A question that tests the laws of society in Psycho-Pass
A society controlled by a machine sounds like a typical sort of theme that a dystopian novel has a deep basis on. This created society is said to control the actions of an individual, resulting in the lack of choice and will of the person themselves. Citizens believe that this is the perfect society and don't question the orders. What happens if someone objects?
Generally the Psycho-Pass is the measure of the soul of the individual. Their personalities are all quantitated and recorded. The psycho-pass ultimately is the mental states and possibility of an individual's desire to commit crimes. When stress levels go up, it clouds up someone's psycho-pass also. Is it right for them to be killed only because they have only thought about murdering someone and haven't committed it yet? Many people have thoughts about maybe committing crimes like these in our lives but they should have the choice of backing out of their plans.
In this society, once someone's Psycho-Pass goes beyond normal, they are immediately taken in to custody although they haven't even harmed a person yet. The Sybil System automatically calculates the risks of death and consequences if the individual is freely wandering around in this city. The stress levels among the individuals also is recorded by the Sybil System. Everything is controlled by this Sybil System through quantities. Once the quantities exceed the normal, the individuals are arrested and taken to therapy. The citizens, in this story, strongly believe it is the "perfect" system. As we move further in the story, the theme that often appears is whether it is even possible to have a perfect society.
Story (7/10): Psycho-Pass is a great example of a utopia that ends up being set up the complete opposite. We have Tsunemori Akane, a new inspector, joining the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division. This is when she first meets the Enforcers or "hunting dogs" and they will work together to catch criminals and such. Although this anime provides a great theme, there is not too much development within the story. All of the events that does occur help build the characters up to their ultimate goal of catching the mysterious antagonist. The anime does not contain too much unpredictable events and doesn't completely hook the audience with interesting scenes.
Art (7/10): The art is pretty well done. It is not too impressive but still manages to keep a slight modern taste although more recent animes may have better designs compared to Psycho-Pass. The characters were drawn pretty well. The designs would be a general anime type and doesn't exhibit much interesting details.
Sound (6/10): Psycho-Pass doesn't contain much soundtracks. There was not much memorable songs and OSTs that played throughout the anime. The first op and ed were not awful. The first op song kind of related to the idea of the society in Psycho-Pass. It is society that once they know of your thoughts, you could be sent to therapy or become a criminal just because of your own opinions. The second op and ed were slightly worse although I personally like the second ending. The voice acting was set up pretty well done.
Character (8/10): Although I didn't like the MC in the beginning. She has shown to me that she is changeable. Her changes throughout the anime was developed though many events that has thrown her on a emotional rollercoaster. She does question the ways of how Sybil works and that was a big development however she does nothing to overthrow it when she had the chance. In general, she represents a normal human being also. If someone says they are going to shoot, it is harder to do then say. It is understandable how she couldn't shoot the antagonist of the story although she had many chances to do so.
Along with the MC is the Enforcer, Shinya Kogami. He does show a big development throughout the story but it wasn't for the best. He is extremely observant and smart. He starts out with his morals warped until Akane is able to remind him why he is in this line of work. Throughout the story, he sticks with the MC but has a special grudge against the antagonist.
The main antagonist of the story is brilliant. He is like Kogami, extremely smart and observant. Kogami and the antagonist share many qualities and very alike. He is an anarchist that can easily manipulate people. He also has a tendency of quoting from famous literatures. Not only is he smart, he is also physically strong.
Enjoyment (8/10): The anime provides very well done scenes. There was character development however the MC was still not too confident and a little annoying sometimes. The anime was thrilling with intense action scenes and a great story for each case. All of the events do lead up to the antagonist, who is the most interesting character in the show in my opinion.
Overall (8/10): Although this anime has some flaws, I enjoyed how this anime was trying to provide a general theme to everyone. A perfect utopia such as this world does not exist and never will. The whole purpose of this type of world was for everyone to be happy. What happens if you become a criminal and can never be back to normal ever again? That doesn't make me happy for sure. The anime also provided some neat action scenes that was pretty okay to my enjoyment level. I thought that the development with the MC was very needed because I forced myself to watch psycho-pass the first time and didn't make it through the first episode just because I didn't like the MC. The antagonist of series is the one I was very intrigued by. He is very enjoyable character with many of his interesting scenes and his ability to manipulate people to play for him even though it is dangerous. I pretty much enjoyed the show although I wouldn't say it is the best anime I have ever watched. Psycho-Pass challenges the utopia set up that is not very perfect at all.
