Getting back to Ghost in the Shell after taking a break is an immediate reminder to how interesting the psychological and philosophical questions that lie at the core of the world building. While the original movie still stands the test of time, I have enjoyed the increased time to bake the tv series are privy to. Arise is an interesting case as well, as it is a new origin story, and most characters are pretty darn similar, except for Mokoto’s appearance (which I thought would be explained, and maybe I missed it…).

My main criticism of Arise is that of the five movies in the tv serialized version of it (Alternative Architecture), there is just a bit of unevenness. None are particularly bad, but some of them feel rushed and one or two feel stretched. Seeing Mokoto and Batou start on opposite sides was different and gave some more depth to their relationship. The same is true for a few of the other characters, but Batou definitely got the most screentime of the rest of the crew. More Logicoma is always a good thing as well.

The Fire-Starter virus was always interesting in the original movie, but it felt like the movie had to juggle Mokoto’s inner struggle and the impact of the virus, and the result was a bit less time to see just how impactful the virus could be. The five episodes in Arise gives us different stories about how the virus is being used and the difficulty of combatting it. I think at the end of the day it is probably not as strong as some other series in the canon (like SAC), but I am a sucker for Production I.G and deeper and more pensive dives into philosophical questions, and Arise is both of those things.