Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain (2013)

Despite the changes since SAC, there’s still much the same. The framing, scenery and even the camera movements are similar to Kenji Kamiyama's.
Of the two main differences, the first, Motoko, is less upsetting than I’d feared. It’s a prequel, so she’s younger and less experienced. She also looks odd, but only for a short time. Her confidence, her movements and her decision making is as normal, so I was able to look beyond the shell very quickly; it’s her, there’s no doubt of that.
What I found harder to accept was the change in music. There's an occasional nod to Kenji Kawai that I really liked, but elsewhere the absence of Yoko Kanno's evocative themes was heavily felt.
I’d have preferred a 3rd GIG, but the events in this kept me hooked and by the end I was completely on board; all fears were washed away.

4 absent limbs out of 5