Nice job with the Psycho-Pass review. It's clear that after the impressive Fate/Zero and cleverly written Madoka Urobuchi slumped down quite a bit and PS got scores elevated by hype alone. Let's hope it's just a one time slip up and he'll get back on track.
I don't usually write comments, but I just wanted to say that I totally agree with your Psycho Pass review, and I can't believe it rates 8.5 on the charts. I felt cheated when I was expecting a good anime and got disappointment instead. Sigh, how unfortunate that I saw your review too late, but I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels this way! :)
I think I need to re-watch Ghost in the Shell to get rid of this horrible aftertaste Psycho Pass has left me with.
Aww, now you make me wish how things could have been. ;___;
That's a good point. Despite the depth of the show's themes, it does feel slightly implausible how such a situation would arise in the first place (especially considering their extreme actions to prevent the appearance of a Fiend when they already have a secret method that can defeat one). There are probably a number of other flaws that I missed, but sadly I never really had the chance to discuss the show.
Thank you! Regarding the difference in scores, there are a few reasons for that. My list uses a rating system that most people would find as being 'harsh', I guess, so applying the same scale to my reviews would likely lead to misconceptions. A lot of people unfortunately only look at the score before deciding if a review is helpful or not. I also try to balance it around the tone of the review; for example Shinsekai yori was filled with praise, so a 7 didn't feel appropriate.
I agree. The world simply could not exist as it was in Psycho-Pass, considering how the people do not have the capability to hold up a the society that has been constructed in the story.
As far as art and animation goes, my opinion on it is thus: For something to be an anime, it must be animated. You can have animation without a story, but you cannot have a story without animation (In terms of the anime medium -- without animation it is just a story or a manga, etc). As such, animation is a big part in making sure the show is worth anything and is well made. Art style and animation are two very different things, so it's possible to think an art style is good without it having good animation and vice versa.
And Psycho-Pass's final rating ends as... an 8.50. Are you ****ing kidding me!? In all honesty, I find its fanbase to be as annoying as, dare I say it, the fanbase of Sword Art Online. Braindead viewers ascribing something as "dark" and "psychological", no matter how superficial or poorly Psycho Pass dealt with its ideas.
I watched Fate/Zero and am planning to watch Madoka, but I sort of lost a lot of admiration for Urobochi as a writer with his latest cesspool of a show.
I totally agree with you on your Psycho-pass review, but I thought I'd let you know that the animation in Psycho-Pass is actually very, very technically poor. Characters lack hesitation and reflexive motion when they move, and often times characters will move on a very different horizon lines from the backgrounds, creating scenarios where characters and heights rapidly change with no attention to continuity. Akane's face also tends to slide around her head a lot, though she's very often drawn with no attention to what her skull underneath her skin would be like at all.
Overall though, I think you nailed it on the head. Urobuchi gets away with a lot of bullshit because people think that since he is killing characters and doing things "not often done" that his writing is somehow quantifiably better than other authors who restrain from this. But in actuality, that's the problem: Urobuchi lacks restraint and as a result his narrative choices lack voice and power. I think you're completely right about Urobuchi's writing being sloppy in this respect.
It's extremely difficult to suspend disbelief as well. Akane is a trained professional, who went to schooling for presumably years to do her job, yet in the first episode she has everything constantly explained to her (through textdump narration), and she falters and struggles constantly with actually doing her job. When the primary antagonist commits a crime in front of her, she can't shoot him but won't pick up the gun he hands her... for no reason. The Sybil system at this point has been shown as inconsistent, and sometimes even incapable of judging criminals correctly yet she can't shoot someone who isn't judged as quote unquote morally reprehensible by the system itself. The very idea that she can exist in this world, let alone be chosen and schooled as an enforcer, is completely and utterly ridiculous from a character writing perspective. It reads like Urobuchi looking for more reasons to kill people and inflict faux-trauma on characters.
All and all, Psycho-pass struggles intensely with false conflict and forced drama.
Good job on your Psycho-pass review. I can say that this wasn't Urobuchi's best work. It seem that his approach to Psycho-pass was to make it more entertaining to the general audience rather than write a compelling story.
All Comments (12) Comments
I think I need to re-watch Ghost in the Shell to get rid of this horrible aftertaste Psycho Pass has left me with.
That's a good point. Despite the depth of the show's themes, it does feel slightly implausible how such a situation would arise in the first place (especially considering their extreme actions to prevent the appearance of a Fiend when they already have a secret method that can defeat one). There are probably a number of other flaws that I missed, but sadly I never really had the chance to discuss the show.
Thank you! Regarding the difference in scores, there are a few reasons for that. My list uses a rating system that most people would find as being 'harsh', I guess, so applying the same scale to my reviews would likely lead to misconceptions. A lot of people unfortunately only look at the score before deciding if a review is helpful or not. I also try to balance it around the tone of the review; for example Shinsekai yori was filled with praise, so a 7 didn't feel appropriate.
As far as art and animation goes, my opinion on it is thus: For something to be an anime, it must be animated. You can have animation without a story, but you cannot have a story without animation (In terms of the anime medium -- without animation it is just a story or a manga, etc). As such, animation is a big part in making sure the show is worth anything and is well made. Art style and animation are two very different things, so it's possible to think an art style is good without it having good animation and vice versa.
Good luck on future reviews.
I watched Fate/Zero and am planning to watch Madoka, but I sort of lost a lot of admiration for Urobochi as a writer with his latest cesspool of a show.
Overall though, I think you nailed it on the head. Urobuchi gets away with a lot of bullshit because people think that since he is killing characters and doing things "not often done" that his writing is somehow quantifiably better than other authors who restrain from this. But in actuality, that's the problem: Urobuchi lacks restraint and as a result his narrative choices lack voice and power. I think you're completely right about Urobuchi's writing being sloppy in this respect.
It's extremely difficult to suspend disbelief as well. Akane is a trained professional, who went to schooling for presumably years to do her job, yet in the first episode she has everything constantly explained to her (through textdump narration), and she falters and struggles constantly with actually doing her job. When the primary antagonist commits a crime in front of her, she can't shoot him but won't pick up the gun he hands her... for no reason. The Sybil system at this point has been shown as inconsistent, and sometimes even incapable of judging criminals correctly yet she can't shoot someone who isn't judged as quote unquote morally reprehensible by the system itself. The very idea that she can exist in this world, let alone be chosen and schooled as an enforcer, is completely and utterly ridiculous from a character writing perspective. It reads like Urobuchi looking for more reasons to kill people and inflict faux-trauma on characters.
All and all, Psycho-pass struggles intensely with false conflict and forced drama.
Nice review.