PSYCHO-PASS
a review by KaylAguas
a review by KaylAguas
Review will be broken down like so :
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 isn’t 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 haven't 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 can’t 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.
I thought the characters were well designed and represented their characters really well. A perfect example is Kagari, he’s 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 good-looking. 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. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a bad thing but it’s 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 :
I really really really loved the Dominators design, it’s so cool. It’s going on my list of cool guns along with Vash’s .45 long colt, Dredd’s 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. I’m sorry if i sound illiterate but it's amazing.
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.
When they really try to emphasize the importance of a battle in the anime, the animation can really get good. The hand-to-hand 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 couldn’t find a better gif but they really are quite good)
A fear I had with the animation was whether they’ll fall into the “still image with moving mouth” syndrome because of how detailed everything was. But to my surprise there’s always something moving when they have long conversations between two characters. This may seem like i’m nitpicking but i feel like motion is really important even if they’re just talking, because i think it really adds to the characters who are speaking. Like what Saiga-sensei 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.
So I'll 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, Kougami’s 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, doesn't know anything about the world while on the other we have Kougami who’s a veteran in the field. It allows us, the viewers, to truly capture and feel what the world is like in Psycho-Pass
So for the main villain, Makishima. Simply put, he’s 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 he’s committing these heinous crimes for something that is justifiable. He has this cynical sense of freedom and what it is to be human.
I’ll 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. Kagari’s loud and all over the place but just like Yayoi, he feels unimportant and doesn’t get that much development. Yuki was a better character than the other two and she wasn’t 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 still’s 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.
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 I’ve seen my subwoofer fully taken advantage of. In my most anime, the foley all kind of sound the same but not Psycho-Pass. When explosions happen you hear and feel it. I’m 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 it's nowhere to be found and felt that it was a lost opportunity.
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