IMDB’s description
Hired as a mercenary unit, the former members of Japan’s elite Section 9 are faced with the sudden appearance of “Post-Human,” a being with tremendous intelligence and physical capabilities.
This is the new Ghost in the Shell series on Netflix. SAC stands for Stand Alone Complex, which is an alternate continuity to the main stream versions people might be familiar with from the original Anime movie or from the recent 2017 live action version. This continuity is different in that section 9 has apparently been disbanded, with most of its members working as mercenaries in various countries. A new global threat to humanity, called “Post-Humans” surfaces, and this brings the team back together under the Japanese government to recreate Section 9.
For me, the animation is mostly okay. There are a few times it feels clunky or low budget. This strangely seems to happen in slow story building parts, as the action scenes all seem to have very good animation. The animation style isn’t my favorite, but typically isn’t distracting.
The primary antagonists, the “Post-Humans,” are surprisingly complex. Each one has its own motivations. Meaning that rather than them being a cohesive group with a single goal, each one is operating on their own personal experiences and sense of morality. I look forward to seeing the continued development of these people.
Perhaps the most annoying part of the show is that half of the time, people are communicating telepathically (wirelessly using their in-brain computers) while the other half are speaking. This makes it feel like the animators were just too lazy to move their lips. Combine that with the English dub, it often feels like the voices are not connected to the characters, because their lips are way off, or not moving at all during conversations.
Overall a good series. At this time it is planned to be a 2 season series. Looking online some critics have said it isn’t as good as the original SAC DVDs. As a person coming in who was unaware of other versions, I found it completely accessible. Although I did wonder how it fell into the continuity of the movie (answer, it doesn’t).