Yes, the CG animation and weird beer drinking, care-free attitude of the characters in the first 10-15 minutes of the first episode is extremely off-putting. I can't really explain the behavior and I don't think this animation style works in bright Palm Springs desert lighting without feeling cheap. I've read several reviews of folks who stopped here. That would be a mistake. It does settle into a much more familiar GitS SAC story and style by the end of the episode and all those that follow. Once things get a bit darker (both story and lightning) there are times it feels very much like the original. The character models can be quite good and sometimes the CG animation allows them to do some very creative things. The only time it continues to annoy me is when the camera needlessly swoops around everyone while they're talking to each other in their private network.
It takes a while to settle into the main story, but it's an interesting one, and I look forward to more. They've got new quarry to keep them busy and as always most of the characters live in a gray area.
