[exelius]

Yeah; that's what I meant about "dumbing down" the movie. I agree that Ghost in the Shell in all of its iterations is heavy on exposition -- which makes it a difficult show for audiences to get into.

I also agree about your point about Westworld -- I think Ghost in the Shell could be pulled off as a live-action TV series because the exposition could be spread out across a whole season. Because it often doesn't have a guaranteed global market at the time of production, anime in general tends to be a balance between ambition and budget -- the compromise often being "recap" or "expositional" episodes focused on one or two characters (fewer voice actors to worry about) and using recycled animation. I get why they do it, but it's frustrating.