Before I get into the review, I’d like to give a warning to those who haven’t seen season one of Psycho-Pass since this review will contain a few spoilers of the first season, also, go and watch the first season, like, right now. I’ll also say that, as much as I don’t want to, I will inevitably draw comparisons between both seasons.
Also, there’s a TL;DR at the end.
Story:- 5/10
Our story continues from about two years after where the last season ended. We see some familiar faces among our main cast, including Akane Tsunemori. We’re also introduced to two new enforcers(Tougane and Hinakawa) and one new inspector who was show at the end of the first season, Mika Shimotsuki(I’ll get into her character later). From there on, the show begins with a new antagonist, (whose name I cannot reveal, so I’ll just call him ‘K’ for the rest of the review.). The story then becomes a detective story of the police force chasing ‘K’.
The story of Psycho-Pass 2 is nowhere near as good as the first season. The reason for this comes from many different factors. The first, and in my opinion, the biggest contributing factor to the story’s lousiness, comes from the fact that this season is only 11 episodes long, half of the first season. That is the fundamental reason of why this story is flawed. 11 episodes is usually not enough time to create any detective story, let alone a complex one. This short length results in massive pacing problems which dampened my personal experience of the show.
The story aims to do too much in such a short span of time. In fact, it houses 4 arcs, in 11 episodes!
First there’s the obligatory introduction that took 2 episodes. Then there’s 3 other arcs, each of approximately 3 episodes(I won’t go into detail since, you know, spoilers)
The second reason as to why this story isn’t good, is the change of writers between both seasons. While I won’t blame the new writer for the bland story, I still think that keeping the same writers in both seasons would’ve been the better choice. For reference the writer for the first season was Gen Urobuchi, the man responsible behind such shows like, Fate/Zero and Madoka Magika, while the new writer (for the script) was Jun Kumagai, who definitely did not have the same acclaim as Urobuchi.
While I will say that the pacing and writing were bad, the story wasn’t terrible, it had a few positives along with the negatives, for example, a both of the arcs in the middle were pretty good, even if they were rushed.
Overall, the story had good promise, and it did fine, but the execution did not reach expectations. With 11 more episodes, and a better writer, this problem could’ve easily been avoided.
Art and Animation:- 9/10
The animation was something that I cannot complain about too much. The art style of the show remains relatively the same, following the saying the “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”
The animation feels very fluent in all the scenes, and in scenes that had some blood in them this show went all out, similar to the first season. All the action and gore heavy scenes were the main highlights in the show, and even in scenes where nothing was really happening, the animation was still good. The opening and ending animations are also very well done.
Although, I do have a few nitpicks. Sadly, the show still has the habit of making some human characters look stoned, mainly, Akane. Then there are the new character designs, which frankly, most of them look average to just bad. Even the main antagonist ‘K’ wasn’t very threatening at all, far from the brilliantly designed Makashima from the first season. Even the new enforcers, didn’t have that great of designs.
Another fault I find with the animation, is that the show rarely strays away from its comfort zone, meaning that the show doesn’t take a lot of risks with its animation at all, in fact I’d even go as far as to say that the animation did become a bit bland and tasteless at times.
But still these are mere nitpicks that aren’t too noticeable, so honestly, the animation of the show is great.
Sound:- 6/10
The soundtrack of Psycho-Pass 2, while bearable, did not rectify the flaws that the soundtrack of the first season had. While I still like the soundtrack for both seasons, they just don’t do that much for me. The soundtrack still lacks any track that I can listen to outside of the anime, excepting one or two tracks.
Although, while the soundtrack is a bit tasteless; the opening and ending for this season were not. Paired with some great animation, both the opening and ending are really good song that I rarely skipped over.
The voice actors also do their jobs pretty well, both in the dub (which is airing currently) and the sub. The main problem with the sub (or dub) was the distinct lack of any outstanding voice actor, the main reason for this being the absence of Kougami and Makashima in this season.
Overall, while the soundtrack was good, it wasn’t up to par. The opening and ending are both very well done, and the voice actors are good, but sometimes feel a bit bland.
Characters:- 3/10
This is the part where Psycho-Pass 2 lacked the most. The characters in the first season were all very well developed, and even the side characters had proper development. This season just threw that out the window and instead gave no development to any of the characters; aside from the one I hated the most.
A big fault I find with the show’s characters is that none of the side characters were given any respect by the writers. One of the main reasons I loved the first season is because of the side characters and their development, but this season just doesn’t do that.
But that’s not the biggest problem, far from it. The biggest problem this show’s characters have is the main characters, including the main antagonist ‘K’. The main characters comprise of ‘K’, Akane, the new enforcer Tougane, and the new inspector Mika. None of these characters are developed well, at all.
1. Akane Tsunemori:- Akane is the main character for both the first and second seasons of Psycho-Pass. Her character was first introduced (in the first season) as a young learning inspector. By the beginning of the second season, her character had matured, and she has learned to handle situations much more efficiently. But this leads to the problem in the second season. Her character had already developed to extreme heights. Thus, her development in the second season is practically non-existent.
2. Sakuya Tougane:- Tougane is the new enforcer in division 1 (Akane’s Division). His character acts as a “replacement” for the absence of Kougami. .. And that’s pretty much all I can reveal about him, mainly because most of the rest of his character is a gigantic spoiler. But even though he has a large role in the story, his character doesn’t change throughout the show. His character seems like more of a plot-device than an actual character.
3. ‘K’:- ‘K’ is the main antagonist that we learn more about as the show progresses. Now, without spoiling anything, the main criticism I have against him is his goal. His goal, to me, seems extremely basic, and at times I feel that it is uninspired.
4. Mika:- Now, for Mika. Mika is the absolute worst character in this show. By far. Her attitude to both enforcers and Akane herself is complete disrespect, and she believes that all that the Sybil decides is correct. Even to the extent that she would disobey her own superiors. But the most annoying thing about her character is that she was the only person who had potential to improve as a character, but she doesn’t. Her character could’ve easily matured in a way similar to how Akane’s character matured in the first season, and unfortunately, she doesn’t.
Overall, by the end of the show, none of the characters really developed well. The side characters weren’t given any development, and the main characters are either developed very little, or they aren’t developed at all. This lack of development could also be blamed on the short length of the show.
Enjoyment:- 8/10
While I did rag on the show a lot, I must admit that during my time watching it I really did have a good time. Even when the show ripped itself apart during the final arc, I did enjoy it, albeit, for the wrong reasons. The 2 major flaws that dampened my enjoyment, was the hilariously bad story, and the annoying piece of trash, that was Mika.
Pros:
-Brilliant setting
-Very good animation
-Decent soundtrack
-Enjoyable to a certain degree
-The 2 arcs in the middle were very good
-Good opening and ending
-Good Sub as well as Sub
Cons:
-Disappointment in comparison to the first season
-Bland and hastily written story
-The lack of Kougami could disappoint some people
-The main villain wasn’t good
-Character development is non-existent
-Terrible pacing
TL;DR Overall, the show was a huge let-down to people who liked the first season. It’s small number of episodes leads to the bad pacing, as well as the lack of character development. The main villain didn’t have a very interesting goal, and the side characters were completely ignored. For people who are expecting Kougami in this season don’t, he doesn’t even physically appear in the show. The animation of the show is great, and the soundtrack is decent. I enjoyed it while I was watching it, and I think most people will too. As long as you don’t think about it, you’ll at least enjoy it. Thus, this leads me to giving this show a rating of:-
OVERALL:- 6.2/10
