Anime review: Psycho-Pass (2012)

I had nothing to watch while waiting for further episodes of Dandadan and NPSG so I filled this hole in my anime culture last week.

Universe

Can't go wrong with a cyberpunk anime version of Minority Report + Demolition Man + Gattaca, really. The setting could and should have been developed further in my opinion, but what's here is fit for purpose.

Plot

Call me stupid, but I didn't see the plot twist coming until right before the reveal so I was decently entertained. The whole Kogami vs Makishima left me cold, on the other hand.

I also wasn't very into the initial "discount GITS Stand Alone Complex" episodic part and think it could have been shortened drastically in favour of more fleshing out for the remainder.

Characterization

Paper thin even for the so-called main characters, to be honest. That's even worse when you wanna pretend that your shit is deep by Quoting Random Thinkers™. Add to that that the father/son relationship between Masaoka and Ginoza wasn't explored enough for my taste and that some of the team members were properly ignored… bummer.

The best thing I can say here is that I enjoyed Akana's growth when faced with that old Can't make an omelet without breaking eggs saying in the end.

Animation style & quality

Serviceable but clearly low-budget (or budget siphoned by the forgettable CGI) and made without any soul. When you've washed a lot of dirty anime, you learn to detect that special smell of animator tears and blood poured willingly into their work that really separates the wheat from the chaff.

As special bonus, the Blu-Rays were incredibly botched, full of the most visible banding I've ever seen (and I've seen some, believe me). They tried to fix it in some later JPBDs, but didn't fully manage.

Voice acting

Very decent, in my opinion. Nothing more, but nothing less either.

Soundtrack

Except the pleasant surprise of hearing Ling Tosite Sigure electrify the first opening, I remember nothing. Again.

Conclusion

Honestly, it kept me decently entertained, but that's all, I felt nothing. It's basically the anime equivalent of an above average Netflix/Prime/whatever series. If my rating scale was tracking quantity instead of quality, it'd be a pearl in a world where shitsekais make millions. But it's not.

My final impression was a lot worse than what the sum of its already mediocre components could indicate because it was all over the place: didn't know if it wanted to focus on the setting/plot or the characters, was shallow in most places, wasted time on case-of-the-week episodes and didn't have the budget to do a full 22.

The last thought that popped into my head was that there's a very similar (in tone) anime that did everything much better: Zankyou no Terror.