Let’s begin this review with a caveat: there are times in this anime that the characters speak English and some of those dialogues are wince worthy bad. I watched the UK premier at Scotland Loves Anime and I very much hope the studio can dub over these sections before a general release.
I really enjoyed Psycho-Pass the series. It’s a psychological cyberpunk, set in the not too distant future where thinking about being a criminal, or just, maybe, having criminal tendencies is a crime. Police are equipped with powerful guns but they won’t fire unless the target registers as a latent criminal and it’s the gun that decides the level of force it applies. Of all the anime I watched last year, I put Psycho-Pass 2nd top out of 10.
The movie, then, is kinda double or quits. The series makes a wonderful setting in Japan and a host of great characters. The movie decides to move on. We barely see some old favourites and we don’t get to explore Japan further. Risky? I think so. Instead the movie expands the world and gives us a look at the war torn remains of civilisation outside of the country.
The movie picks up after the series. I think the movie works as a standalone. You don’t have to have seen the series to enjoy and follow the series. The only problem is that the movie is full of spoilers for the series. If you’ve watched the movie already and are wondering whether you should bother with season one – yes, do, go watch it now.
The main characters in the movie are Akane Tusnemori, our hero from the main series, who goes off to investigate sightings of Shinya Kogami. We also get a little bit of time with Nobuchika Ginoza.
Given we’re writing off the poor English dialogues I think the movie works. It’s not a quit; it’s a double. The war machines range from cool tanks, to insect like helicopters and walking attack bots that are a cross between a raptor and ED209 from Robocop. I especially like the tech the gang of mercenaries had at their disposal.
I found the movie a little slow at times but that’s because I was impatient for the next dose of action. On reflection, it uses its time wisely to explore the world, build up the characters and layer on the plot.
All in all? Struggle through some dodgy English, watch the series and then settle down to enjoy the movie.
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