The techno driven soundtrack and the quick cuts to silence are still effective. The settings are more visually and dramatically interesting. There are much more graphic and effective murder scenes, much stronger moods, outstanding visuals, dynamic directing, a gratuitous battle droid, occasional doses of a dark sense of humor (an executive at a robotics firm who uses female androids as office furniture), and a heroine who has without a doubt the finest fashion sense in the city.

Ambiguity is its strength.

Armitage, Sylibus, New Lowell, even characters that don't have names yet become more nuanced, conflicted and therefore interesting.

The same effective and functional design as in "Electro Blood," but shadowed and colored for maximum ambiance, and suffused with high contrast visual cues about the story. Ochi creates tension and reveals detail with his camerawork. He also includes a strong dose of Hitchcock homage.

There are a couple of glitches that draw attention. Armitage blows off an insult by saying, "You're just punk," instead of just "a punk." And in one scene a cop reads a computer screen on which some English words are misspelled. Otherwise, the translation is fine and, at some points, including the very satisfyingly ambiguous final line of the episode, genuinely good.

Masutani gives Sylibus a commanding vocal presence, and Kasahara's chilly, controlled performance as Armitage makes clear how dramatically her character has changed. Both actors know how to let a silence hang in the air.

Sexuality is a more overt topic, and the murder scenes don't pussyfoot around.

Love it? Hate it? Buy it.