At Anime Boston this year I got a chance to see a lot of anime, but I also missed a lot as well because of time conflicts. One thing I wanted to see, but couldn’t was Psycho-Pass. Once I got home, I immediately remedied that situation.  Psycho-Pass takes place in a dystopian future where it is possible to instantaneously measure a person’s mental state, and the probability that a person will commit crimes.  While the story on the surface sounds similar to Minority Report, I think it goes much further than that.

The main character in Psycho-Pass is Akane Tsunemori, a new Inspector that has just joined the police force.  Akane meets her new partners as she takes on her first case, where a person’s Psycho-Pass has escalated to a dangerous level.   Akane is partnered up with another hard ass Investigator to show her the ropes, and several Enforcers.  Enforcers are latent-criminals that haven’t actually committed a crime yet, but their Psycho-Pass is high enough that they are a danger to society and need to be watched over.  Because these Enforcers have a high Psycho-Pass they are used like hunting dogs by the Investigators to hunt down the potential criminal.

The relationship between the Investigators and the Enforcers is part of what makes this series so interesting.  It also gets into the idea of freedom vs safety, and several other really interesting ideas.  Psycho-Pass is a very serious and smart anime that makes you think.   I fell in love with the series and marathoned through all 22 episodes in about 2 or 3 days.  While there were many shows I enjoyed at Anime Boston, this would have been my favorite anime shown if I had a chance to watch it.

I watched the dub for Psycho-Pass and was completely fine with all of the voice acting.  Due to some of the complex conversations, I’m kind of glad I was able to hear it dubbed.  If I had to read some of it, I probably would have had to go back several times to make sure I understood everything going on, in later episodes.

Psycho-Pass is based on a manga by Gen Urobuchi, who is also known for Black Lagoon, Phantom of Inferno, and Fate/Zero.  The manga is ongoing, so I’ll probably start reading it soon.  Psycho-Pass is scheduled to have a second season later this year, and a movie in early 2015.

Anime like Psycho-Pass don’t come by very often.  We need more series like this, and I’m glad more episodes are just around the corner.   Hulu has all 22 episodes of Psycho-Pass subtitled, and the first 4 episodes dubbed.