Psycho-Pass: Providence review – anime thriller investigates dark side of technology

Japanese studio Production Ig’s conspiracy noir is a fabulous-looking tale influenced by Blade RunnerWith the iconic 1995 Ghost in the Shell in their locker, Japan’s Production Ig studio has been a long way ahead of the curve on the now-inescapable AI and cybernetics front.

This high-minded, operatic conspiracy-thriller anime, released for the Psycho-Pass franchise’s 10th anniversary, won’t do their reputation any harm.

Often insightful about the dark impulses behind humankind’s need to delegate and cede to technology, it does a better job than most concept-drunk anime of parsing these philosophical musings into something semi-intelligible.In the dystopia of 2118, the Psycho-Pass is a Chinese-style social-credit chit given to every Japanese citizen assessing their psychological state and likelihood of breaking bad, all overseen for the good of social order by a benign AI called the Sibyl System.

Inspector Tsunemori (voiced by Kana Hanazawa) is called in after…

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