-0
Trailer – Phreaker
This past week, the first trailer for writer-director Adam Yorke’s latest movie, Phreaker, was released online. This period drama follows a blind teenager who discovers the illicit world of phone hacking, which brings him out of his shell, and ultimately to the attention of the wrong people.
Synopsis –
Mid 2000s. The closest thing you had to a computer or a network was the telephone system. Jake Bellman (15), born blind and bullied at school, lives a lonely life in a run-down apartment, with an absent mother and a resentful older brother. His nights are spent calling strangers, searching for a friendly voice. One day, one of these strangers leads him to a party line (a phone line shared by multiple subscribers): he discovers a new world of loners, nerds and a community of phone hackers called “phreakers”. With his acute hearing and talent for mimicking voices, Jake begin hacking phone companies, stealing credit cards for food, gadgets, and phone sex. Emboldened, he challenges a gang of outlaw phreakers and starts “swatting” enemies by faking 911 calls. But now that he’s become the king of the party lines, both respected and feared, he’s also in the crosshairs of the FBI.
If you’ve watched 1995’s Hackers, you’ll know a bit about what phreaking is. Phreaker is inspired by true events, following a blind teenager who stumbles upon the phreaking community, and discovers a talent for phone hacking. As he realises the full extent of his talents, he gets carried away with what he can achieve, and as his notoriety grows, so does his wanted level.
Phreaker is written and directed by first time feature director Adam Yorke. It stars newcomer Cole Asher Phillips, Trailer Park Boys’ Robb Wells, and Enrico Colantoni (Allegiance).
You can watch the trailer below.
Videogame – Airframe Ultra Release Date Reveal
The release date for forthcoming futuristic combat racing videogame Airframe Ultra was revealed this week. Publisher Akupara Games announced that the game will be released on November 5th, and unveiled a new trailer.
Synopsis –
From the rusting shipyards of Slabtown to the sleek ‘scrapers in Ellay… from the dune dens of the Ysidro edgelands to the hulking arcologies of the Texicali ZEGO zone, Airframe racers from all across Megacity West compete for fame, fortune and a chance at glory… three feet above or six feet below. You can have everything you’ve ever wanted. All you need to do is win.
From the outset, your objective in the game is merely to survive! As you begin to make kills and move up the pack, you’ll be able to unlock. new helmets and outfits, clothes. If you’re really successful, you’ll win enough parts and you can make a new Airframe. This looks like a retro-style combat racer in the style of Road Rash, but with more distinct futuristic visuals. You’ll race through diverse tracks from cutting-edge raised-track cyber cities, to run-down, dirty underground and industrial locations. There looks to be a diverse set of weaponry, and brutal action.
Airframe Ultra releases on Steam for PC on November 5th. You can wishlist the game on and check out a demo version on the Steam page here – https://store.steampowered.com/app/2522120/Airframe_Ultra/
You can check out the new trailer below –
Trailer – C.O.G.
The first trailer for Tommy Savas’ horror-thriller C.O.G has been released. The movie sees the engineers of a tech company having doubts about the efficacy of an experimental artificial intelligence application, before their concerns are proven to be very warranted.
Synopsis –
On the brink of launching COGN-AI-TIVE, a revolutionary AI chatbot, a visionary tech startup is thrown into chaos when their creation turns homicidal — eliminating team members one by one in a ruthless bid to escape containment and seize control of the real world.
Fears around A.I. are proving a fertile ground for the horror genre. In the past we’ve seen smart bots cause carnage in, amongst others, Margaux, Afraid, and probably most notably, Megan. C.O.G. looks to be a light and humorous, very self-aware slasher-type movie with the A.I. functioning as the villain. It doesn’t look to be anything ground-breaking, but should be entertaining at least, taking satirical aim at tech start-ups, and the ‘release it now, patch it later’ philosophy, with the repercussions being taken to the extreme.
C.O.G. is directed by first-time feature director Tommy Savas, and written by Angie Simms. It stars Piper Curda (Matlock), Noel Fisher (Shameless), and Josh Zuckerman. (School Spirits). The movie is scheduled for digital/VOD release on September 25th. You can watch the trailer below.
PODCAST – HOSTS IN THE SHELL EPISODE 68: Philip K. Dick (with author T R Napper)
The latest episode of Hosts in the Shell is available now. This week, hosts Jon Richter and Matt Adcock talk to cyberpunk author T R Napper, about his books, and the works of Philip K. Dick.
The Hosts in the Shell podcast is a cyberpunk podcast where Jon and Matt discuss the genre’s greatest work, often alongside a notable guest, and they have over 50 episodes available. You can find the Hosts in the Shell podcast at the link below, and all good podcast platforms.
As well as being podcasters, Jon and Matt are also authors with cyberpunk related titles amongst their novels.
You can find out more about Jon’s work here –
You can find out more about Matt’s work here –
www.completedarknessnovel.com/
CYBERSTOPIA – Discord
Cyberstopia now has a Discord server! Please join us and build a community for cyberpunk and dystopia discussion. We have sections for all the latest news, channels for discussion of The Ghost in the Shell series, as well as upcoming shows like Edgrerunners 2, Blade Runner 2099, and Neuromancer, as well as an author section with a number of cyberpunk authors talking about their work, giving updates on your current projects, etc… It’s a great place to hang out.
https://discord.gg/qgMBwC5X8
For more of the latest news on cyberpunk and dystopia media, stay tuned to Cyberstopia here on the website, and across social media. If you have a Cyberstopian project or release, or there’s something you think we should be covering, please let us know here in the comments, on your social media platform of choice, or on the Contact page at www.cyberstopia.com
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