As a newcomer to the series I watched first 3 episodes of the OVA then I switched to this remake. I can understand why people say original series is a masterpiece but I think this remake is greatly underestimated.
In my opinion it has superior voice acting, character design, composition, sound effects and of course visuals. Since it is a remake you should expect all this but it is all done so masterfully that I found myself enjoying the remake more than the original (witch I continued to watch until episode 8).
And then there is obvious use of CGI which is so good it adds tons to the experience instead of taking anime feel away.