Psycho-Pass Is a Dystopian Mystery Anime You Should Definitely Watch

Psycho-Pass is widely considered as one of the best anime to come out in recent years. If you haven’t at least heard of it then it’s okay, I won’t judge you, this is a happy place. Psycho-Pass was a series that made its debut in 2012 and hit the scene pretty hard, spawning a second season and a movie. The show is praised for multiple reasons and is on a lot of people’s top anime lists, but most importantly it’s one of my favorite shows and you trust me and my judgement right? …Right?  Now without further ado let me educate you on Psycho-Pass and why you need to watch it.

The plot of Psycho-Pass is set in 2113. A system called the “Sibyl System” has become the standard for law enforcement and is used to stop a person before they even commit a crime, hence creating a perfect society. The system is constantly measuring every citizen’s mental state, personality, and probability that they will commit a crime, which is all summed up in a person’s “Psycho-Pass” and is used to determine if an individual is dangerous or not. If a person’s Crime Coefficient — which is their probability of committing a crime — goes up high enough then they are required to go to a rehabilitation facility or, in worse cases, killed on sight.

The Public Safety Bureau uses teams of Inspectors and Enforcers to deal with crimes and latent criminals with a weapon called the Dominator, which can go from stunning the criminal to actually making them explode depending on how high their Crime Coefficient is. The weapon can only be fired at someone with a high enough Crime Coefficient and if it never reaches that level the weapon won’t fire and it will be locked no matter the circumstance. Enforcers are actually latent criminals themselves who are under the direct authority of the Inspectors. Quite a few of them actually used to be Inspectors, but their Crime Coefficient rose to levels that are not acceptable to be an Inspector so they were demoted to an Enforcer.

The story follows Akane Tsunemori, who is a new inspector, and Shinya Kogami, an enforcer. Along with other teams, they take on the task of hunting down Shogo Makishima who is trying to take down the Sibyl System by exploiting its flaws and taking advantage of it. For some reason Shogo Makishima’s Crime Coefficient is zero, which means that Dominators won’t fire on him even if the person holding the Dominator actually sees him committing a crime such as murdering someone in broad daylight or organizing a massacre.

The story of Psycho-Pass and its characters is its selling point. If at any time one of the character’s Crime Coefficient rises above a certain level it can change their entire lives and might even get them killed. The frustration and uncertainty that they go through during the course of the show can be felt through whatever screen you decide to watch it on.

The characters of Psycho Pass

 

Oh there’s blood and in a few scenes — a lot of it — so viewer discretion is advised.

Why else is Psycho-Pass so great? Other than the characters and their development, a great soundtrack, great animation and voice acting, the show is great because of the Sibyl System. The Sibyl Systems basically acts as the show’s government and law which creates parallels of real-life situations where the law might not be as accurate as it should be. It serves a force that hinders some of the characters of the show even if they aren’t in the wrong and puts the citizens in constant fear of their Crime Coefficient rising. This combined with a great overall story with equally good subplots creates an extremely satisfying experience all around.

Honestly it’s really hard to explain shows like this one in words and why they’re so great without pointing out specific scenes and spoiling damn near everything about it, but hopefully I swayed some of you in the right direction so you can check it out. Psycho-Pass is a show that has a little something for everyone and if you haven’t given this show a shot, I implore you to do so. You won’t be disappointed.

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  • William Young

    Staff Writer

    Lover of Hamtaro and an eater of Oreos. Careful with what you say about me because I might throw it "Right Back Atcha." That's just a Kirby joke. I speak in references and I'm the awkward guy in the corner at a party. Hit me up if you wanna talk about magical girls in a totally appropriate way.

  • Show Comments

  • Nigel Wade

    *golf clap*…Dat part two, doh. #epic

    • William Young

      Shhhhh We don’t talk about the second season

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