So, yea. That was pretty great, 'cept the very end. I'm going to pretend the movie ended 10 minutes prior to the actual ending, as I found the actual ending totally unnecessary and ham-fisted. Much better pretending it never happened.
Animation was generally superb, as long as you're not some purist with a hatred for CGI.
I suspect within 10 or so years, it'll become very difficult to tell the difference, though we're not there yet. There were a few scenes in this movie that came close though (and others that didn't).
Considering how cheesy the original material is/was, Kenji did a pretty good job without making it completely unrecognizable (similar to what he did with GITS really, for anyone who's actually read the original manga). The most out of place concession to the franchise that jarred a bit were the few short minutes he put them back into their orange uniform with ridiculous scarves. And, yes, it was essentially a sequel to existing material, or an epilogue, so to speak. Not an alternate re-telling.
Jet was a BAMF.
