Psycho-Pass

By: Robert Murphy

In a distant future of Japan, its people are all monitored and watched by a technological break through that measures citizen’s psychological states, mental inclinations and aptitudes right down to its core. This technology is known as the Sibyl System and it has paved the way for what many believe to be a perfect society where crime is almost none existent, people are all employed and live in an almost utopian society. Psycho-Pass tells the story of the people who stop the few crimes that still occur in this day and age and bring them to justice by either capturing them for therapy and treatment or removing them from society all together. Sibyl decides whether a human life is worth being around in the new society founded here and people known as Enforcers are the executioners that carry out its judgment.

The world of Psycho-Pass gives off a very Ghost in the Shell feel to it when I first starting getting into, a futuristic world of technology being extremely well advanced with holograms and robots all over the place. However, the concept is far different from Ghost in the Shell where people live in almost numbing bliss free from cares or worries about the people around them, almost like they live in Canada or something. At first I quite enjoyed the state in which people lived in but as the show progressed I soured on it, not because of the shows story telling but because the people were in fact numb and lived shallow lives do to the bubble world they lived in under the Sibyl System. Sibyl monitors peoples true feelings and looks deep into just what kind of person you are, not by the actions you take or how you live your life, that doesn’t matter to Sibyl because if you’re deemed a bad egg you’re going to be cracked. This is fine for most people though because a majority of the population is happy but it doesn’t seem too great from the other side especially if you’re someone that is deemed unable to be fixed by therapy and are removed from society all together, either by killing you or putting you in an isolation facility.

The story itself follows the people who work at Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division, those who track down criminals that either refuse treatment or have been scanned by Sibyl and seen to have clouded emotions or Hues as the show calls it. Akane Tsunemori is the newest member to this team and she works as an Inspector, people who give orders and are generally in charge of the criminal cases that are found by Sibyl. Then we have the Enforcers, these people are what is known as latent criminals people that should be removed from society but are used to help track down others with high crime statistics so Inspectors crime statistics don't go up. Akane is a shy and seemingly fragile girl who you wouldn't expect to work in a job like this but she chooses it as her career because she recieved a high aptitude for it from Sibyl and joins to find out why. Akane almost right away shakes the foundation of what Inspectors are suppose to be like and she treats the Enforcers like normal people, not looking down on them and judging them. Alongside her, I found the Enforcers all to be loveable characters but weren't to deep as far as characters go this was the case I found with Nobuchika Ginoza, the other Inspector working with Akane who even when he had a something personal about his life come into the story it kinda fell flat or you saw it coming. My absolute favorite character had to of been the antagonist, Shogo Makishima, who was the one in the story to actially make me feel the sourness I mentioned earlier about the society under Sibyl. Shogo does an excellent job of being that bad guy you hate to love and makes the story what it was for me which was great. 

Psycho-Pass is one of those animes that comes along and makes a stand on something and says okay this happening, this is what society or something is going to be like and makes you really question whether its right or not. Much like in Death Note, criminals are being punished and removed from society and Psycho-Pass does the same thing except that it’s sanctioned and it’s an every day thing that people welcomed. Whether you agree with it or disagree with it is something you will have to watch and decide for yourself.

Good:

- A solidly paced and compelling story

- Shogo is probably one of my top anime antagonists and really drives the story

- A great setting in a Ghost in the Shell like futuristic world

- Makes you question whether or not you’d want to be lived in a world under Sibyl

Bad:

- Characters could have used a little more work

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10