New 'Psycho-Pass' Films' Release Dates Announced

Today brings good news for fans of the anime Psycho-Pass! In addition to a number of other juicy tidbits, the official release dates for the upcoming film trilogy have been announced.

The film trilogy, referred to as Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System in whole, consists of three "cases" featuring different characters from the series, seemingly set at different points in the franchise's timeline. It'd be difficult for them all to be set at the same time considering the outcome of the anime's first 22-episode run and the characters featured.

The three different film titles, with possible English titles included, and their respective release dates are as follows:

Case 1: Tsumi to Batsu (Crime and Punishment), January 25, 2019
Case 2: First Guardian, February 15, 2019
Case 3: Onshū no Kanata ni (possibly Beyond the Vengeance or In the Realm Beyond Is), March 8, 2019

The news comes as part of the official premiere screening of the first two films at the Tokyo International Film Festival today, October 27th, in Japan. The project was first announced in March of this year. The project's official website posted the information about the various release dates today.

The first film focuses on Mika Shimotsuki and Nobuchika Ginoza, and the second film features Teppei Sugo and Tomonori Masaoka. The third and final film, which has not yet been premiered, will focus on Shinya Kogami.

For those not familiar, Psycho-Pass is an original anime series that was initially produced by Production I.G. in 2012. Directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani and Katsuyuki Motohiro, and written by Gen Urobuchi, the series is set in a dystopian world where public censors scan every citizen. The machines collect data to gauge the likelihood of that person committing a crime. Whenever someone's rating is flagged, the Public Safety Bureau responds, often in order to take them out, but things get tricky when these so-called latent criminals decide they are done being persecuted ahead of their crimes. The franchise has since spawned a sequel series, film, video games, and even a brand-new series debuting next year.

What do you think of the new films' release dates? Are you excited for more Psycho-Pass? Let us know in the comments!

[H/T moetron | pKjd]