There has to be a good reason why it took me so long to finish Psycho-Pass. I mean, there has to be, considering that it was one of the best anime releases for both the season and year it came out in. I just can't remember why it took me nearly TWO FREAKING YEARS to get around to watching its second half. I was happy to mark it as completed in my profile in MyAnimeList, but I was shocked to find out I started watching it in fall of 2012.
But my spotty memory and questionable reasons for not watching anime in a timely manner aside, I was happy to resume (and conclude) my viewing of Psycho-Pass. Especially since it meant that I would be ready in time for the second season's premiere in October.
I promise to be a good viewer and not take another two years to finish the season.
Psycho-Pass is the result of a computerized assessment that measures an individual's mental and emotional state. In 2113, Japan has long relied on the Sybil System and consider it to be an essential part of their daily lives. The Sybil System is used to measure a person's abilities, even determining the future career options that an individual will be most happy in. What's more, the system is used to determine the Crime Coefficient level or the potential of an individual to perform a crime, judging that individual to be sent to therapy or rehabilitation. The same system can decide if you should be killed on sight. The Criminal Investigation Division's Unit One is tasked to hunt down these criminals, including those who only have the potential to become one. Inspectors, like Ginoza Nobuchika and newbie Tsunemori Akane, are in charge of the division and its team of Enforcers, those judged to be latent criminals by the Sybil system but are still suited for crime prevention work, like former Inspectors Kogami Shinya and Masaoka Tomomi.
Initially, Psycho-Pass gave off a sci-fi crime procedural vibe, focusing on one case after another. But as the episodes and cases grew in number, it wasn't long before it becomes apparent that, however different the criminals and the nature of violence they enact are, the cases are actually interconnected. The looming danger posed by a criminal mastermind exposes the group to increasing degrees of violence and psychological strain, one that Kogami is very much familiar with since the very same mastermind caused him to eventually have a cloudy enough Psycho-Pass to be labeled a latent criminal and demoted to the Enforcer position.
The audience's introduction to the world of Psycho-Pass mirrors Akane's exposure to her new and violent world as an Inspector. She is suddenly faced with situations that places her in varying degrees of danger, many of which forces her to make difficult decisions. It's no wonder that former Inspectors end up becoming Enforcers, since being one of the few who sees the darker side of human nature tend to affect how one wants to enact justice on criminals. Akane is just one of a very strong ensemble of characters, with her fellow Inspector, the Enforcers they manage and the various criminals they encounter, providing the audience great insight on how different people coped or broke under the stringent way of living that the Sybil System imposes on their lives. Ginoza, while strict in his indifference towards the Enforcers, is one who constantly struggles with the stresses of his job; Kogami showcases a brilliant mind that's suited for crime solving, but also an obsession that could prove his ultimate undoing; and Makishima Shogo, immune to the judgement of the Sybil System, is focused on the ultimate goal of undermining the system that has long dictated the lives of the Japanese people.
While the varied characters and their individual character growth (or regression) is the series's main strength, I do have to point out that it also features one of the best execution of sci-fi world building that I have seen in a long time in anime. The depiction of the eerily peaceful Japanese society constantly threatened by a bubbling of violence wasn't always easy to watch, but one that you had to pay attention to. There is a sense of truth in how they depicted human nature or how people would react to the crimes that they are exposed to, even if you yourself don't live in their world or have yet to experience such events firsthand. In a sense, the depiction of the more horrible parts of human nature makes Psycho-Pass steeped in the horror genre as well, though it's not one that I labeled this post with. I mean, wouldn't it be considered a kind of horror to be faced with the worst of human nature?
I might still struggle to explain fully how the Sybil System, its resulting Crime Coefficient and Psycho-Pass assessments, or the Dominator gun used to enact the judgement of the system work, but every single element highlights the painted picture of the human's dependence on technology to solve the problem for them. These also served to show how helpless humans could be when there are people like Makishima who can find ways to circumvent the crime prevention system in place.
Psycho-Pass is not for casual viewing, but it's worth every cringe-inducing imagery it throws at you at times. I can at least tell you that in every descent into madness you might witness, there's an equivalent moment for characters like Akane in finding clarity and strength despite the odds, regardless if those odds were thrown at her by technology or fellow humans. And while a title like Psycho-Pass can never truly provide you a completely happy ending, there are endings that can give you a little bit of hope for the people who live in its world.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Action, Anime, Drama, Dystopian, Must-Watch, Psycho-Pass, Sci-fi, TV
