Nearly 4 years after I completely my last rewatch of Psycho-Pass, back in 2018, I am finally getting around to watching these new movies 3 years after they released. And I think what I can say after watching this 1st movie of 3, is that this is much more in-line with Psycho-Pass. This is pretty close to what I was expecting from Psycho-Pass, unlike that pretty below-average action movie that they made previously and Psycho-Pass 2. Which I normally don’t expect, when a series starts to decline rarely do I find that it can improve and recover.

The story is right in line with what you should expect from the Psycho-Pass universe. At least what they could do in a 60min movie. You have a case brought up, an investigation begins that leads to shocking discoveries, and it all gets wrapped up. With a final moment showing that nothing in this universe is black and white, good or evil. It does a very good job still at showing a system that is a very solid morally gray. So I am perfectly satisfied with the story, better than I expected. And I hope the following movies and season 3 continue that trend.

Character wise, they are pretty much the same as we last saw them. None of the characters have had major changes between the show and the movie, which some will like some won’t. With Mika leading as a very divisive character, I don’t particularly like her but I do feel she fills an important role in the show. She is still the new and young inspector who is really now starting to get an understanding of the truth of the world and the systems she is working in. With that I hope she continues to develop. The rest of the cast is largely the same, none of them have any developments or changes in this movie worth mentioning. They play their roles well and do what you would expect, that includes the likes of Akane and Ginoza and Yayoi. Though many of them get very little screen time at all, which I figure is a product of the short run-time.

Now two things that I felt were pretty poor and harmed this movie; the short run-time and the visuals. A run-time of 60 minutes just isn’t really enough time for anything. They do a decent enough job of fitting in the important parts of the story and characters into that time. But you do end up with a number of odd cuts and scenes that get sliced together in a pretty rough way. They are just now in a different location, or found each other somehow, or kinda teleported around the scene without much thought. Honestly it is really jarring and hurts the movie immensely.

Visually the movie was fine, what wasn’t so much was the heavy use of cgi background characters. Yes I know this is very common in modern anime, and I always hate it. They never fit into the scene and move properly at all. So I guess this point is just a personal complaint about modern shows in general and less about the movie.

So final thoughts, I’d watch it. It is a best Psycho-Pass we have had in years. Despite the short run-time harming it. And I hope this is a positive sign of the following movies and S3.