What I'm Watching ♣ Psycho-Pass (Season 1)

Synopsis

Justice, and the enforcement of it, has changed.

In the 22nd century, Japan enforces the Sibyl System, an objective means of determining the threat level of each citizen by examining their mental state for signs of criminal intent, known as their Psycho-Pass.

​Inspectors uphold the law by subjugating, often with lethal force, anyone harboring the slightest ill-will; alongside them are Enforcers, jaded Inspectors that have become latent criminals, granted relative freedom in exchange for carrying out the Inspectors' dirty work.

Into this world steps Akane Tsunemori, a young woman with an honest desire to uphold justice. However, as she works alongside veteran Enforcer Shinya Kougami, she soon learns that the Sibyl System's judgments are not as perfect as her fellow Inspectors assume. With everything she has known turned on its head, Akane wrestles with the question of what justice truly is, and whether it can be upheld through the use of a system that may already be corrupt.

My Interpretation of the Synopsis

In the 22nd century, justice has changed. Most definitely.

Newly minted Inspector, Akane, works with a rogue force of "criminals" who use special guns to track and catch... criminals.

Catch a criminal with a criminal. Only the guns are computers connected to an internet of things called Sibyl. Okay, first Sibyl? Really? That can't be bad. Let's look at the definition of Sibyl. A woman in ancient times supposed to utter the oracles and prophecies of a god. In reality, Sibyl is a freaking crazy person. Compacted with the fact that few knew what the hell she was talking about in the first place. 

We get it. Sibyl. Okay, moving on.

So Sibyl is judge, jury and executioner. Sibyl holds peoples lives in its calculation of whether you are a good or bad person. How? Fuck if I know. The main character points a gun at people and Sibyl gives a rating then pulls the trigger. 

Sometimes Sibyl pulls the trigger on a person and hell if I know why, thus unreliable judgement. Or maybe Sibyl wants to get rid of people who know the truth.

But there is one person whose found a way to jack the system and he's out to open people's eyes--how? Terrorism. 

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Main Characters

Akane Tsunemori
Akane came across as one of those bored rich kids with talent. She took her open path for granted making her seem arrogant. Her half-hearted chosen career to help people didn't convince me she was worthy of being in law enforcement. She saw no value of her intelligence. It is ultimately her mind that both saves her and gets her to understand the reality of Sibyl.

But Akane persists, becoming steel willed. In the end she is someone who grew into her position.

Shinya Kougami
This guy looks like he has his shit together but really he's got the street smarts Akane doesn't have. Kougami is the one focus on capturing the antagonist who leads Kougami through a mind field of clues about Sibyl and it's real intentions. Thus about this society they live in.

Shougo Makishima
In a very fucked-up way this guy is the only one that makes sense in this Utopian world. He feels more at home with old classic books that explore human nature.

Shougo taunts our police team staying one step ahead of them, but only because he wants Kougami. Not in the hey let's be "friends" kinna way, in the you understand me, right? kinna way.

​He's trying to dismantle Sibyl but what he fails to understand is it takes a society to overturn a dictator, not a terrorist.​

Supporting Characters

Nobuchika Ginoza
One word. Tsudre. Ginoza suffers from caring too much in a gruff, apathetic shell. He is the band leader of the other characters as their warden. Ginoza follows instructions because they keep the world safe. He was the one I kept watching when I wanted to rip off the heads off Akane & Kougami and stop watching.

Shuusei Kagari
Our resident comic relief. Though he does play a main part at the end he's very good at giving Akane shit where shit need be made and worming into hearts. 

I found him a lovable character and gone too soon. But...there was only one other supporting character that topped him...

Tomomi Masaoka
Now here is a secondary character with an interesting background. Ginoza is actually his son. Think about this... Tom's son is his warden. Which makes both characters infinitely more fascinating to me. Tom is an old police detective that rates high on the phyco-pass kill test but he's retained because he can think like a criminal--which is helpful for Sibyl in catching criminals. 

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There are other supporting characters but... I found them fill-ins for the story. You get to know them and their background in the first few episodes but while interesting, doesn't move the plot forward. I found it fluff for the main plot.

Themes I caught in this series:

• Things go horribly wrong when you let a computer decide humanities fate.
• Things go horribly wrong when you let a group of elite ass-hats decide humanities fate. 
• Computers are going to take over and the future will be filled with sheepole lead by data and a small group of humans.
• ​Pretty much, we're all fucked if we let computers run a city.

Review

This police procedural, dystopian, futureistic crime mystery has beautiful artwork, good music and a descent story. It reminds me of Ghost in the Shell and has twists in the same vein. I understood the message it portrayed and would happily write a one-off fan-fic for Pshyco-Pass. 

Word of warning... it is gory. Exploding men, bodies everywhere. Blood. Guts.  Torture. It's sub-genre is horror. Really, this is a dystopian, futuristic, sci-fi, police procedural, mystery, horror fiction anime.

The thought experiment of this anime is what really gripped me. Don't let the meandering beginning episodes lead you astray. It's worth it. 

In other words, if you're looking for a beautifully penned anime with future/dystopian setting a thought experiment and cops, this is the one for you!

I would Recommend this to Fans of:

Dystopian

Utopian Societies

futuristic Sci-fi

plot twists

cop procedural's

cop procedural's in the future

characters who love old books

Gore

Horror

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