Interesting ideas... but not top-bar execution.
Throughout its run, I couldn't decide whether I liked Psycho Pass or not. I definitely wanted to like it; it's a futuristic dystopian cop thriller, it sells itself. But as it went on, the story kept taking a number of weird steps that undermined its premise if it wasn't being just flat-out silly. There were things that I really like about this show, but there were times that I wasn't sure what it wanted to do. In the end, it might've been better if it had just stuck with the cop angle.
In the future (cue ominous music), Japan has turned over the day-to-day functions of its society to the Sibyl System, a computer system that can scan a person's mental state, known as their Psycho-Pass, which determines everything from what jobs you can have to where you can live. A low score is ideal, while a high one can get you labeled as a "latent criminal" (if you're familiar with 1984, replace that with "thought crime" and it's basically the same thing).
The story follows our not moe protagonist Akane, a new detective in the city's police department. She's in charge of a group of latent criminals known as Enforcers meant to. Help track down criminals. She's encouraged to stay as disconnected from the process as possible in order to keep her "hue" clear, but she gets closer to an Enforcer named Kogami, who has a theory about the recent string of crimes...
From that synopsis, you could guess that the world and the society that the characters inhabit are the most interesting parts of the show, and you would be right. Future visions of the world beg to be explored, and that's also true for Psycho Pass. To that end, while the group of characters we're introduced to are generally likable, the show is less concerned with giving them character arcs since most of them are used as lenses to descirbe the world. This comes at varying levels of success; one secondary character is given her own backstory episode that was really just about showing how "therapy" really works in the Sybil system, and she's thrown back into the background once it's over. Kagiri's character as a whole is much more successful in this regard, with his seemingly carefree nature and desk full of toys that masks complicated emotions towards the society that's marked him as a criminal since he was a kid and that he's sworn to protect. Not all the characters are merely glimpses into the life of the world of the Sybil System--Akane grows into her role as a detective by the end of the show, and Ginoza is probably the only one with a complete character arc--but for the most part it still feels like they're there to give the viewers context for the world.
And what a world it is. The Sybil System extends to just about every aspect of life, making the world easy for those it favors and a living hell for those that get branded with the "latent criminal" stigma (if not outright executed). It's even shown that a strange new disease is impacting part of the population--people literally forget how to live because they're so reliant on Sybil. With all this context, a revolution created by those who've been abandoned by the system only makes sense, since only those with a "clear" Psycho-Pass (or granted an exception, like the Enforcers) are allowed to live in any sort of comfort. Some of the initial attempts by the minor villians to "wake up" society are as interesting as they are disturbing. The schoolgirl artist who makes sculptures out of her victims' bodies is easily the creepiest part of the show, and the unblinking cyborg whose last remaining human part is a brain brings up a interesting conversation about humans and machines.
All of this seemed to be a great setup to a cop story... But then it started making some strange choices. How would someone be able to avoid being scanned by Sybil for a long period of time and not raise a flag within the system? Why isn't the internet regulated, or for that matter, why is all this underground stuff allowed at all? The show spends a ton of time establishing that Sybil has an iron grip on society, but then almost every minor villian exploits flaws that shouldn't be there in the first place. As far as dystopian rulers go, Sybil does not do a very good job. It feels like these flaws are there for the sake of plot convience, rather than actual problems within the system. And speaking of plot convience, the worst mistake the show makes is it's failure to bring up the idea of Super Oats until the very last second. My problem isn't with the concept of Super Oats itself (we do the same thing with corn) but the writer (I'm looking at you, Gen) fails to understand that if something in your world is directly tied to the way your story ends, it would be best to mention it at least once before it becomes relevant, so that it doesn't feel like it fell out of the sky.
Also, the show is well aware of how much it is drawing from other sources (like my 1984 comment above) to the point that it has the main villian, Makishima, constantly quote philosophers or make sure that his book cover is turned towards the camera. While it's great to have a character that knows his literary references, constantly throwing out these deep questions about society and the individual's place within it made me think that Psycho-Pass was trying to make some deep statement. At the same time, a one-off villian throws tomatoes in a blender because SYMBOLISM. You can see why I mentioned earlier that I was confused about what this show was trying to do. In the end, Psycho-Pass was happy to have its characters stand around and philosophize, but it never reaches a definitive conclusion on any of the questions it brings up. Instead, it goes for a reset ending, making me wonder if there ever was a point at all.
Between that and Super Oats, the ending is easily the weakest part of Psycho-Pass. However, looking back on it as a whole and disregarding the parts that went nowhere or were dropped completely, it still makes for a decent gritty distopian cop show. The implications of the Sybil System, its effect on people, and how the idea of justice works in a society where you're convicted before you can commit a crime are facinating themes, and the earlier arcs that explore this are the best part of the show. The problem when it tried to get "deep" was that it didn't commit to giving answers, which makes the whole thing ring hollow. But if you're a sci-fi fan and want a decent cop drama, Psycho-Pass is still a fun watch. Just don't expect it to give any concrete statement on the questions that it throws out.
Images from Funimation.com and Hulu.com.
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