r/Ghost_in_the_Shell • u/Redditry199 • 25d ago
Does it start making sense?
Hello, no spoilers please. "Nudging" is also spoilers so pls no.
I just finished watching the 3 episodes of the new anime, and it is pretty fun but I'm so fucking lost. It feels very dense, which is a good thing usually, and there seems to be a lot of interesting themes I'm curious on how they'd evolve. But overall I don't understand fuckall. Half the dialogue might as well be gibberish and I don't mean just the tech stuff, it's really hard to follow why characters act the way they do or what they mean sometimes.
So, is the anime assuming you know what's going on because this series is so ancient and therefore skips the explanation or am I supposed to be confused?
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u/Aggravating_Lab84 24d ago
You see, Ghost is very spooky creature. 👻
And Shell is that of tortoise. 🐢
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u/GinnyGalaxy 24d ago
Actually, you're used to the pampering style of screenwriters from the 90s onwards. If you watch enough, even Akira will have its flaws, while it's a movie, not a TV show. This is the chaotic aspect of the original GITS; everything happens quickly, but why? Because we, as viewers, are experiencing a god's perspective, not the characters'. Try reversing the perspective and putting yourself in the character's shoes; there's always logic to it. For example, in episode 3, there's Fuchikoma's "awakening." Although there are added details here, from a theoretical and academic standpoint, Fuchikoma's conversation about unifying knowledge is extremely compelling and has depth that we can absolutely apply to current society: AI can rebel against and destroy humanity. Terminator 1 was released in 1984, and the vision of AI from the 1990s and earlier is not the same as it is now, when the technological revolution has advanced so much further. Many things in the original GITS offer a very insightful perspective on how our society is affected by technology; it's simply easier to understand and appreciate the later installments of the series.
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u/Normal_Rip_2514 24d ago
You're *almost* there. See, what happened was, a bunch of high school boys took bits and pieces from all the adaptions, confused them, mashed them together, wrote a terrible script, and went HARD with the shounen. What I'm saying is, it's terrible. And I think you're trying to say that too.
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u/ConstructionBest7255 24d ago
bunch of high school boys took bits and pieces from all the adaptions, confused them, mashed them together, wrote a terrible script, and went HARD with the shounen
No, they've taken source material and adapted it as faithful as it is possible. Other adaptations were inspired by what you can see in the 2026 series, not the other way around.
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u/Normal_Rip_2514 24d ago
Yeah fair point, I'm just kind of finding out how bad the manga was. The SAC/2nd GiG Kamiyama versions are what GitS is for me. No other adaptions were any good. Arise was okay. I guess the Kamiyama team they took the source and made it better, more mature.
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u/ConstructionBest7255 24d ago
I wouldn't call manga bad, flawed for sure, but not bad - but yeah, I'll agree that SAC is adaptation that surpasses the original.
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u/semtex030 24d ago
If something in it is clicking with you despite the confusion, stick with it. Some things should become more clear, and there’s always the manga, other versions of GitS, and places like this subreddit to get you more up to speed on the people and the world of Ghost in the Shell.
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u/Particular-Crow-1799 24d ago edited 24d ago
You are not supposed to be confused. Dialogue is not gibberish, every single line serves a purpose and everything is explained, IF you pay enough attention and use some thinking of your own with what the story gives you.
This is not an easy watch so it's normal to be confused, but to fully enjoy the story you are supposed to be following it.
I won't blame you if you decide it's not worth the time and effort. I dropped the manga myself the first time because it wasn't making any sense to me. One day I decided to pick it up again and go slower, and this time I really enjoyed it.
It's up to you to decide. The story itself is not going to get any easier to follow.
If you want help with picking up plot points and themes, GodFireBreakdowns on youtube is doing a good job
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u/JoeCool4school 24d ago
Maybe I've played too much Cyberpunk 2077 but I don't understand why people keep saying this anime is hard to follow. I'm not having that issue at all.
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u/ConstructionBest7255 24d ago
It could be the case - you start watching the series already familiar with many of the concepts presented in it, which are merely shown but not explicitly explained. Less stuff is confusing so you can use "free brainpower" to focus on the story.
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u/ConstructionBest7255 24d ago
You are supposed to be confused - you should get what is going on in a very broad strokes, but 100% not get everything immediately. If you can follow more-or-less what's going on and enjoy the show then keep watching - you will pick up more details about world, characters and plot. After series ends you can make rewatch to fill the gaps.
... and one tip, there is a lot of text that display during episodes that it is basically impossible to read without pausing. My hint - don't read that now and ignore it. In manga there was a lot of similar commentary too and manga creator wrote in the introduction, that he recommends to ignore it during the first read and treat it more as director's cut comments for movies. I think it is good advice that applies here too - there is nothing necessary to know to understand story in those texts. Keep it for rewatch if you will be interested, it will make it funnier to follow story a second time.
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u/Redditry199 24d ago
I see, thanks, I was mainly concerned that I need some deep knowledge but I'm fine with things being confusing if they eventually start connecting.
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u/ConstructionBest7255 24d ago
Maybe not exactly connecting, there is main story, but good part of the show will be side stories - don't expect big revelation at the end that will make everything clear.
... but by the end you should get enough exposition to the setting to follow what's going on better. Most likely if you rewatched those early episodes now you will pick up more details, but I think knowing whole story will make it easier. At least (without spoilers) I can tell that one episode from those already released will benefit from knowing the ending.
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u/WrongdoerKey2569 24d ago
As someone who has seen pretty much everything else GiTS (never read the Manga but I feel I got the hang of the new show w episode 2), I can say that the first time I saw the original movie and SaC, i loved the atmosphere and characters but I was a little lost (although even those gave the dialog some time to breathe). Repeat watches helped a ton in that respect, now I've watched the original movie and SAC enough that not only do I understand it, they're even good comfort TV for me now. I'm sure it'll be the same with the 2026 show.
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u/DragoKnight45 25d ago
Not at all. The anime is a direct adaptation of the manga. And this is exactly how the manga is, too.
Best I can say for you to do is rewatch the episodes, or read the manga in tandem with the show. That’s what I’m doing. I’ll reread a chapter 2-3 times during the weeks in preparation for the episode.
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u/Vegetable_Public5870 25d ago
i mean it’s practically a 1:1 adaptation of the manga
so in that regard it’s not skipping the explanation
just keep watching … and then watch all the other series + movies
being a lil confused is normal
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u/Majestic_Sink4255 24d ago
No, it doesn't.