Psycho-Pass Providence is a anime film released on May 12, 2023 with animation done by Production I.G, made to celebrate the Psycho-Pass franchise's 10th anniversary. The movie follows after Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System and before the events of the third season. Naoyoshi Shiotani directed the film while the script was written by Makoto Fukami and Two Ubukata.
It operates as an Interquel, answering what happened to Akane Tsunemori that got her arrested and the circumstances regarding the deaths of Akira Vasily Ignatov and Atsushi Shindo, which were alluded to in the third season.
The Ministry of Welfare is involved in a case of a professor and behavioral researcher Milicia Stronskaya, who was assassinated by armed soldiers with tactical gear. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Overseas Coordination Bureau (OCB), the armed men are from a black ops unit known as the Peacebreakers, formally known as the Overseas Investigation Division's Field Survey Team. As the investigators led by Akane and Frederica work together, they later learn that Milicia's death is tied to something else related to the Sibyl System with plans to further export it overseas.
Be warned: spoilers from the Sinners of the System and the third season will be left unmarked if you haven't seen it.
This film provides examples of:
- 0% Approval Rating: Akane and Atsushi's greatest fears are that Japan pushing for the export of the Sybil System too aggressively will only alienate them from the international community, risking Japan becoming an isolated hermit state while the rest of the world recovers.
- All for Nothing: Saiga's role in the plot, as the message he got from Stronskaya with the supposed location of her research papers was nothing more than a decoy and the operation to escort him there was done by Foreign Affairs as a means to lure the Peacebreakers out of hiding, ultimately resulting in his death.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The Peacebreakers raid MOFA's Overseas Intelligence Center Building (OVCB) in Dejima in order to get to Jouji Saiga. It also helped that Tonami used brainwashing powers on SAD officers to get them to kill each other.
- All There in the Manual: The origin of the Peacebreakers are given by Frederica during a debriefing session.
- Ambiguous Situation: While the movie reveals Atsushi's role before his death, his role as a Bifrost Inspector was never expanded given that Azusawa knew about him. The only connection shown in the movie is that he receives a call from Homura's father, revealing his disappointment in giving the Stronskaya papers to the Sibyl System and having his position as Inspector removed. It's implied that Atsushi may be an undercover agent like Shizuka Homura given his trust in the Sibyl System.
- Anyone Can Die: While Atsushi and Akira's deaths are guaranteed in this movie, Jyoji Saiga dies as well leaving Akane and Kougami in emotional turmoil.
- Bittersweet Ending: The ending that answers what happened to Akane, Akira and Atsushi. Akane assassinates Chief Kasei's robotic body before a live audience. She was being sworn in to a senior position in the MHLW after the Peacebreakers were defeated in the Kuril Islands. Akane wanted to challenge Sibyl and prove them wrong that justice is a noble concept worth fighting for. Akane's eventually detained for her actions, much to Kougami and their former colleagues' dismay, including Mika. Atsushi executed Akira after Tonami was able to take over his body. Atsushi later on shoots himself after he gave a speech during Kei's wedding reception, leaving Arata orphaned. The SAD sustains massive manpower losses after the Peacebreakers raided MOFA's headquarters. In addition, Jackdaw and Vixen are the only survivors of the unit and they're looking for revenge since their son was killed during the raid on the MOFA OVCB.
- Back for the Dead:
- Jyoji Saiga returns after being absent since the 2015 movie. Providence reveals that he was killed off during the battle between the Peacebreakers and SAD officers.
- This movie is Chief Kasei's last appearance as she was killed off by Akane in the end. This explains why the Sibyl System brought in a similar-looking cyborg named Hosorogi in Season 3 because they don't want the public to find out that Kasei was a cyborg.
- Big Bad: Tsugumasa Tonami, leader of the Peacebreakers.
- Bridal Carry: Kougami carries Akane this way after Tonami shoots her in the leg when she tries to stop him.
- Broken Tears: After everything she went through from Saiga's death to killing Kasei in broad daylight, Akane ends up breaking down into tears once she goes inside her prison cell.
- Bulletproof Human Shield: Jackdaw and Vixen use the corpses of other Peacebreaker soldiers to block incoming Dominator shots during a raid on their hideout at the Kuril Islands.
- The Cameo:
- Arata, Kei and Maiko appear in this movie before the former two join the PSB. Kei and Maiko's wedding is featured in here too.
- Shizuka Homura has a small unvoiced appearance in the movie where he is seen with his father who is calling Atsushi about giving the Stronskaya Papers to the Sibyl System and has his Bifrost Inspector position revoked.
- Kyoko Saionji and Haruki Shirogane appear at the end, commenting on the film's events and remarking that they look forward to seeing who the new Bifrost congressman will be.
- Conspicuously Public Assassination: In the end, Akane kills Chief Kasei in public with a normal gun during her ceremony to accept Atsushi's position. She does it to show to the people that the Sibyl System is flawed and the justice system is still needed.
- Continuity Nod:
- The government council debating on whether to dissolve the Ministry of Justice mentions the success of exporting the Sibyl System to SEAUn, definitively establishing how the population voted at the end of Psycho-Pass: The Movie.
- Sarutobi from Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System First Guardian returns as the friend Sugo calls a favor in from so he can pilot a drone to attack/distract the satellite the Peacebreakers are using to keep their Divider implants connected and operational. He even has a cybernetic eye to replace the one he lost when he got tortured in First Guardian.
- Cop Killer: Multiple SAD officers are killed in the movie, mostly due to the Peacebreakers.
- Demoted to Extra: While still playing important roles in their operations, Division 1 members Shion and Yayoi do not get a lot of screentime here and the film doesn't even allude to Yayoi's hue eventually clearing up which allows her to leave the Bureau as we see in Season 3.
- Doomed by Canon: Given that this movie is a prequel to Season 3, it's expected that Atsushi and Akira are not going to make it out alive in the end. Likewise with Akane, who would eventually end up going to jail.
- Driven to Suicide: Atsushi kills himself in keeping silent on his deal with the Sibyl System regarding not letting Arata join the system due to him being criminally asymptomatic, as well as the role he played alongside Director Yabuki in being responsible for the Peacebreakers' creation as Sibyl wants him to take the fall for it.
- Dying as Yourself: Akira regains control long enough from Tonami to shoot himself in the chest twice and allows Atsushi to finish him off, his final words asking Atsushi to take care of his brother and not let him turn out like he did.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: The Peacebreakers are treated as such as their manpower is based on recruited special forces soldiers and experienced mercenaries.
- False Flag Operation: The Peacebreakers were originally a special forces group that performed black operations with the backing of Foreign Affairs. It's implied that many of their missions involved secretly destabilizing SEAUn and other foreign countries to push their populations to accept the Sibyl System to end the violence.
- Fatal Family Photo: Before killing himself, Atsushi looks at his family picture which has him, his late wife and their son Arata. By the time Akane and Arata found his body, the photo was right beside him.
- The Fellowship Has Ended: Akane's arrest marks the end of the original Division 1 where Ginoza and Sugo join the MOFA Operations Department, Yayoi leaves the bureau after her Hue gets cleared and Mika gets promoted to take over Akane's old position. This leaves Hinakawa as the only original Division 1 member left. And upon the third season, Arata and Kei join in with three new Enforcers to continue what Akane left off in pursuing justice.
- Foregone Conclusion:
- Akira and Atsushi's deaths led Arata and Kei to join the PSB to find out the truth.
- Despite being imprisoned, Akane ends up being free at the end of Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector and becomes an Enforcer.
- Both Ginoza & Sugo end up joining Kougami at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Jackdaw and Vixen are going to escape so they can get their revenge on Public Security in the future.
- Grand Theft Me: The Divider chips inside the brains of the Peacebreaker soldiers not only allow them to split their consciousness in 2, allowing them to transfer feelings like guilt into one side (thus allowing them clear hues) but also allows their leader Tonami to take control of any of them.
- History Repeats: Towards the end of Season 1, Akane reads Kougami's letter, explaining his reason for going rogue and leaving the bureau so he can go after Makishima and kill him. After reading the letter, Akane is disappointed and calls him an idiot. In this movie, the roles are reversed when Kougami reads Akane's letter, revealing her reason for getting herself arrested so she can force the Sibyl System that normal laws are still necessary. Kougami is disappointed with her actions and calls her an idiot.
- Institutional Allegiance Concealment: The OCB ran Akira with the Peacebreakers. He explains that he allowed himself to get burn marks on his face so that no on in the unit can make a positive ID in case they get suspicious.
- Jurisdiction Friction: The MHW and MOFA did squabble on who's going to investigate Milicia's death. Kasei eventually gives the order to let MOFA take the lead. Mika takes it personally, given the last time she worked with Frederica.
- Loophole Abuse: The Sibyl System is not opposed to working with unrepentant war criminals like the Peacebreakers as long as they can maintain clear Hues, despite knowing that they are using brain implants to artificially suppress their Criminal Coefficients. Akane is disgusted by Sibyl's blatant hypocrisy, which further convinces her of the need for an independent justice system to keep Sibyl in check.
- Meaningful Name: The name Peacebreakers for the Overseas Investigation Division's Field Survey Team. Their actions in the field usually involve wetwork missions that escalates simmering tensions in a country/region into an all-out war.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Jyoji Saiga and Atsushi Shindo end up dead leaving Akane, Kougami, Arata, Kei and Maiko heartbroken.
- Multinational Team: The Peacebreakers are made up of Japanese and non-Japanese soldiers. Atsushi used this diversity in order to allow Akira to go undercover in the unit for the SAD since he's worried about the risk on allowing a native-born Japanese to be involved.
- Murder-Suicide: Tonami uses someone who he's able to brainwash to take down his target/s. He then manipulates his victim to shoot themselves so that law enforcement can't arrest them.
- Neuro-Vault: Akira has had the Stronskaya Papers inside a microchip in his head (separate from the Divider) the entire time and passes them onto the Bureau once he's in their custody.
- One Degree of Separation: Milicia Stronskaya is Maiko's mother and her killer (though she willingly died as part of the plan) is Akira Vasily Ignatov, the older brother of her future son-in-law Kei. Justified, as Atsushi Shindo masterminded the whole plan and was already close to both families since his role in the Immigration Bureau is what allowed Kei and Maiko to move to Japan and become close friends to his son Arata.
- Red Shirt Army: The regular SAD agents of Foreign Affairs are killed in droves by the better trained and equipped Peacebreakers.
- Retcon:
- In the movie, Saiga reveals to Akane that Atsushi is the one who arranged for him to become an analyst for the Public Safety Bureau. In Season 2, Akane was the one who hired him to be the bureau's analyst during the Kamui case.
- The movie shows Ginoza being angry at Kougami upon his return to Japan which shows he still has animosity towards him after leaving the bureau. However, in the 2015 movie, Ginoza is not extremely angry at Kougami for leaving given that he saved him from Rutaganda though he gives him a double punch.
- The Reveal:
- Akira died while on an undercover op to take down Tonami, but he told Atsushi to kill him before he can do something worse since Tonami was able to take control of his body. Before he dies, Akira asks Atsushi to promise him to take care of Kei.
- Akane was arrested by Mika for assassinating Chief Kasei because she wants to prove to the Sibyl System that justice is still needed without the reliance of the Sibyl System. Kasei is replaced by a similar-looking android named Hosorogi because the Sibyl System doesn't want the public to know that Kasei is a cyborg.
- The movie reveals what happened to Professor Saiga. He was mortally wounded when the Peacebreakers kidnapped Director Yabuki and before he falls to his death, he advises Akane to continue her quest for justice.
- The reason Chief Kasei allows Kougami to return to Japan despite his departure from the bureau and his killing of Makishima is that she hired him to fight the Peacebreakers.
- Red Herring: In Season 3, it's implied that Atsushi and Akira's deaths are connected to Bifrost given that Atsushi has a Bifrost business card and Kyoko knows about Akira. It turns out that their deaths are more related to the Peacebreakers given that Atsushi is the one who created them and Akira infiltrated the group after it went rogue.
- Rogue Soldier: The Peacebreakers are used by pro-conflict officials in MOFA to conduct special forces missions for Japanese national security interests. They went rogue after MOFA gave orders to have them disbanded and were reportedly committing terrorist activities.
- Self-Sacrifice Scheme: Akane's decision at the end, publicly shooting and "killing" Chief Kasei on stage (while also being broadcast nationwide) while her hue remains clear, forcing the public to recognize that Sibyl has blindspots and that the Ministry of Justice is still needed.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Jyoji Saiga, who has been a huge ally to Kougami and Akane for the first two seasons and the 2015 movie, dies in the first act of the movie.
- Undercover Cop Reveal: The Peacebreaker Kai is revealed to be Akira Vasily Ignatov, Kei's older brother, who infiltrates the group to find their leader. He reveals himself after he disabled the drones attacking Kougami and Ginoza and rescued Director Yabuki.
- Wedding/Death Juxtaposition: Atsushi's suicide happens on the day of Kei and Maiko's wedding after giving a speech during the reception. Arata and Akane find his body in the car in the driver's seat. Then, the next scene shows Kei and Maiko mourning over Akira's body at the morgue (as Akane arranged for them to be told after the wedding) with Arata mourning over his dad's, demanding answers from Akane on why his father did that.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Their original purpose was to act as deniable agents for the Sibyl System to stoke conflict abroad to convince foreign nations to adopt the Sibyl System. Even after their rebellion, it's revealed at the end that the Peacebreakers are not anti-Sibyl at all. In fact, everything they had been doing was part of a plan to buy back their legitimacy so that they can continue serving Sibyl as its deniable agents.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Akane kills Chief Kasei in public and Mika is forced to arrest her, calling her out on her actions and her reasons for doing it. Likewise. Kougami is pissed when he learns of Akane's intentions of getting herself arrested thru her letter and vows to get her out of jail soon.
