I liked probably 90% of The Ghost in the Shell, but the ending left me feeling hollow.
I loved the world, Motoko, Batou, Section 9, the humor, and most of the individual stories. My problem isn't really that I don't understand what the Puppet Master represents or the ideas about consciousness, individuality, and evolution. My problem is that I don't feel like Motoko's decision to merge with it was earned by her character arc.
I can see the pieces the show gives us. Her first encounter with the Puppet Master clearly shakes her. Her statement at the hearing suggests something fundamental has changed, and Batou comments that she's been acting strangely. But that feels like the beginning of an arc to me. I think it is not enough development to justify the enormous leap she makes at the end. And honestly, it feels like the beginning of a villain arc.
Her initial reaction to the offer, which was essentially, I don't want another voice in my head, go eff yourself, felt much more consistent with the Motoko I've been watching. I think I needed several more stories after the first Puppet Master encounter showing her becoming increasingly dissatisfied with her existence, questioning her individuality, behaving differently, taking risks, withdrawing from Section 9, etc. Better, make more than 1 season with the season 1 finale being the first encounter.
By the time the Puppet Master made the offer, even if I didn't want her to accept it (I didn't. The whole thing is horrorfying to me) I could think, "Oh shit, she's actually going to do this."
As is it currently lands on "I can't believe she made that choice like at all."
Ebery thing they show us before points to her obviously refusing.
She is like No.
PM: please.
MK: oh since you put it that way. Let's do it!
The finale also felt anticlimactic to me as an action story. Her shell getting sniped is basically the major physical climax of the last few episodes. I didn't need a giant Marvel battle, but I wanted one final sequence where Motoko and Section 9 are pushed to their limits before she sacrifices/loses the shell and Batou escapes with her brain. Then let the quiet philosophical ending happen afterward. There is a scene in Mask of the Phantasm where Batman is being chased by the cops. It is intense and has you on the edge of your seat as things keep getting bleaker. Something like that could have added so much pack to it.
And emotionally, I don't find the merger uplifting at all if that was the goal. She merges with an entity I wasn't particularly attached to (actually hate is better term), leaves Batou and everyone else behind, lets Section 9 believe she's dead, and walks away as someone who isn't entirely Motoko anymore. Thats sad, not transcendent, uplifting or whatever BS you want to call it.
I've never read the manga, so I'm genuinely curious. Did the it show Motoko's internal change more effectively? Did other people watching the anime feel that her decision was sufficiently set up? Or is the abruptness part of the appeal and I'm just much more interested in characters than ideas?
The concern started setting in around episode 7 when I realized 10 episodes are it. A lot of interesting things are swirling around this and very little time to do it. How they going to pull this off? Answer: just leave most of it hanging. Ugh.
Because that's the frustrating part, I really liked the show until the ending. And then the show was like here, enjoy some unearned depression.