Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass
Series title card
PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス
Genre	Cyberpunk, Dystopian, Science fiction, Thriller
Anime television series
Directed by	Naoyoshi Shiotani
Produced by	Takeshi Wada
Written by	Gen Urobuchi
Music by	Yugo Kanno
Studio	Production I.G
Licensed by	Madman Entertainment Funimation Entertainment
Network	Fuji TV (noitamina)
Original run	October 12, 2012 – March 22, 2013
Episodes	22
Manga
Inspector Akane Tsunemori
Written by	Hikaru Miyoshi
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Jump Square
Original run	November 2, 2012 – ongoing

Psycho-Pass (PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス) is a Japanese anime television series by Production I.G. The series aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block between October 2012 and March 2013 and has been licensed by Funimation Entertainment in North America. A manga adaptation began serialization in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine from November 2012. The story takes place in the near future where it is possible to instantaneously measure a person's mental state, personality, and the probability that a person will commit crimes with a device installed on each citizen's body called the Psycho-Pass. It follows members of Unit One of the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division and the crimes they investigate.

Plot

Psycho-Pass is set in a future where it is possible to instantaneously measure a person's mental state, personality, and the probability that a person will commit crimes, all through a device installed on each citizen's body called a Psycho-Pass. When this probability, measured by the "Crime Coefficient" index, is too high in an individual, they are pursued and apprehended—with lethal force, if necessary. The plot focuses on a young adult named Akane Tsunemori who is a new police officer known as Inspector within Unit One of the Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division. As an Inspector she hunts criminal alongside a special team of so called latent criminals (people whose crime coefficient is deemed too high, and without chance of recovery) called Enforcers. Both Enforcers and Inspectors use magnum-esque "Dominators", special weapons designed to fire only on those with a higher-than-acceptable Crime Coefficient. During some of Akane's first investigations, the group learns of a mastermind behind multiple crimes, Shogo Makishima.

Characters

Shinya Kōgami (狡噛 慎也, Kōgami Shin'ya)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki

The 28 year old main male protagonist and one of the Enforcers in Unit One. Formerly an Inspector, his involvement in the Specimen Case caused his Crime Coefficient to rapidly increase to abnormal levels. It was revealed that while investigating the case, Sasayama, the Enforcer that worked under Shinya, was on to the mastermind behind the case until he was killed in the same manner as the victims. Instead of seeking the needed therapy, Shinya became so focused on the case that he was demoted to Enforcer by the Sybil System, restricting his freedom and limiting his movement to inside the Public Safety Bureau. He eventually left Unit One to hunt down and kill Makishima alone. He ultimately succeeds, but with Makishima's death the Sibyl System would no longer withdraw Kogami's execution order for his desertion and crime. In the epilogue, it is revealed that he managed to board a ship that was about to leave the country.

Akane Tsunemori (常守 朱, Tsunemori Akane)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa

The 20 year old main female protagonist and the newly assigned Inspector of Unit One. Considered a model citizen due to her ever calm demeanor and for passing the exams with the highest score for employment on several public sectors and private corporations. She decided to join the police due to being the only place where no one obtained a score as high as hers, thus she believes to be able to do something there that no one else can. She is shown to have a high tolerance to alcohol. In the epilogue, Akane has become the de facto leader of Unit One. Akane is seen briefing a newly recruited Inspector in the same circumstances Ginoza did when she first became an Inspector, but in an altogether more positive tone.

Nobuchika Ginoza (宜野座 伸元, Ginoza Nobuchika)

Voiced by: Kenji Nojima

A veteran Inspector working with Akane. He coordinates all the Enforcers in Unit One. An old friend of Shinya's, his hatred for those with high Crime Coefficients and his zeal to oust them from society came from the inability to stop his former partner from becoming a latent criminal. Although he still holds a certain degree of trust with Shinya, he dislikes Shinya's Enforcer partner Masaoka. It is later revealed the Masaoka is Ginoza's father. His father's demotion to Enforcer caused Ginoza constantly tells Akane to draw a line between herself and the Enforcers she works with. In the epilogue, Ginoza's Crime Coefficient rose too high and he was demoted to an Enforcer, mirroring the fates of Masaoka and Kogami.

Tomomi Masaoka (征陸 智己, Masaoka Tomomi)

Voiced by: Kinryū Arimoto

The eldest Enforcer of Unit One. He's a hardworking and honest veteran who guides Akane in learning how the system works in the Public Safety Bureau. As a former detective, his distaste for the Sibyl System's absolute judgment caused his Psycho-Pass to deteriorate, resulting in his demotion to the rank of enforcer. It is later revealed that Masaoka is Ginoza's father. He dies while protecting Ginoza when they confronted Makishima, leaving Ginoza grief stricken.

Shūsei Kagari (縢 秀星, Kagari Shūsei)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida

An Enforcer of Unit One who is detected as a latent criminal at the age of five. He's always telling jokes and sometimes teases Akane. During Makishima's infiltration, Kagari found out the true form of Sybil system when he is assigned to track one of Makishima's men, and thus, was killed to keep the secret by the chief using Destroy-Decompose Dominator, erasing all traces of him.

Yayoi Kunizuka (六合塚 弥生, Kunizuka Yayoi)

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō

The only female Enforcer of Unit One. She stays calm and collected in the face of even the most brutal crimes. Before becoming a latent criminal and joining the bureau, she was a guitarist in a band. After unwittingly helping the bureau track a terrorist named Rina, a musician she was in love with, she joined the bureau to prevent other people from ending up like Rina. She and Shion are lovers.

Shion Karanomori (唐之杜 志恩, Karanomori Shion)

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro

An analyst in the Public Safety Bureau's General Analysis Division and a latent criminal as well. She provides backup to the Enforcers and Inspectors in their investigation by analyzing the data and evidence sent by them. She and Yayoi are lovers.

Shōgo Makishima (槙島 聖護, Makishima Shōgo)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai

An old enemy of Shinya's and the target of his revenge. He is a humanist on the dark side who's hopelessly in love with cruelty, savagery, and all the worst aspects of human nature. A born evangelist, he possesses both uncommon charisma and a true gift for narrative. It is shown that Makishima may be the mastermind behind the many cases the Public Safety Bureau are investigating, including the one that led Shinya to become demoted from Inspector to Enforcer. Despite his murderous intent, his Crime Coefficient levels have never reached dangerous levels, rendering him safe from the Dominator. He himself claims this is because his own mind and body does not consider him killing people and committing crimes to be "wrong", but rather considers it to be completely "normal," which means his Psycho-Pass does not detect any abnormal or illegal behavior to report to the Sibyl System. Makishima is eventually killed by Kogami, despite Akane's efforts to stop Kogami.

Terminology

Psycho-Pass (サイコパス, Saikopasu)

A biomarker found on most citizens, measuring the mental state, personality, and the probability that a person will commit crimes.

Crime Coefficient (犯罪係数, Hanzaikeisū)

A probability that a citizen has commited crimes, or is likely to commit crimes, which is determined by that citizen's stress levels and other biological readings. Those whose Crime Coefficients read past a certain level are identified as latent criminals.

Sibyl System (シビュラシステム, Shibyura Shisutemu)

The system that monitors all data registered from Psycho-Passes. It was later revealed to be a bio-synthetic machine composed of hundreds of human brains linked together that forms a grand "mind system".

Psycho-Hazard (サイコ·ハザード, Saiko-hazādo)

A phenomenon in which the actions and behaviour of a person with a high Crime Coefficient can disturb and stress other people, affecting their mental state thus raising their Crime Coefficient at an accelerating rate.

Dominator (ドミネーター, Dominētā)

Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka

A high-tech weapon used by the police's inspectors and enforcers, which can only be used by the person it is registered to. When aimed at someone, it will read that person's Crime Coefficient and alter itself accordingly. By default, it is inactive to avoid firing upon innocent people. When aimed at someone with a high crime coefficient, the Dominator will switch to "Non-lethal Paralyzer" mode, which fires non-lethal blasts that paralyzes its target for capture. If a target is determined to have a dangerously high crime coefficient, the Dominator will switch to "Lethal Eliminator" mode which, as its name suggests, obliterates its target upon impact. To eliminate non-living things, like drones, the Dominator switches itself into "Destroy Decomposer" mode, which emits a massive discharge.

Criminally Asymptomatic

A classification of people whose criminal psychology does not match those of any scan, rendering them immune to the Dominator due to a low Crime Coefficient. It is estimated that 1 of each 2 million people, possesses this status. According to Shogo Makishima, their Crime Coefficient is low because they do not consider their criminal acts to be wrong, rather they consider them to be normal. People of this category are arrested and punished with utmost secrecy, even their existence is unknown to the public so as to maintain the faith of the Sibyl System intact.

Development

When creating the Psycho-Pass anime, chief director Katsuyuki Motohiro wanted the series to counter current anime trends. As a result, the use of moe was prohibited within the staff. Motohiro had been wishing to return to making an anime for some time but needed a charismatic script writer to do it. He then proposed Gen Urobuchi to work together during early 2011. Motohiro and his staff were surprised with Urobuchi's contribution to the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica which was said to exceed the series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Fascinated with Madoka Magica Motohiro then read other works from Urobuchi which convinced him to talk to Urobuchi.

In the making of the series Motohiro allowed very graphic elements even though they could reduce female viewership. He acknowledges that the series may be too violent for a younger demographic, commenting that he wouldn't want his son to watch it due to its being psychologically brutal. The psychological themes were based on the time he watched Lupin III during his childhood as he thought about adding "today's youth trauma" to the series. Other involved voice actors have also been credited in the making of the series due to how they added traits to the characters.

Themes

Psycho-Pass explores many societal and psychological themes, such as the price of living without stress, as the majority of the Japanese society in Psycho-Pass does not experience much stress. According to Moar Powah!, the "serenity from the system and from a “removal of stress” or a removal of any ambition results in the vegetables states people enter from abuse of the psycho-therapy". Since those who think of doing anything that could cause other stress are quickly punished by the Sibyl System, the concept of punishing someone because they have the potential to do something considered wrong is explored multiple times. Questioning if punishing someone for having potential to do what society considers to be bad is explored in the first episode where a woman is raped and due to her trauma, her Psycho-Pass is raised and the police prepare to kill her for it. In response, the woman reacts violently against the police with only Akane's intervention saving her. As Anime News Network states, "We are all capable of doing bad things at times – should we be punished because we thought of hurting someone before we act on it? Or because we were victims? It really all comes back to that first episode and Akane's reaction to the victim who presented as a violent criminal".

The theme of emotional repression is also heavily present in Psycho-Pass. The judgment of who is a latent criminal is shown to be partially based around not feeling emotions that society judges as negative, such as sadness or anger. To avoid being judged a latent criminal, one must not feel these emotions heavily when outside where their Psycho-Pass can be scanned. Kotaku states that "because of these scans, Psycho-Pass shows an interesting future where "mental beauty" is as sought after as physical beauty. It is also a future where the police's job is little more than to watch the latent criminals they control—because if they did any real detective work, they might start to think like the criminals they are trying to catch and thus become latent criminals themselves." Many of the main characters in Psycho-Pass also feel nostalgia throughout the series. The many references to older literature, philosophy, music and theatre create a "nostalgic world building for a time before psycho-passes".

Media

Anime

See also: List of Psycho-Pass episodes

The anime series produced by Production I.G. aired in Japan on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block between October 12, 2012 and March 22, 2013. The series is directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani with character designs by Akira Amano. Funimation Entertainment has licensed the series in North America and simulcasted the series on their website. A home video release is planned for Spring 2014. Toho started collecting the series in DVD and Blu-ray format on December 21, 2012. For the first eleven episodes, the opening theme is "Abnormalize" by Ling Tosite Sigure, whilst the ending theme is "The Monster With No Name" (名前のない怪物, Namae no Nai Kaibutsu) by Egoist. From episode 12 onwards, the opening theme is "Out of Control" by Nothing's Carved in Stone, whilst the ending theme is "All Alone With You" by Egoist.^{[citation needed]} Shiotani has stated there could potentially be a second season if the show receives enough support.

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi, titled Inspector Akane Tsunemori (監視官 常守朱, Kanshikan Tsunemori Akane), began serialization in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine from November 2, 2012. Its first tankobon volume was released by Shueisha on February 4, 2013.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Psycho-Pass at the Internet Movie Database
• Psycho-Pass (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia