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This show embodies everything that is wrong with an anime industry where shows are nothing more than a glorified advertisement for a usually very generic and repetitive light novel. It goes far beyond just being bad or generic. No, it isn’t that, this is worse - this show aims to confuse you, and confuse you a lot, making you scramble to buy the source material in a desperate attempt to make sense of what is going on. Horrible graphics and animation only prove they never had a budget or even a genuine interest to turn this into a decent story...

Imagine this anime as a puzzle. ... Or rather, several boxes of puzzles, all mixed into one pile, with a third of it burned and another third of it shipped to another continent. Have fun trying to piece together a cohesive story from a mangled mess of two protagonists, several timelines divided in both space and time, several changing viewpoints, joined together with an abrupt cut designed to leave you as confused as possible, even resorting in jumping between the same character in two different timelines next to each other in one instance. There is almost zero worldbuilding done in this - or to be more precise, there is worldbuilding, someone just deleted, to force you to pay for an explanation to even the basics, as almost nothing is explained to any meaningful degree. References proving that there was worldbuilding once are usually thrown in a random conversation, but you will easily miss that if you don’t have a context from reading the light novel, and considering how dedicated this anime is to obfuscate even a piece of the basic information you may also miss something that is actually present too. Actually, it is quite shocking how little exposition there can be in the show where the protagonist is almost constantly monologuing.

I was repeatedly accused of not paying attention as something was clearly foreshadowed in volume 11 of the novel. But I didn’t read the novel, and the anime adapts events up to volume 4. 4 is before 11, so it can’t be foreshadowing, but … who cares, this anime doesn’t understand the passage of time either, why should anyone else.

This is something that makes this anime the worst, it straight away expects you to see the future, be precognitive, psychic, or be at very least able to memorize the events of the novel till its latest chapter, because the anime you are watching is not the anime you are supposed to like. It actually abruptly changes to a very different show, changing the genre from fantasy to sci-fi, without any real explanation, and it expects you to somehow see this through from puzzles.

I hate puzzles.

This show isn’t even a mystery, it’s a pretentious puzzle where its own narration either straight away lies to you, forgets things, or at least leaves out important bits in order to create a fake sense of mystery. Answers are either not worth waiting for, or are completely absent.

And if you think you can watch the show for an eccentric spider talking to herself while killing stuff … Well, think again. She was turned into a side character in her own show, with a generic harem protagonist taking up all the screentime with his idiotic harem drama.
If it was about a psycho spider killing people with laser eyes, I would have fun with it. Eight laser eyes out of ten. But it isn’t. It's a barely coherent mess of contradictory information.

If you are even remotely interested in the story, read the novel straight away.

Or just forget about the show. This show deserves to be forgotten. Author forgot about its own plot powers in her own self-insert character, she forgot what genre she is writing, so why shouldn’t you forget her in turn?

Shingeki no Kyojin is the shows which constantly receives high end ratting not only on MAL, but all around internet and is almost constantly praised as one of the best anime ever (or at least, so far).
So, what is the best and most amazing thing about the show?
Death of the characters.

Entire show basically runs of the initial shock factor built around psychical intimidation of the viewers by suggestive themes of gore, agony, despair and death. Most characters die horribly screaming and pissing their pants while being torn apart and eaten alive by giant monsters and show creators didn’t spared any expense in filling the ... show with this kind of scene to attract every kind of sadist weirdo anime community have to offer. Even though I cannot deny the fact they are very good in making suggestive scenes and psychically intimidating the viewer, but it’s not enough to make a show good if only thing authors do is to revel in top-end gore. It may be realistic, considering the real history of human race filled with wars, but it certainly isn’t entertaining or it shouldn't be.

In time, you stop to care about the death shows display as you are completely dulled just like the character they introduce late in the season. Suggestive scenes which shocked you first doesn’t mean anything to you any more as you stop being influenced by all that bloody carnage authors throw you again and again.


Apart of that, show doesn’t have anything to offer.

Story is nearly pointless. It doesn’t matter if you have titans, giants, zombies or tentacle monsters from outer space, only important thing is they kill people and you are probably expected to enjoy it. Story and setting serves only purpose and that is killing character.
How possible a medieval society built a walls higher than skyscrapers? Doesn’t matter, giants break in and kill people. Only weapon society created is steampunk spiderman gear with retractable blades? How this suppose to be realistic or effective? Don’t ask, most important thing is that things deliver characters to their early demise and you can enjoy their death in hands of ever hungry monsters. How come main characters are nearly immortal and superior fighters always out of the danger while lifespan of average fighter counts in split second? Not to mention that plot relevant question as origin of the titans or what is hidden in that basement are never answered as writers were obviously too busy to kill the side cast.
Character development? No, we will rather show you death of another random guy.
And if story really need to follow the [i]Everyone Dies[/i] scenario, why we have three main character who are nearly immortal or do take plot armor to the letter?
Well, because you need them around so story can show you … more side character deaths!

After an initial shock and raising a lot of question, it forgets about everything and undergoes a very strange pacing when they skip entire weeks of years just to show you … another side character death, another suffering, another viewer intimidation.

In the end, enjoyment of this story is near nil for a viewer who isn’t latent sadistic psychopath who revel is seeing death at least in animated form.
Story and plot losts itself at cca episode 2. Drama is there, but build only on suffering. Nothing nice even happen. Characters either die or are plainly annoying…

I went through the story to the end, hoping for either come conclusion or anwers which would give this massacre some meaning in the end, but it never came. While I must admit show had the potential in making me “expecting something” I have to say I would be best if I’d never watch the show.

(NOTE: number of viewed episodes 11 from 22, show isn't finished yet)

*

Psycho-pass is, or it is at least trying to be another Ghost in the Shell. Both stories were set in the futuristic setting focused on special police force, both tried to raise a philosophical and moral questions, both shows grim/dark atmosphere of the near future. (or maybe not so near one)

Ghost in the Shell focused on borderlines of humanity in the world where technology allowed human and machine to became one.

Psycho-pass focuses on whatever is morally right to isolate people, separate or eliminate people haven't committed any crimes because of their potential to do ... so, just because technology allows us to foresee something which may or may not happen.

Basically, Psycho-pass is partly a copy/paste of "Minority Report" with a few differences.

In Psycho-pass, we have all seeing computer system called Sybil constantly measuring and judging people's emotions, skills or desires, providing a overall analysis who is or isn't mentally healthy and subsequently have a potential to commit a crime. Those deemed mentally unhealthy are called "latent criminal" and system dispatches a special forces called Enforces to deal with them. Those "latent criminals" which can't be "cured" are isolated. Irony of things is, some of the Enforcers are actually a so called "latent criminals" destined to serve a hunting dogs, criminals hunting other criminals, while being constantly kept on the leash by so called Inspectors.

Why I am focusing on describing this so much?
Because this is main thing which defines both story, it's characters and internal motives/feeling/development of said characters and thanks to this, story and characters are not flat, while they aren't that unique.

Of course, in addition to above, there are plenty of action packed scenes which will keep you from being bored. While story does not lack violence, it's not trying to be overly gory and do not really rely on rivers of blood to create dark atmosphere.

Artwork is pretty good and helps to create the bit of a horror feeling, music also fits the genre.

Overall rating and enjoyment are great for me so far ... I'll rate it 9.