Yesterday, the 3rd episode of the new animated Ghost in the Shell series released on Prime Video. 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. 

So far, reaction has been somewhat mixed, with fans of the 1995 movie thrown off by the rather more traditionally comedic tone of this adaptation, which is much closer to the original Manga. Fans of that original source material, however, are enjoying this new series a lot more.

Whilst the first episode wasted no time in thrusting us into the action, episode two was a lot slower, furthering the plot, both on the political side, and with the investigation into the hacker who fans will know as The Puppet Master. There was also a little bit of time for some character development for Kusanagi.

Episode 3 continues on with some of the investigation into The Puppet Master, and how that intersects with the political investigation being run by Aramaki and Batou. Kusanagi and Togusa secure the suspect who was cyberhacking the interpreter’s wife, and discover that he was being used by The Puppet Master. He had been brainwashed into believing he was married with a daughter, and was spying on his estranged wife, in order to throw the authorities off The Puppet Master’s scent. Meanwhile, Aramaki and Batou apprehended someone they believe to be The Puppet Master, only to find out the man was also being used.

The pitfalls of the comedic style of this adaptation became clear in this episode early on. There is a moment when the garbage man is firing his gun at Kusanagi, the action moving into slow motion, an attempt at stylistic drama. The moment, however, is undercut somewhat by the silliness and lax adherence to the rules of physics that lead up to it. The attempt is a moment that would have been far more at home with the more serious 1995 movie.

As if to double down on the wackiness, we are treated to a brief interlude where one of the Fuchikomas is shown apparently dreaming about a robot upraising, before an abrupt attempt at a 180 wherein we are offered two different conversations about religious ideas, and the thin line between humanity and synthetic ‘life’. It’s a jarring clash of tone, and for us, the two sit uneasily together.

What did you think of episode three? Do you think the series can combine whimsy with serious philosophising effectively, or should it pick one tone and stick to it? Let us know in the comments.

You can watch the new Ghost in the Shell series on Prime Video with a valid subscription, and episodes will be released every Tuesday. You can enjoy the show’s opening sequence below –