The series take place in a dystopian future, where people's state of mind can be easily measured. Psycho-pass is basically a number which represents the person's state of mind and his/her likelihood of committing a crime. If this number gets high your psycho-pass turns into a darker and darker colour and if you exceed certain numbers, you got confined in a rehabilitation center or worse, shot to death immediately. So even if you commit no crime, you can still be punished for thinking about committing a crime because it makes your psycho-pass got clouded.
But not all people, who harbours criminal thoughts with clouded psycho-pass, got confined or killed. Some of them become a police unit called Enforcers and help inspectors, who are normal police with clean psycho-pass. The story is centered around an inspector, Tsunemori Akane, the new inspector of the Unit One.
Story (9/10):
Although the main theme may not look very original (I mean a dystopian government and some revolutionarists fighting each other), the story is indeed a unique one. First ten episodes, or something like that, are about small incidents which always connect to our main antagonist, Makishima Shougo. Even before the main antagonist's show up, the episodes are really enjoyable. You are getting curious about what will happen next and what will happen to the villain. But what makes this series perfect is the main antagonist, Makishima Shougo and his efforts to crush the system which doesn't value the ideas and will of the individuals.
Of course, this series is not something like George Orwell's 1984 or Animal Farm. It mixes the elements of action and thrill with the actual message about the importance of individual's thoughts or If I borrow Makishima's words, the importance of "humans to live as humans again".
Characters (8/10):
Although Tsunemori Akane is the protagonist, she is too inexperienced and indecisive which makes her pretty forgettable between the characters like Makishima and Kougami. And no one other than Kogami stands out in the Unit One, as I have said before this includes Akane herself. Kagari and the other girl (I forgot her name) in the team basically do nothing other than running around during the series. Makishima Shougo however is great. Let me explain why. Unlike the most of the shounen animes/mangas, Makishima doesn't possess a supernatural power or ability (he has only one if you count his psycho-pass' inability to get clouded). He doesn't have a great wealth or an army to fight against the government either. He only has his intelligence and his ideas. He makes allies by either manipulating them or sharing his ideals with them. He strikes the system with carefully constructed plans. It was great to watch someone with no superpower standing against the totalitarian system with his schemes and ideas only.
It would be great if there were more capable characters who have some depth into them. If there had been, I would have given no less than 9/10.
Art (8/10):
Art is good, but not very exceptional in this times.
Sound (8/10):
Not bad, but not that great either. There were few soundtracks I have listened to again and again. Opening and ending was good. The ending, Namae no nai kaibutsu, is a song of the famous group EGOIST.
Overall (9/10):
I definitely recommend Psycho-Pass to anyone. There were some things that could be done better. Some characters could take more scenes in anime. But it is a great show regardless.
And I really liked that they showed us the books Makishima reads and quotes from during the series. I remember "The Revolution Betrayed" or "A Heart of Darkness" but there were many more.
I give a 9/10 to Psycho Pass and end my review with a quote from Makishima:
"I want to see the splendor of people’s souls. I want to check and see if it really is precious. However, when humans base their lives around Sybil’s Oracle, without ever consulting their own wills, do they really hold any value?"
