In the climatic showdown from Mamoru Oshii’s original Ghost In The Shell, Major Motoko Kusanagi confronts the cyberhacker Puppetmaster codenamed 2501, under the aegis of a formidable Type X10-er crab tank. This intense and impactful battle within the “floating museum”, coupled with Kenji Kawai’s haunting score is remembered as one of recent anime’s most memorable scenes.

Innocence, though retaining most of the prequel’s characters, embarks on a different storyline, this time told through the travails of Bateau and Togusa, both looking even more stoned than in the original. The film, now augmented with considerably more 3D shots, introduces sleeker mecha designs and stunning sets, while still keeping up with superb 2D animated characters. ( the quality varies at times, one thinks this might have to do with sub-outs for different animation houses ) Though not nearly matching the first film’s brilliance, the weaker finale is alleviated in part by Motoko’s return, whose “ghost” have been drifting in the network eversince her union with the Puppetmaster. Worth a look just for the visuals alone.