Let's do this by department.
1: Visual
I have nothing against 3D animation. Not in Anime, not in general. That doesn't change the fact that the first 3D-animated Applessed movie from 15 years ago looks about as good, mostly better than, this. Especially in daylight settings, the low detailed character models and awkward, limited facial animation range from barely passable to 'I've seen PS2 cutscenes that looked far better than this'. (This is not an exaggeration. Go watch some Final Fantasy cutscenes from the PS2 era...)
This improves considerably in action scenes, especially when placed in a darker or even night environments. Animation really shines there.
I don't know if this was an issue of limited budget or an artistic choice, but it's inexcusable in any case.
Knights of Sidonia, Blame, the recent 'Altered Carbon' tie in, Netflix Godzilla animes, hell, some of the original SAC series 3D animation looked better than this, not even to mention the 3D sequences in GitS: Innocence.
Then there's the issue of the world. It feels decidedly empty and without a style to call its own. Gone are the Honkong inspired visuals of the 95 movie or what came after. Gone are east asian inspired weird ass creepy cyborgs. Gone are the stylish clothes. Even the 2017 movie at least nailed an original look. There's nothing here. It looks like nowadays Tokyo with nowadays Tokyo people dressed in nowadays Tokyo people clothes. The sets, outside and inside, with few exceptions seem weirdly empty, barren even, lifeless as the characters inhabiting them. Textures, if there are any follow the same bland style throughout. Flat shaders, black comic outlines done better so often before. Not enough money for decent asset production?
Furthermore, aside from designs mostly taken from earlier iterations, there's barely anything visually stimulating or even original brought to the table by this version. Maybe the robo guarddogs? I liked them. Everything else is 'borrowed' wholesale. Tachikomas, the Section 9 headquarters, etc. Even the net/ hacking visuals look boring. Seen a thousand times before and better at that.
The character designs themselves seem mostly fine to me, just brought low by the mentioned limited animation, details and shading efforts.
Really, the only redeeming visual factor here are a few of the action sequences. They're good. Not all, but some. Standout being the almost episode length sequence in episode 5.
2: Sound
An annoying Opener, a decent Closer, inbetween nothing much except a really enjoyable, appropriately tense 'Bwaaaam' theme going on in the action sequences of the middle episodes. Soundeffects for the weapons are decent as is the voice work. Still, the soundtrack lacks good original pieces. Mostly there's elevator level none music just plunking along or nothing. Ambient sound? What's that? Far cry from earlier iterations.
3: Characters
Mostly fine and recognizable once the first episode is out of the way. Not much to complain here except for the one new addition to the team and I don't mean the american guy from the first half, though he's garbage as well. No. Purin. Purin has nothing to do with this world. She's the amalgamation of every annoying anime girl ever. Whoever thought that was a good idea to add to an otherwise mostly serious anime should be fired. Tachikomas were and are more than enough for comedic relief, as is the team dynamic. (While some might find the Tachikomas annoying as well, I at least always liked the excuse that they're basically curious, easily excitable children. They reamin as adorable (or annoying depending on your view), as ever.)
4: Story and Pacing
OK, the story DOES really pick up shortly before the mid-point, I'll give them that. There actually are a few episodes that feel like the real deal. But then it fizzles out again after 4 ok episodes, ending on a cliffhanger this season really doesn't deserve. It very much feels like half a season (probably because it is) and an unsatisfying one at that.
There's even a Batou filler episode that, while enjoyable and quite funny, this short season really didn't have the time for. This short season needed to hook an audience not putz around. It fails almost spectacularly at that.
Now as I said, there are a few episodes in here that feel really close to the original SACs. There are also a few interesting ideas brought to the table. Sustainable war is a fascinating concept, as are the Spoiler-humans, so there's hope at least, but the twelve available episodes simply don't do that much with it, rather liking to waste the viewers time. Seriously. The first three episodes would have been one in the old series, as would the last two (an as of now boring, clichee, emo arc that actually DARES to end on a cliffhanger).
5: Conclusion
I'm not annoyed enough to drop it, that's the one truly positive thing I can say. There are good ideas here, there's a spark of something with potential, its just very hidden. I do want to know where this leads. I AM absolutely prepared to be disappointed, because good, this is not. Passable fits it better. The characters are recognizable and mostly as likable as ever, as well, but that doesn't change the fact that from a technical side this series is 80% below mediocre garbage. Garbage that almost offensively distracts from the actually good parts. If this would have been visually on par with what came before this still would be a far cry from the old SACs but at least the difference wouldn't scream in my face as much.
1: Visual
I have nothing against 3D animation. Not in Anime, not in general. That doesn't change the fact that the first 3D-animated Applessed movie from 15 years ago looks about as good, mostly better than, this. Especially in daylight settings, the low detailed character models and awkward, limited facial animation range from barely passable to 'I've seen PS2 cutscenes that looked far better than this'. (This is not an exaggeration. Go watch some Final Fantasy cutscenes from the PS2 era...)
This improves considerably in action scenes, especially when placed in a darker or even night environments. Animation really shines there.
I don't know if this was an issue of limited budget or an artistic choice, but it's inexcusable in any case.
Knights of Sidonia, Blame, the recent 'Altered Carbon' tie in, Netflix Godzilla animes, hell, some of the original SAC series 3D animation looked better than this, not even to mention the 3D sequences in GitS: Innocence.
Then there's the issue of the world. It feels decidedly empty and without a style to call its own. Gone are the Honkong inspired visuals of the 95 movie or what came after. Gone are east asian inspired weird ass creepy cyborgs. Gone are the stylish clothes. Even the 2017 movie at least nailed an original look. There's nothing here. It looks like nowadays Tokyo with nowadays Tokyo people dressed in nowadays Tokyo people clothes. The sets, outside and inside, with few exceptions seem weirdly empty, barren even, lifeless as the characters inhabiting them. Textures, if there are any follow the same bland style throughout. Flat shaders, black comic outlines done better so often before. Not enough money for decent asset production?
Furthermore, aside from designs mostly taken from earlier iterations, there's barely anything visually stimulating or even original brought to the table by this version. Maybe the robo guarddogs? I liked them. Everything else is 'borrowed' wholesale. Tachikomas, the Section 9 headquarters, etc. Even the net/ hacking visuals look boring. Seen a thousand times before and better at that.
The character designs themselves seem mostly fine to me, just brought low by the mentioned limited animation, details and shading efforts.
Really, the only redeeming visual factor here are a few of the action sequences. They're good. Not all, but some. Standout being the almost episode length sequence in episode 5.
2: Sound
An annoying Opener, a decent Closer, inbetween nothing much except a really enjoyable, appropriately tense 'Bwaaaam' theme going on in the action sequences of the middle episodes. Soundeffects for the weapons are decent as is the voice work. Still, the soundtrack lacks good original pieces. Mostly there's elevator level none music just plunking along or nothing. Ambient sound? What's that? Far cry from earlier iterations.
3: Characters
Mostly fine and recognizable once the first episode is out of the way. Not much to complain here except for the one new addition to the team and I don't mean the american guy from the first half, though he's garbage as well. No. Purin. Purin has nothing to do with this world. She's the amalgamation of every annoying anime girl ever. Whoever thought that was a good idea to add to an otherwise mostly serious anime should be fired. Tachikomas were and are more than enough for comedic relief, as is the team dynamic. (While some might find the Tachikomas annoying as well, I at least always liked the excuse that they're basically curious, easily excitable children. They reamin as adorable (or annoying depending on your view), as ever.)
4: Story and Pacing
OK, the story DOES really pick up shortly before the mid-point, I'll give them that. There actually are a few episodes that feel like the real deal. But then it fizzles out again after 4 ok episodes, ending on a cliffhanger this season really doesn't deserve. It very much feels like half a season (probably because it is) and an unsatisfying one at that.
There's even a Batou filler episode that, while enjoyable and quite funny, this short season really didn't have the time for. This short season needed to hook an audience not putz around. It fails almost spectacularly at that.
Now as I said, there are a few episodes in here that feel really close to the original SACs. There are also a few interesting ideas brought to the table. Sustainable war is a fascinating concept, as are the Spoiler-humans, so there's hope at least, but the twelve available episodes simply don't do that much with it, rather liking to waste the viewers time. Seriously. The first three episodes would have been one in the old series, as would the last two (an as of now boring, clichee, emo arc that actually DARES to end on a cliffhanger).
5: Conclusion
I'm not annoyed enough to drop it, that's the one truly positive thing I can say. There are good ideas here, there's a spark of something with potential, its just very hidden. I do want to know where this leads. I AM absolutely prepared to be disappointed, because good, this is not. Passable fits it better. The characters are recognizable and mostly as likable as ever, as well, but that doesn't change the fact that from a technical side this series is 80% below mediocre garbage. Garbage that almost offensively distracts from the actually good parts. If this would have been visually on par with what came before this still would be a far cry from the old SACs but at least the difference wouldn't scream in my face as much.