Story = 10
This series is what got me into following Gen Urobuchi's works and then tracking down Fate/Zero and Madoka. From the start it showed to be about something more than a shallow story with a hero saving the day. Somehow, the dialog between Shogo Makishima and Shinya Kogami right at the start got me hooked instantly. I probably should add that I usually drop anime series like crazy, maybe even under ten minutes during the first episode. I can't say whether it hooked me because it's that good or because it just happened to have what I was looking for at the moment, but what I can say for certain is that I don't regret watching all of it.
The basic premise is that in the future Japan in which these characters live, everything's controlled by the government. Something called the Sybil System was implemented before the main character Akane Tsunemori was born. This system watches over everything and also decides what path in life people should take according to different examinations. Put shortly, it's a society of control cranked up to eleven.
In this system soon enough emerges someone that can't be picked up by scanners, or rather, whose psycho-pass doesn't go up.
This person is trying to destroy the system and becomes very dangerous very fast.
Be ready, though, because Gen Urobuchi's known for kicking people in the feels and this is no exception.
Such a big premise could turn to shit extremely easily all things considered, but the writing is impressively well done. Especially the interaction between the characters.
Someone once told me that the climax happened to early but I disagree completely, and think that the climax was a fakeout in order to let a bigger climax take place later, which worked wonders.
TL;DR: Incredible story.
The art's score to me is a 10, from the beautiful designs that Akira Amano made, to the amazing (albeit rare) animation in the action scenes. Hell, they even gave Ko a real martial art called Pencak Silat and animated it beautifully. I ended up rewatching a lot of this because of how engaging it is in every aspect. Even the OP videos are wonderful, with a lot of color and style.
Ranging from composition to color theory to contrast, this show is pure eye candy.
The sound would be higher than a 9 to me if it had more memorable BGM tracks. Sadly, other than the track called Psycho-Pass in the OST, there's really nothing I remember off the top of my head. That being said, as background music, it's perfect. It sets the mood exactly the way it should and never feels out of place. The OP's are both great, especially the second one. The ED's are both by Egoist so I guess I don't even need to say how nice they are.
About the voice acting, this is one of those rare cases where I hate the English localization because of how lazy the casting felt. The Japanese version is lovely, so no worries there. Every character gets the voice they should have, and the most prominent ones show an incredible range of emotions.
The sound effects for the dominators and the machines are spot on, too.
It's a shame that the soundtrack didn't have anything memorable.
The characters, though, are probably what allowed the crazy-ambitious premise to truly shine. They get a full 10 from me.
Akane Tsunemori starts off as a total newbie and seeing her develop and grow up as she learns from Kogami is really inspiring, especially to me as a writer. The easy-to-shake-up girl from the start is nothing like the hardened badass that's shown in the final episodes. Her development is really nice.
By the way, her design is what I believe to be perfect. She might have gotten a lot of shit for looking adorable in a dark, mature story, but the idea was to introduce someone idealistic into this world and then slowly make her grow up. It worked so well nobody has a right to bitch...
Shinya Kogami steals the show, though. Even if Akane is one of my favorite characters of all time, he's even higher on that list. From his well fleshed out past to the way he's unpredictable and fascinating all the same, and how he's a complete kick ass guy both physically and intellectually that I can see anyone looking up to, everything about him made me summarize him as what every main character should be like. Besides, he gets Ichiro Miyata's voice. That alone should be enough to make him the best xp
Shogo Makishima on the other hand, is extremely effective as an antagonistic force. Just as fascinating as Kogami, yet somehow his lethal enemy. The chemistry between them was pulled off perfectly and the way they understand each other yet also understand that it can't end in anything other than either killing the other is chilling. He's one of the few villains I've ever rooted for, and that thought is especially jarring considering that I was rooting for him while I also wanted Kogami to come out victorious. When it's hard to decide who should win between the two main opposing forces in a story, I can tell it's good.
The rest of the cast, from the enforcers and the other inspector Ginoza to Makishima's underlings like Choe Go Sung, also were very well done. I still remember the conversations between Makishima and Choe Go Sung, and I'm not used to seeing villains being interesting. They are often just being smug. These bad guys definitely reminded me of other good villains like Kirei Kotomine and Gilgamesh from Fate/Zero (what a coincidence with the writer being the same guy).
Ginoza should probably get a mention, being that his development is excellent and he feels like a real person, probably more than anyone else in the cast. The writer really knows what he's doing when it comes to characters.
I didn't see the point of dedicating a full episode to the enforcer girl (I even forgot her name since she's so boring) because I would have rather seen an episode on Kagari's past but even then, it didn't bother me that much. That girl (was the name Kunizuka? I can't remember) is the only character I found bland, but I can't fault that considering that she had to be there anyways.
TL;DR: The characters are impressively well done, even the villains, save for that enforcer girl that lurks there in the background. PS don't get attached.
Enjoyment gets a 9 solely because I would have liked to see a few more fights. Being an animation geek, things like Fate/stay night are irresistible to me. This was like a very close albeit fully realistic equivalent. I really needed more of Kogami's ass kicking, and I didn't get it, sadly. The story's pacing is so good that the episodes fly by before I realize it and then it's five in the morning. I couldn't stress enough how well done the story telling is in this.
If you watch episode one and it doesn't strike you as your thing, it's most likely not your thing. For the overthinkers like me that love philosophy and rants about the human condition, this is a complete treat.
