TV – The Ghost in the Shell Final Thoughts
Last week, the 10th and final episode of the new animated Ghost in the Shell series released on Prime Video, concluding the season, and maybe the series. The new animated series was 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 first few episodes, we had the inception of Section 9, after a bit of a false start, then a couple of cases of mistaken identity with regards to The Puppet Master. 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. Then episode 10 concluded the story, with The Puppet Master looking for help to preserve their existence, and further ‘evolve’, suggesting merging with The Major’s consciousness, who agreed to the proposal. Once back in a physical body, The Major left Batou and Section 9 behind, to explore a whole new world.
From the very first episode, reactions to the new series were mixed. Fans of the original Manga were delighted with the similarities in style and tone to the source material. The new series was hand drawn, the characters looked exactly as they were originally drawn, and the tone was a lot more comedic, as writer and illustrator Masamune Shirow had intended. Many fans of the 1995 movie, however, were not as impressed. That 90’s movie is a lot more serious in tone, and does not have the wackiness of the Manga, or the new series. This was, for many, quite a jarring difference, and some immediately turned off.
The first couple of episodes, where the series was finding its feet, and setting up its premise, were a little structurally disjointed. Bouncing around between locations, characters, and story elements, it was a little disorienting, and so many new characters, names, and information made them tricky to follow. Again, this first impression would have lost the show a decent number of viewers.
At this point, online discourse revolved around the differences between this adaptation and the 90s movie, and how some of the plot elements were hard to follow. Once the show hit its stride, though, some of these problems were resolved. There were a number of standalone story episodes around the middle of the run, and these were arguably the best of the episodes. They followed a linear progression, with a set-up at the beginning of the episode, some investigation and conflict, and then a resolution at the finale. Discussion about the series was at this point a lot more positive, with many of those not enamoured by the tone checked out anyway, and others getting used to the tonal shift, and enjoying the episodes.
A throughline of the series, though, is a difficulty following exactly what was going on. There are a lot of names, characters, organisations, fictional countries, and criminal groups mentioned over the course of the series, some which recur, and some that are never heard about again. This can make it tricky to follow, and as a viewer you can remain off-balance trying to keep up with the political machinations, and the ramifications of the events that are happening.
This is where the real dichotomy of the series lies. It is, in terms of animation, tone, and wacky humour, very much in keeping with other anime series. This means that, in theory, it appeals more to general anime fans. Viewers who were more into the serious tone of the 1995 movie, and harder edge, serious cyberpunk in general are not accustomed to the general tone of anime. This series combines action with wacky humour, flights of whimsy, and some downright silliness with some of the hi-jinks of the Fuchikomas.
However, this Ghost in the shell series covers a lot of serious ground. The violence is brutal, and the protagonists are not necessarily heroic in the traditional sense. Suspects are gunned down rather than caught, captured, and brought to justice. There is a heavily political bent to proceedings, as well as a lot of existentialist exploration about human identity, consciousness, and where the line sits between the physical, the digital, and the spiritual. These are heady topics not necessarily explored as much in mainstream anime, leaving a decent percentage of the general audience scratching their heads.
Can a series straddle that line and appeal to both sides? The jury is out on that. There has been plenty of conversation about the show in various forums, Reddit, and social media. The most enthusiastic discourse I have seen, however, has been about shots of Motoko Kusanagi’s butt from the series. It is not a good sign when the largest area of common ground between mainstream anime fans and hardcore cyberpunk fans around the series is how hot the animated protagonist is. That’s not to judge people’s interests, but it’s not really the crux of the series, or what the producers would have hoped people would focus on.
It is difficult to judge the success of the series. Prime Video do not really release ratings, and as a global property, it would be difficult to know what would be considered a success and what wouldn’t with regards to viewing figures. A sure mark of the effectiveness of the show would be if a second season is announced, but actually I have no idea if this was ever a consideration. The series wrapped up the Puppet Master arc, The Major left section 9 behind to explore the world, and discover her new self, so it was left at a natural stopping point. There are definitely more stories that can be told, but only time will tell whether they will be or not. Until and/or unless that happens, this Ghost in the Shell series sits as an interesting experiment, as entertaining to some as it was frustrating to others.
What were your ultimate thoughts on the series? Please let us know in the comments.
Trailer – Bag Lady
The first teaser for Bag Lady, Writer Director Eric Jacobus’ scifi action thriller short, was released this past week. Created by a team of stunt professionals, the movie promises paranoia, and expertly crafted, bone-crunching action choreography.
Synopsis –
In Bag Lady, written and directed by Eric Jacobus, vagrant and professional drinker Bender (Eric Jacobus) and his delusional, conspiracy-theorizing brother Skee (Phill Kismartoni) stumble upon a pair of weird sunglasses in a dumpster. To Bender’s shock, the glasses reveal a horrifying truth: the local homeless population is being systematically replaced by deadly corporate androids deployed by the mega-contractor Polycorp.
Joined by Mike (Stevie Erwin), a stressed-out corporate security guard whose life is on the line if he loses the glasses, the trio uncovers a suburban replacement program. After waging a chaotic, household-destroying battle against robotic doppelgängers—culminating in a brutal showdown against the ultimate recycling machine, the Bag Lady herself (Thekla Hutyrova)—the heroes must rely on raw grit, trash-sorting distractions, and brotherhood to survive. Featuring a mind-bending introduction by Thekla Hutyrova, Bag Lady blends high-concept sci-fi paranoia with bone-crunching, practical martial arts chaos.
Writer director Eric Jacobus is a gameplay performer for Kratos in God of War, star of Blindsided, Death Grip, the cult hit Contour, and the renowned Rope-A-Dope series. He is joined by fellow action professionals Phill Kismartoni, Stevie Erwin, and Danny Shepherd. With all this stunt action experience involved, the movie promises to offer exciting action, planned out by people at the top of their game, who know their limits, and what looks good on camera. This enables them to eschew generic CGI, instead employing practical action techniques.
It’s not just about the action, though, the movie also has a comedic tone. The high-tech glasses at the centre of the plot are clearly inspired by classic action horror comedy They Live, but this time instead of alien invaders, the glasses instead reveal a secret corporate robot takeover. Wearable tech has graduated from scifi concept to practical reality in recent years. Along with the the upcoming movie Glasses, the trailer for which we posted last week, Bag Lady looks at the applications and implications for such technology, in the wake of failed experiments like Google Glass.
The trailer is purely just a small teaser for the full short film – Bag Lady is an official selection of the Big Bad Film Fest and Haymaker Fest, and it is currently touring the festival circuit. We are told that the full feature film is coming soon.
You can watch the teaser below –
Book – Solo Q: Echoes in the Void
This past week, Echoes in the Void, the new TTRPG Productivity Planner from Solo Q, went live on Kickstarter. This all in one system allows you to blend RPG mechanics with real life progress to enable you to gamify your goals and make life more fun.
From the publisher –
SoloQ: Echoes in the Void is an immersive solo tabletop role-playing game and productivity planner set in a dangerous cyberpunk noir world with you at the center.
You wake as J. Doe, a disembodied consciousness hunted by an unknown enemy. With Vex, Torque, and Jackie in your corner, you’ll dig through corruption, encrypted fortresses, and ugly truths. Echoes in the Void includes a full storyline with six dungeons, boss battles, and random encounters that tie directly into your personal journey.
Blend RPG mechanics with real-life progress so your goals stop floating in the void. You don’t “fall off the wagon.” You take damage, learn, and come back upgraded.
Solo Q is a productivity planner system that turns meeting your daily goals into a game. Their existing planner, Whispers of the Tides, is a planner with a fantasy theme, and Solo Q have now turned their attention to the new hot genre, cyberpunk. With Echoes in the Void, you get a fully designed metro map, a double-sided character card bookmark, 52 undated weekly spreads, 12 monthly overviews, 12 illustrated random encounters, 12 Terminal Hack mobile mini games, and 3 boss fights, as part of 1 epic story.
You begin by creating a character, giving them a backstory, and defining your big objective for the year. Every month, you can set small challenges based on attributes, whilst using the monthly pages to keep track of plans, events, and tasks. The pages are undated, so nothing is wasted if you miss a month, and include an additional habit tracker.
Echoes in the Void functions as an RPG, and uses daily challenges to level up. Each day, you roll your dice, and if you fail the test, you are prompted to complete one or more small tasks to boost your score, and beat the day. There are random encounters that take the form of logic puzzles, which come with illustrated stories.
The story chapters in the book allow you to make narrative choices, complete skill checks, take on heists, and find clues in an attempt to unravel the mystery at hand, advancing the story. The boss battles require you to plan ahead, and work under pressure. You’ll use the party at your disposal for hacking, fighting, and ultimately defeating your enemies, winning powerful rewards in the process.
There are a number of reward tiers, which you can find on the Kickstarter page, along with a video, and more details on the planner –
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/730700135/soloq-echoes-in-the-void
Comic – 16-09-26 Releases
We take a look at this week’s cyberpunk and dystopian comic releases.
REBELLION
2000 AD #2500
From the publisher –
JUMP ONBOARD WITH 2000 AD HERE! An all-new lineup for the landmark 2500th issue of The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic reveals a major shake-up for Judge Dredd’s Mega-City One brewing in The New Future, the follow-up to A Better World; vampire bounty hunter Durham Red arrives on a casino world in Hungry City; Dexter and co cross dangerous seas in Azimuth: How to Train Your Dagon; Herne & Shuck sets their sights on the organisation St Michael; and we learn the truth behind the world of Ghosted as it returns for its second series!
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.
JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #496
From the publisher –
With The Black Tower finally at an end, Judge Dredd returns to the streets of Mega-City One! In the action-packed story Rojimbo, Dredd once again brings Justice and Law to the Lawless… whether they want it or not! Elsewhere in the Megazine, “Lawless” continues, as Metta Lawson attempts to keep the small backwater town of Badrock together in the face of the giant corporations who want to see it ground into the dirt — whilst “Mega-City 2099” tells new stories from the early days of Judge Dredd’s days on the city beat! This explosive edition of the Megazine also features the continuing adventure of the Genetic Infantryman “Rogue Trooper” on Nu-Earth; the supernatural dangers of the Psi-Powered “Storm Warning”; alongside new features, interviews, and more!
Sister publication to 2000 AD, offering more Judge Dredd, more Mega-City 2099, as well as Rogue Trooper, a military scifi making its way to cinema screens soon with Duncan Jones’ movie adaptation (release date not yet determined).
IMAGE COMICS
THE LAST DRIVER #1 (2nd printing)
From the publisher –
AMERICA, THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE—NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE…EXCEPT FOR HIM! As technology in America advanced, cities began creating the GRID—a robotic transportation system that not only made cars obsolete, it made them illegal. But an outlaw named “Clutch” has no choice but to get behind the wheel one more time. What starts out as a race to save his granddaughter’s life quickly turns into a rebellion against technology, fascism, and the future of a divided America.
The Last Driver is a brand new comic series, created by Sean Murphy. It’s a gritty love letter to the classic American road stories, a Mad Max for the cyberpunk genre. High octane, 100 mph, playing like a last hurrah for driving without care before the process is completely sanitised by automation.
IGNITION PRESS
ARCADIA #4
From the publisher –
Halu and Fix are still holed up in the military base nestled deep in the snowy mountains where they got stuck on the way to Arcadia.
The soldiers let them inside the compound to protect them from the dangers that existed outside, but the longer they stay, the more they realise the danger may be in there with them.
From the Eisner-nominated Miranda Brothers, creators of We Live, comes the latest pitstop on their epic sci-fi journey.
Featuring a variant cover by Andy MacDonald, artist on If Destruction Be Our Lot and Murder Podcast.
The Arcadia series is set in a future without humanity. A new form of life has emerged from Superdragons, mysterious technological chrysalises. These beings, the Serants, store their consciousness in a biotechnical core known as a pearl. The series follows Halu as he searches for the mythical Arcadia.
Trailer – The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
A new trailer was released this week for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. This prequel to the original Hunger Games series, following a young Haymitch as he enters the arena, is scheduled for a November 20th release.
Synopsis –
From acclaimed director Francis Lawrence, THE HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING follows sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) from District 12, beginning on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, the biggest Games yet with twice as many tributes.
Set in the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, the story follows Haymitch into the arena, where he forms an unlikely alliance with fellow tribute Maysilee Donner (Mckenna Grace) and joins a coalition determined to challenge the Capitol’s control under President Snow (Ralph Fiennes). As the competition unfolds, Haymitch risks everything to take down the Games from within the arena — setting in motion the rebellion that will change Panem forever.
Based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, THE HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING also stars Jesse Plemons, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke, Whitney Peak, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Produced by Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and Francis Lawrence. Screenplay by Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie.
The success of The Hunger Games novel and movies has led to a number of planned spin-offs. The original movie hit a worldwide gross of some $700M, the sequel Catching Fire hit $865M, and then the following concluding movies dropped back down, but the series ended before diminishing returns really became an issue. 2023’s The first spin-off movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, halved that with only $360M worldwide, but that relative flop seemingly didn’t dampen Lionsgate’s appetite for more. Where that prequel movie only featured the future president Snow amongst its crossover characters, Sunrise on the Reaping brings the action closer to the original movie series. Set 24 years before Katniss entered the arena, along with Snow, we follow a young Haymitch, District 12’s representative introduced as mentor in The Hunger Games series, as well as younger versions of a number of original series characters. Lionsgate are probably hoping this closer proximity to the 2010’s movies will result in better box office numbers, and a rumoured flash forward featuring original characters Katniss and Peeta seems to be their insurance policy.
You can see the new trailer below.
Book – Tapeworld Induction
Geraldo Nascimento’s cyberpunk romantic thriller Tapeworld Induction was released today. It follows an ex-sport star, and the daughter of infamous revolutionaries, whose burgeoning relationship is tested when they stumble upon a conspiracy whilst exploring the mysterious Tapeworld.
Synopsis –
London, 2060. The climate crisis is over. The corporations won.
ReSports champion Isaak never expected his career to end with a shattered knee. Now he makes a living pulling dangerous heists inside the TAPEWORLD – a hidden virtual reality where every mission carries real consequences.
Dylan has spent her life preparing to follow in her revolutionary parents’ footsteps. Instead, she’s stuck working a dead-end government job, wondering if she’ll ever have the chance to change the world.
When a night out brings her face-to-face with the man she’s admired for years, Isaak introduces her to the TAPEWORLD. But what begins as an escape from their problems quickly becomes a fight for survival as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens both the virtual world and reality itself.
Hunted by ruthless tech corporations, Isaak and Dylan must battle impossible odds – and their feelings for each other – before the people controlling the future erase them both.
Tapeworld Induction is a tale of romance, virtual worlds, and corporate corruption. In that way, it’s a perfectly well-rounded cyberpunk story. The protagonists of the story, Isaak and Dylan, are two good-hearted people drifting through life without a rudder. Both are, in a way, trying to escape their respective legacies. Isaak was a celebrity, a successful sports star. Whilst he was in it, he must have felt like he was at life’s pinnacle. When that came crashing down, through no fault of his own, he was immediately and hopelessly lost. Dylan, on the other hand, has never managed to escape the shadow of her parents, a pair of infamous activists. The life she lives is coloured by everything that they were, that they stood for, and she’s never quite managed to step out and find her own convictions, her own purpose.
When the two of them meet, neither is in a good place, but both are looking for… something. Whether that ‘something’ is each other is unclear at first. Tapeworld Induction is a romantic story, but it isn’t a mass produced romance novel. Both characters are heavily flawed, no-one’s ideal of a companion. They’re not two perfect specimens, that just need the length of a novel to realise their compatibility. That’s what makes the story authentic and compelling – though the world of the book is fantastical, it is grounded by its two very human main characters. You can buy into their relationship, its ups and downs, whether you are interested in the cyberpunk thriller narrative or not, because you can either see yourself, or someone you know, in one of them. Their relationship is awkward, in the way they talk at cross purposes, or misunderstand each other’s intentions. It is also confronted by additional barriers because of the plot of the story – navigating a new relationship is difficult at the best of times, let alone when there is a grand corporate conspiracy playing out in a mysterious virtual world at the same time.
It is this conspiracy that drives the plot of the story, but we’re not thrown into that immediately. We are introduced, much like Dylan, into the Tapeworld slowly. Session by session, the secrets of the Tapeworld are shown to us, and every time we visit, we find out something new. This constantly evolving understanding of the nature of this world keeps us, as a reader, unbalanced. The weirdness of the way the user enter the world immediately suggests a menace about it, an unworldly surrealism that hints at a level of threat that isn’t obvious on the surface. Our two heroes are not necessarily unaware of this potential danger, but they are too wrapped up in the excitement of it, and each other, to let it stop them. They probably do realise that it can’t possibly be a safe state to exist in, but they don’t want to admit to themselves that it may be harmful. Because they’re having too much fun. The outside world is difficult for them to navigate, but inside the Tapeworld, they can be themselves. The best versions of themselves.
Both Isaak and Dylan have a desire to forge a new path in life, and when the threat within the Tapeworld begins to show itself, they are given that opportunity. Neither is fully aware of the rules of this new struggle, but still manage to rise to the challenge. The conspiracy at hand is the exact catalyst they need to move on to the next stage of their lives, but in order for that to happen, they must survive it. And that’s when the plot really ramps up. It turns out the heists he has been pulling in the Tapeworld have consequences, and as the danger to their lives increases, the pair are forced into bringing friends and allies into the situation with them, raising the stakes, and ensuring that they can no longer just walk away from the danger.
Tapeworld Induction builds to a thrilling finale that very effectively pays off all that has gone before it. It is well constructed, fast moving, with a satisfying ending that ties in the struggles of Isaak and Dylan, enabling both to face their personal demons, and find catharsis. This is possibly the greatest success of the novel. The seamless integration of the characters, their backstories, their personal journeys, and the world built over the course of the novel is masterful, and clearly the result of a lot of hard work and planning on the part of author Geraldo Nascimento. The setting of the novel, its political climate, and the make-up of the world are introduced and explored over the course of the novel, but never explained in an info dump, leaving plenty more to learn in future stories. The mechanics of the Tapeworld are not explained, with the story taking priority, and whether that will be frustrating or not is down to personal preference. Again, though, it leaves scope for subsequent Tapeworld novels to explore, and fill in the blanks. If there are to be further novels set in the Tapeworld, we are eager to re-enter the world and discover more, which should be more than enough recommendation to check this story out.
Tapeworld Induction is available now, in paperback and ebook formats.
PODCAST – HOSTS IN THE SHELL EPISODE 68: Fallout (Season 2)
The latest episode of Hosts in the Shell is available now. This week, hosts Jon Richter and Matt Adcock discuss the Prime Video series Fallout, season two.
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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