It's remarkable how this improves on the source movie (I dunno about the manga; I've only seen the first film) in roughly every conceivable way? Like, from the character design (the robot geishas!) to the action sequences (that first big fight, which takes like 45 seconds in the original anime and is just someone getting shot in the face, IIRC) to the actual plot (which makes sense and isn't boring and dumb), literally everything is better.
But the biggest thing it improves upon are the characterizations of the supporting players. Having Batou go from being tech-skeptical to being forced to adapt to it gives him a better sense of what Major is going through (and helps us understand as well). Having the head of Section 9 played by Beat Takeshi turns him into a badass who earns the loyalty...