Review will be broken down like so : Story Art Animation Characters Sound Overall Enjoyment 70https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/PsychoPasscast.jpg Story 9.5/10 PsychoPass is the assessment of peoples biometrics. It reports back their Crime Coefficient it is an index for how likely one is to commit a crime. If it goes past 100 they are arrested and are deemed as latent criminals. So this is the future world of Japan. A system which identifies and apprehends people based on their likelihood of committing a crime despite not having done it yet. Its quite fascist in nature indiscriminate and merciless. We actually see the irony in the system in the form of Enforcers. They are latent criminals that work to aid Inspectors and generally do the dirty work. Thats a rough summary and setting of the world. I admire how they build and establish the world through the first half of the show. For the first half of the show it feels quite episodic. The Division 1 team goes from crime to crime arresting/executing latent criminals. But it isnt just that for these crimes we learn they are part of a bigger threat. It allows us to fully understand the rules and nature of the world while giving us breadcrumbs in what the overarching plot is. The show allows us to get used to the world and not just throw us to the deep end or have long expositions explaining everything. After that the anime dives straight through psychological and societal issues. With the Sybil system becoming the iron fist of the law. It explores whether apprehending criminals who havent committed a crime is right or wrong. The anime depicts fascism in the form of the Sybil system simply put the Sybil system puts in favour how it benefits the society as a whole and not the needs of an individual. I really cant talk much about it without spoiling it too much but i thoroughly enjoy the concept and questions it brought to me as i watched the show. The themes of the show is enough to pull me in and is quite compelling. Art 8/10 Art style wise its not bad it does what it needs to. Its what most people would believe anime looks like and it works well. Nothing too special or unimmersive about it. So ill move on to the next point character design and world design. I thought the characters were well designed and represented their characters really well. A perfect example is Kagari hes loud wild and kind of energetic compared to his colleagues. So he has orange hair and hair pins that visually addresses the audience what kind of person he is. Shinya Kougami definitely fits your run of the mill anime protagonist relatively spiky hair tall and goodlooking. Despite looking run of the mill he does have an interesting design with his spiky hair and loose suit. Kinda reminds me of Spike Spiegel. The designs of the characters were quite well done but i felt that they kinda stuck to the typical look of anime. Dont get me wrong its not a bad thing but its just very typical. World design had some hiccups for me. We often get these overhead visuals of the city in Japan. It looks beautiful futuristic and dystopian looking with a dash of global warming. Simple yet effective art depicting what the future could be as we see remnants of old buildings submerged in water alluding to the fact the polar ice caps melting/ has melted. Without going too much into detail or providing an entire exposition the visual storytelling in these shots really add to the rich vibrant world it already is. However I always get pulled out of my immersion when Komissa is on screen. These guys : 50https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/psychopass/images/1/18/Komchans.jpg/revision/latest/scaletowidthdown/340?cb=20141224034929 They look completely out of place and distracts me quite a bit. I guess its a way for the police to look friendly to the public. It feels so out of place with how the world is designed. If i really try and read into it i believe it may be because since its a dystopian future the monotone expressionless holograms look kinda creepy but i didnt really like them that much. I really really really loved the Dominators design its so cool. Its going on my list of cool guns along with Vashs .45 long colt Dredds Lawgiver and Alucards ARMS 13mm. When it first got used I was completely inlove with it. ESPECIALLY when it goes execution mode HOLY CRAP that spinny thing and firing a massive laser was so epic. Im sorry if i sound illiterate but its amazing. 46https://imagesna.sslimagesamazon.com/images/I/51TqVdnHxuL.ACSX425.jpg 52https://i.pin.com/originals/42/58/dd/4258dd6e3f6ba745f90f2e0b9ea2fd74.gif Overall the art was great design wise i think they did a good job but i feel like they kinda stuck to typical anime character designs. Animation 8.5/10 Animation is just like the art great but nothing special. I felt that the action was underplayed at certain scenes because they cut to different angles a lot. I think this kinda disjointed the overall fluidity of the sequence it didnt ruin it it just felt messy and slightly cheap of them. I felt like the cuts were done because they didnt wanna blow their budget on less important fights. This kinda ruined the flow and motion of the fights for me because i love me some good long takes. Not to say they didnt do it. When they really try to emphasize the importance of a battle in the anime the animation can really get good. The handtohand combat in this anime was quite good it was smooth and you felt the impact of the shots from all the characters. Just look at this i couldnt find a better gif but they really are quite good https://66.media.tumblr.com/e4bf0f020adf766464e45394f2046e90/tumblrn70wu1Xhsk1r4tzlvo2500.gif I absolutely love how minimal the camera moves and when it moves from left to right it helps bring focus to what Kougami is doing against Makishima. A fear I had with the animation was whether theyll fall into the still image with moving mouth syndrome because of how detailed everything was. But to my surprise theres always something moving when they have long conversations between two characters. This may seem like im nitpicking but i feel like motion is really important even if theyre just talking because i think it really adds to the characters who are speaking. Like what Saigasensei said People manifest all sorts of signs unconsciously. I believe this applies for general movement in all characters. It adds depth and personality to each one of them. Overall the animation was pretty great with some bumps here and there but very enjoyable. Characters 9/10 I think the characters are exceptionally well done most especially the antagonist and two main protagonists Makishima Tsunemori and Kougami. So Ill begin with Tsunemori Akane. Tsunemori is a brilliantly done protagonist. For a timid quiet and weak looking protagonist by the end of the series we see her in a completely different light. Throughout her journey as an investigator she grows substantially you really see how all these experiences add up to what she ends up becoming by the end of the show. They really captured this with the final scene of the season. So moving on to Kougami Shinya. Another expertly done character. He comes off as a tough seemingly timid Enforcer. In contrast to Tsunemori Kougamis character remains the same throughout the season and we learn how he ended up where he is at right now. I love how the two main characters are in complete contrast with one another but are expertly brought together. This creates a compelling dynamic between these two and how their relationship grows as the series progresses. The newbie and veteran dynamic really immerses me into the world. On one hand Tsunemori like us doesnt know anything about the world while on the other we have Kougami whos a veteran in the field. It allows us the viewers to truly capture and feel what the world is like in PsychoPass So for the main villain Makishima. Simply put hes a very compelling villain throughout the show. My man loves to drop references to famous authors and even referenced two of my favourites George Orwell and Philip K. Dick. For some this may seem pretentious but for me it adds depth to his character and reasoning behind motives. I love the fact that hes committing these heinous crimes for something that is justifiable. He has this cynical sense of freedom and what it is to be human. I can go on for ages about how brilliant his character is but ill stop right here. Ill briefly talk about the supporting cast of the CID Division 1 Ginoza Masaoka Yayoi Shion and Kagari. In my opinion Kagari and Yayoi are the weak links in the supporting cast despite Yayoi getting her own episode about her back story. That episode also felt really out of place especially with what transpired before. She feels really unimportant despite being on the screen a lot. Kagaris loud and all over the place but just like Yayoi he feels unimportant and doesnt get that much development. Yuki was a better character than the other two and she wasnt a prominent character. For Shion she feels important she behaves kind of like the eyes and ears of Division 1. Ginoza and Masaoka are excellently written characters Ginoza and his relationship and past plays a major role in the development of his own character and those around him. Masaoka is that old head that stills alive and kicking he feels the most down to Earth and actually has an effect between the main characters. I actually love the relationship between Ginoza and Masoaka for the subplot. The characters in this show were brilliant with a few shortcomings lovable cast of characters I grew quite fond of them at the end. Sound/Voice Acting 9.5/10 Ill make this short. Abnormalize Out of Control All Alone with You and Namae No Nai Kaibutsu are all in my playlist now. The songs picked for this show are absolute bangers and capture the emotion and tone of the show. I catch myself forgetting to skip the intro/ending because of how good the song is. The AMV at the beginning is also well choreographed and are a joy to watch. Kana Hanazawa obviously had a magnificent performance for Tsunemori. All the voices suited the characters exceptionally well and have no complaints whatsoever. One thing I thoroughly enjoyed in this show is the foley. This in my opinion is a very underappreciated art form. I watch my anime on a desktop with 2.1 surround speakers and holy crap this is the first time Ive seen my subwoofer fully taken advantage of. In my most anime the foley all kind of sound the same but not PsychoPass. When explosions happen you hear and feel it. Im not an audiophile but I like me some good sound and was pleasantly surprised with the foley in this anime. I think the OST suffered quite a bit the OST is great but fell short. This is due to the lack of consistent usage of the soundtrack. In action sequences you can clearly hear it playing. But other times its nowhere to be found and felt that it was a lost opportunity. Overall Thoughts 10/10 and Miscellaneous Things I thoroughly enjoy the ride that PsychoPass has brought from the compelling characters all the way to the themes it delves into. I find myself questioning society as well as myself throughout the anime. I love the message about stress and society Story: 9.5/10 Art: 8/10 Animation: 8.5/10 Characters: 9/10 Soundtrack: 9.5/10 Overall Enjoyment: 10/10
90 /100
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