Have you ever wondered what Psycho-Pass would be like if it were devoid of everything that made it good? Well, look no further, because Psycho-Pass 2 looks to answer that exact question!

Psycho-Pass was a fantastic dystopian cyberpunk story. It made frequent (almost too frequent) allusions to great works of literature and philosophy, then explored those ideas in a technologically automated world. It was frequently dark, but the darkness was always to make a certain point. It had a variety of arcs, each emphasizing a different idea or theme, but all leading to a greater conclusion. The nuanced characters were also a selling point for me. In an industry where most shows play it safe by writing archetypes rather than actual characters, Psycho-Pass's leads felt like a breath of fresh air.

Psycho-Pass 2, however, seems to miss the point of all that. Instead of basing the story around ideas that the world would raise, it attempts to manufacture the first season with new material. While I give the season props for at least understanding the formula of the first season (i.e., separate arcs focusing on an idea that ties into the villain's philosophies), the ideas it explores are all the same basic idea clumsily done in different ways, and when the arcs all finally do come together, it turns out that the concept they're based on is itself clumsy.

The second season is so concerned with trying to replicate the first season that it completely ignores the world and the characters, investing all its energy into a premise that is itself flawed. Said premise--a variation of the omnipotence paradox--could have made an interesting story. The question "can an all-judging entity judge itself" is one worth asking, but the ideas explored in the first season should have already answered the question with "it doesn't need to because it is above judgment." Worse, in attempting to answer the question, the show directly contradicts certain elements of the first season, such as how the Sibyl System functions or what "criminally asymptomatic" means.

In addition, Psycho-Pass 2 seems to flat-out miss the point at times. When the first season contained gore, it was usually to demonstrate a point, such as how depraved a certain individuals inner desires were. Most of the gore in the second season is there for shock value and is violence for the sake of violence.

Finally, let's talk briefly about the characters. The old characters in Psycho-Pass 2 are used with reservation, likely because the upcoming film meant they couldn't be drastically changed. The new characters fall anywhere from uninteresting to offensively bad. I wish I was not able to say that there was more than one character whose entire existence ceased to make sense once their backstory was revealed. But no, the characters either fail to engage or engage on a level that provides negative results.

Of course, there's plenty of action and violence and a storyline that seems like it's deep and engaging to those who don't know any better. I'd recommend it to people who like Elfen Lied or Tokyo Ghoul, or those who liked Psycho-Pass for the wrong reasons (i.e., it's got violence and cool science fiction stuff in it). To anyone who likes to be engaged on a more meaningful level, though, skip it. Please. It will only succeed in insulting your intelligence and giving you Darker than Black 2 levels of disappointment. Two stars.