I watched the original before the sequel just so I could follow the story after hearing so many people recommend the sequel. My thoughts on the original are it has an awesome vibe and cool music, but the story didn’t capture me because I didn’t know what characters I should be rooting for. Add that to the overall depressive nature of the directing, and it bored me.

The sequel took all of what I thought was cool about the original - that unique vibe and music and art - and put it into a fresh story, with clearer characters that evolve throughout the story, a plot with heaps of important characters that makes you think about something besides only “Is the main character a replicant?” Plenty of small characters that are interesting and essential to the plot, and not throwaways. The original felt like it set up the entire fabric of the sequel, but man does the sequel create a beautiful final product.