Netflix Announces Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045’s Second Season

The first season of Netflix’s Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 was, to put it mildly, a train wreck thanks to its underwhelming CG animation and muddled storyline. As I wrote in my review back in 2020:

SAC_2045 can’t make up its mind about what it’s about. Is it an exploration of a ruined world living under “sustainable warfare”? Is it about Section 9’s efforts to combat the post-human threat? Is it a critique of online justice? Or a jab at American imperialism? Plot lines are explored and then abandoned. New characters are introduced and then relegated to annoyingly peripheral roles while classic characters do nothing but take up space. By the time the season ends on a cliffhanger, the cliffhanger has been set up so poorly that it feels like nonsense.

So why, then, am I writing anything about the recently announced second season? Because this is Ghost in the Shell we’re talking about, and I’m contractually obligated to be interested. Or maybe I’m just a sucker. But given the talent involved — directors Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki, writer Dai Sato — I have to believe that something good will eventually emerge. Right?

I guess we’ll find out in May, when Netflix begins streaming Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045’s second season.