[Review] Psycho Pass

Year: 2013
episodes: 22
Genre: cyberpunk, suspense, science fiction, action
Studio: Production I.G.
Writer: Gen Urobuchi
Director: Naoyoshi Shiotani
Music: Yugo Kanno


“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.”
- Aristotle


In world that is under full control of a supercomputer known as the Sibyl System, people are trying hard to save face. Even a slight increase in stress level can make you a latent criminal and be therefore apprehended by the authority. It has its perks and privileges as well, like showing you the proper career for your intelligence level and your contribution to the society will also be determined by the system as well. However, this makes man very dependent on the system and therefore losing all the free will to make a difference or follow their own paths the way they want. This triggered outrage among certain individuals who want to do whatever they want in the society, unfortunately only a handful of them survived the backlash of their actions. One man dared to topple the system in a very disturbing and chaotic manner. He will do everything he can to make sure the system will fall down to its knees and render it useless. It is now up to the Central Intelligence Division of the Public Safety Bureau to make sure that he will not succeed in his diabolical plans.

This is the story of a young lady who is newly recruited inspector of the bureau, Akane Tsunemori. She is oblivious to what is about to happen; all the lies, the struggle, the chaos, and the lives that shall fall apart right before her very eyes. With the guide of her team, and a man named Shinya Kougami, they will track down and pursue the man-of-the-hour, Shougo Makishima. This a a tale of how scary the future could truly be and how far man will go to either uncover the truth, or hide all the lies.


At first glance, this anime will truly reflects Production I.G. and their previous work The Ghost in the Shell series. The dystopian future set in a world where society is heavily dependent on technology. The details placed into every piece of technology here is truly well made. From the view of the futuristic cities to the function of the highly advanced weaponries aptly known as the Dominators, all of it are truly well though of. We can also see the fine details of advancement in urban living, virtual communities, and even traffic management. Truly a breakthrough in futuristic theme anime, one a kind, to say the least.

The theme is crime and justice so expect a lot of investigative dialogues and plenty of run-and-gun action. The authorities are different here as well, policemen are now replaced by sentries and androids and all the dirty work are done by the enforcers, or people with latent criminal tendencies. They are escorted by the inspectors, who are, at most, the detectives and leaders of each division they are assigned to. This may seem rather vague at first but it turns out that is how the society in this show truly is since they expect crime rates to be much lower than before. In case dangerous situation arises, these teams are also sent to do dirty work. The enforcers are highly skilled expendable personnel that can handle the most difficult of situations. The inspectors are free to command them or do anything to them however they wish provided it is part of the duty, that is why if the enforcers do something really nasty, the inspectors have all the rights to finish them off if situation calls for it. Inhumane yes, but wait till you hear how inhumane the system is.

The sibyl system is a truly manipulative system that can judge if a person is latent criminal or not by reading their stress levels (the titular psycho pass). Meaning, any bad intent, like even just thinking of killing someone, will make you a criminal. It will also determine if you will be a latent criminal even if you are just a infant by tracking the record of your parent's history. Absurd, yes, but no one truly dared to appeal to the system for it help them live a peaceful life for several years already. You can pretty much get the idea right now why the main antagonist (or anti-hero) hated it so much.


Characters are quite defined though some of them lack the appeal of being a main cast member. Akane is a rather timid girl who does not seem fit for policework at all. She is reserved, kind, and most of the time, oblivious to the core of the situation. She may look useless, but deep inside her she holds the key that has the capability to topple to system, which I won't spoil and is up for the upcoming viewers to find out. Shinya is a cool guy who seemed to be more of an inspector rather than an enforcer (which will be later reveal that he is just demoted) for he does most of the investigating part and makes sure the job gets done. He may be the total package in a male protagonist but wait till you see his abrupt change in the later episodes. Then there is Ginoza, the head inspector of the team. He could have been Akane's guide and mentor but he is rather cold to her and treats her like a useless kid most of the time. He is man with a mysterious past and a rather annoying persona. Akane found mentorship in the enforcer named Tomomi. He is an old and experienced enforcer who knows alot about criminal activities and does not rely on technology too much at work. He is a cool person as well with a very mysterious personality. He treats Akane as if she were his daughter. Shusei is a happy-go-lucky young enforcer who has a crush on Akane. He has a sad past for he has no choice of career but to become an enforcer due to his latent criminal reading brought out by his parent's history. Truly one of the casualty of the cruel system. Then there is this mysterious girl in the team named Yayoi. Can't say much about her besides the fact that she is a very good hacker and is very quiet most of the time. Lastly there is Shion, the informer of the group. She does everything from tracing criminal activities, gathering special evidences, and even tracking hidden routes in a rather secluded area. She also happen to be a witty chick who loves to joke around even if the situation is serious.

Now for the so called man-of-the-hour, Shougo Makishima. At first he does not seem like someone who can truly bring people to his knees because of his fragile looks but it is actually the contrary. He is an agile fighter, a mind breaking manipulator, a mad schemer, and a ruthless murderer. He is taking advantage of capability to bypass the system that is why he feels that he is always on top of the situation. Truly a force to be reckon with.



Music is truly astounding. The OST is a great overall package when it comes to quality and compliance to the theme. The track Dominator alone is worthy of praise due to its unique approach in the techno category. They compliment well with most of the scenes, especially the vital action scenes.

All the opening and ending themes does not falter as well. The first opening theme Abnormalize is a fast paced nu rock song about a dystopian society while the second opening Out of Control is an engrish pop rock track with some sort of an out-of-context romantic message, but not in a cheesy way. Both ending themes are done by the band EGOIST, who is supposedly formed for the sole purpose of anime Guilty Crown but is now making a name for themselves. Namae no kaibutsu is a trip hop song with an edgy message while All alone with you is a nice power ballad with simple but sweet lyrics. The drascti changes in the OP and ED of the first and second half of the series reflects the situation the team is currently facing. The compliment of the songs to the overall feel of those parts is, in a way, very fascinating.



Production I.G. did not compromise when it comes to quality (except in one episode where almost everything felt so wrong) so its a huge thumbs up to their team for doing their best to bring to us an amazing show. The overall futuristic theme feels so right and the design of the dominators are quite a sight to behold. These dominators truly are the staple of the show, their transformation sequences alone are worth the effort in animating. Of course there are the androids too, they are another interesting objects of interest in the show for they move quite nicely rendered in 3D moving in a semi 2D environment. Then there are the action sequences. The fist fights, the chase scenes, the (almost there) gunfights are nicely animated as well. The cinematography is nothing really special, but seeing the city skyline in some key scenes is quite a sight to behold.



Cast is not that much of an all-star roster, but they did not falter when in comes to performance. Akane is voiced by rising VA star Kana Hanazawa and it shows in her fragility in certain situations. Most of the cast members are done by veteran VAs, so when it comes to dialogue heavy scenes, they can pretty much deliver well.



One of the season's finest anime and a must-see show for cyberpunk fans. It maybe dialogue heavy at times and the gruesome violence may put some people off, but the truth remains that the show is not really meant for everyone to begin with. The several meaningful messages the show is trying to convey reflects our society as a whole, not just for our current one, but for the future as well. It is a wake up call to everyone that not all that is lawful is good and not all criminal are necessarily bad, sometimes its the other way around. For whatever reason this show has been developed for, one thing is for certain, it is trying to tell us something. Something we, in ourselves, must find out, and make a necessary action for.

Highly recommended, but mostly for open minded people.



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