For a while I thought "Zettai Karen Children: The Unlimited - Hyoubu Kyousuke" was last season's king of show, but after watching this beauty I realized I had to drop it down a notch. Psycho-Pass comes at you with a rather original story set in the near future. The story is set in a futuristic Japan where In the future "it is possible to quantitatively measure a person's emotions, desires, and every inclination. In this way, it is also possible to measure a person's criminal tendency factor, which is used to judge criminals. This is the story of a team of policemen dedicated to maintaining public order. Some of them work in the Enforcement Division, responsible for the apprehension of criminals, while others belong to the Supervisory Division which oversees their colleagues in Enforcement. The story centers around the "enforcement officer" Shinya Kougami, who is tasked with managing crime in such a world."
Or so you would think. Despite the official description saying Kougami is the main character, Akane Tsunemori comes off as the main character for a nice portion of the anime. Afterwards the spotlight tends to shift around. Psycho-Pass is a beautiful dark (pretty much cyberpunk) anime that begs the question about what is true freedom in this world. How are we supposed to live our lives? How are we supposed to interact with each other? All of this guided by the Sybil system. A twisted network of information (not to be confused with the internet) that immediately judges a person and can determine their fate. Everyone has a Psycho-Pass, a new form of ID that if clouded with inpure thoughts, could lead to retention and possibly death. Just imagine us living in such a world. The idea isn't really that far-fetched. The anime deals with philosophical themes all throughout.
I loved each and every character. Akane comes off as naive and unrealistic, which is necessary for her development. She gradually changes and becomes a loveable character who has brains and a strong conviction for duty. Kougami is right of the bat a needed character in anime. He is the opposite of early Akane, they essentially compliment each other. Kougami also has as strong sense of justice but his idea of this slowly becomes skewered as he encounters a character from his past. The series antagonist Makishima Shougo is that character, and he is by far one of my favorite villains in anime. His superior intellect, his way of doing things, his charisma, and the fact that he loves to quote famous literature are all reasons that make Makishima a great character. He is the perfect opposing force for the characters of this anime, especially Kougami. Makishima wants to destroy the things that bind humanity and set them free. This obviously is done by doing many illegal things that he always seems to find amusing. All in all every character in this anime is just a joy to watch.
The only issue I had was that I wish the background of some of the characters had been fleshed out a bit more. The animation was solid. The music was great, first time in a long while (since watching CCS) I actually enjoy the soundtrack in an anime. I think it's because it fits just right and isn't the typical forced music recycled in all modern anime. I would highly recommend this anime to anyone.
Be warned, there is much blood and some gore in this anime.
Score - 9.5/10
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