[underbluewaters]

For me, both the film and the series are excellent but entirely separate works. The film perfectly captures Motoko's world through imagery and music. Her existence is all about isolation and introspection, punctuated by chaotic violence. You get a visceral impression of what it's like to be one of the first transhumans.

The series breaks from this pacing and overall impressionistic presentation. It has plenty of time for developing more characters and a complex story. The Motoko in GitS is so different that she's almost a different character, and while that sort of fits the narrative of the movie I don't think that was the intention. To be honest I got bored with some of more procedural episodes, and the long-running complex plot could be really confusing. The characterization of Batou and the Tachikomas is really interesting though, and the action sequences become much more compelling after you feel like you have more invested in the characters.