First Impressions – Psycho-Pass
Time to bring out the big guns
 |
Whew! Sorry this is so late, guys. By now you can probably just assume the cause is “school”…which it was. I feel bad that I didn’t get a chance to blog about Psycho-Pass earlier considering that it was my top pick for the season. I had the most hype for Psycho-Pass because of its unique premise, solid production values, and my particular interest in anything including the brain. |
What is Psycho-Pass?
Psycho-Pass feels like a dark, gritty cops show with some futuristic, sci-fi elements thrown in. They go through the process of showing this newbie (the adorably boyish Tsunemori) the ropes, as per most cop shows, but “the ropes” involves a talking gun that can instantaneously scan your brain. They can figure out exactly how likely someone is of committing a crime, and the guns will switch from paralytic rounds to a lethal round that causes the target to explode from the inside out. Charming. It’s a very macabre subject with all sorts of ethical implications being thrown out there right from episode one. Is it right to invade the privacy of civilians and look at their mental state? Is it ethical to judge someone based on a high probability of future criminality that might not actually happen? Is the judgement system potentially so stressful that it is – in itself – a stressor that could set people off in the wrong way?
Right from the start, Psycho-Pass is trying to get you to think more than “ooooh what a neat gun!”. They want you to think of the implications. It’s very promising that the first episode is framed in this way, because I take that to mean we’ll be introduced to more moral dilemmas and touchy cases. Tsunemori is the only one who wants to try and protect everyone, which is a good contrast to the mix of vicious and stoic killers among the ranks. It’s good to see a female lead who panics a bit (because she’s new), but ultimately knows how to get shit done. That’s more than I can say for some female protagonists, my goodness. I’ll be curious to see whether Tsunemori either shifts more towards capturing criminals regardless of whether they’ve committed a crime or not, or if the felons-turned-policedogs will be the ones becoming more compassionate. With a great mix of violence, suspense, hot guys and complex concepts to puzzle over, Psycho-Pass is looking damn fine.
Does this style look familiar? It should to fellow Reborn! fans.
Production Notes: What did I mean by “solid production values” earlier? Well, you’ve got the likes on Urobuchi Gen working on the script, for one. He’s a rather big name, known for being the creator of Fate/Zero and doing the script and series composition for Madoka. He handles dark subjects and the concept of pondering over what is right or wrong exceptionally well, so I expect him to be right at home with Psycho-Pass. In terms of looks, you can’t really go wrong with Production I.G.. They’ve animated so many goddamned things I don’t even know where to start (hence the link!), but they’re a solid studio who are usually good at providing scenery porn. So far it’s too dark to see much other than blood and suffering, but we’ll see how things pan out. Everything else looks good though. They put a lot of life into Amano Akira’s (of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!’s fame) original character designs. Last but not least, props to the seiyuu for also breathing life into everything. You can’t go wrong with the likes of HanaKana (every moe character ever), Miyuki Sawashiro (Celty in DRRR!!), Tomokazu Seki (Gilgamesh in Fate/Zero), Ishida Akira (every villain ever), and Takahiro Sakurai (Suzaku in Code Geass). Nothing like sexy voices as the cherry on top, no?
———————————————————
Psycho-Pass from the Eyes of a Neuroscience Nerd
I think “nerd” is the highest level I can claim since I’m still working on getting my degree, and it gives me something to point to in case I say something horribly wrong. Now that my disclaimer is out of the way…HOW ABOUT DEM DOMINATORS, EH? They can scan a target and immediately calculate someone’s propensity for crime. While we don’t have a Dominator to instantly assess people in real life, we do possess the means to slowly accumulate the same set of information the gun would need to come to its conclusion.
The Dominator gives anyone being targeted an instant scan to calculate a criminal coefficient number based off of their psychological state. For example, it notices that Nobuo Okura needs therapy because his risk factor for committing a crime is high. We don’t have all the details of the gun, but so far it seems like it’s coming to this conclusion based on their mental stability. The Psycho-Pass system looks for telltale signs of mental instability, such as the neurotransmitter levels, brain physiology, and any genetic markers that show risk factors or hereditary disorders. Mental instability is used as a measure to predict future criminal behaviour, which is marked with a certain probability as a criminal coefficient number. The colour may be a marker of what kind of instability they show (depression, anxiety, violence etc.). I don’t think it reads minds or anything, but it bases all predictions off of how well people function in society. It’s rather similar to our DSM classification system of assigning a GAF number (general assessment of functioning) to people in order to judge their level of functioning in everyday life. This is also used to determine how to handle the patient, who may harm themselves or others based on what their score is. Those with high scores (the highest is 100) are very stable while those with low scores are very volatile and have severe impairments.
But is that really a good way to determine if someone will commit a crime? They’re persecuting people who haven’t even done anything yet, on the premise that they might commit a crime because of their unstable mental state. The two are strongly correlated, but humans can beat the odds sometimes. The early diagnosis has an opposite effect on Nobuo Okura, who is so freaked out by the fact he might become a criminal that he just goes all out to compensate for what seems inevitable. But it’s not inevitable. However, being branded with the label of “criminal” can actually make people more likely to live a self-fulfilling prophecy. Like Oedipus who marries his mother and kills his father in order to escape a prophecy that states the very same thing, it’s possible that warning someone can make things worse.
The issue of judging people’s future actions or states based on various biological markers such as brain physiology and DNA markers is actually a rather pertinent issue that comes up a lot in my classes. There are programs for catching people who are at risk of developing a mental illness by looking at how much they are at risk based on numerous factors (including their current affect and social situation). It becomes a problem of then finding a good cut-off point. Do you only treat people who have 70% chance of becoming depressed? 80%? 90%? If the cut-off is too low, then you’re just wasting time dealing with people who might not even need help. The fact that someone is labelled for having the potential to become x (be it a specific disorder or a criminal) can be enough to make them believe they really are that thing already.
Similar issues arise for DNA tests that can tell how likely someone is of getting a certain disease…right from birth. If you knew they were going to get Huntington’s (a hereditary disease that only shows symptoms later on in life) based on their DNA, then it seems almost cruel to tell them because it is impossible to stop it. Of course, not all cases are as clear cut, and some markers only show the probability of a certain disease or disorder coming about. Still, would you want to know your chances of catching every single ailment out there right from birth? Wouldn’t that fundamentally change how you behave, and live your life?
I think you can all tell that the Psycho-Pass system is cast as more of a curse than a blessing in episode 1. This is not a tool to make people get better – this is a tool to segregate all of society. Without being asked to, everyone has the mental state constantly monitored and treated as public knowledge. Any abnormalities are treated immediately. While this is a good thing, it’s phrased in a way that says “if you stay the way you are now, society won’t need you anymore.” The rape victim kidnapee is treated much in the same way – like a throwaway. She doesn’t matter anymore once she’s been traumatized. It’s a bit of a twisted system where people are expected to act in ways that reflect their Psycho-Pass number. If someone is labelled as being at risk for committing a crime, then they are treated as if it has already happened. The technology is so advanced that they see no margin for error.
On the bright side of things, this gun would be pretty sick if we actually had one and used it for the powers of good. There are benefits to this device if you continue to think outside the restraints of the show. They could prevent future crimes by stopping re-offenders from committing a second crime, and they might be useful for making people with undiagnosed illnesses realize what’s wrong and how to fix it. If it can tell that someone is about to commit a crime based on a quick scan, then I would go a step further and say it could be used to find early-onset depression, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. I think the only reason the crime coefficient of the kidnapped and raped women increases is because she is traumatized and incredibly stressed. Usually victims aren’t thinking about crimes as much as they are about escaping and then getting help – and yet she’s pegged as a potential felon. Imagine that…kidnapped and abused, then treated like she’s just as bad as the guy who used her. Having a mental breakdown and going on a crime spree are two different things.
But I digress. If used correctly, the Psycho-Pass system could be an invaluable tool that eradicates the messy, often inaccurate diagnosis system where we base the bulk of our judgments on the patient’s behaviours (i.e. symptoms). With the ability to scan someone instantly, you could make mental illness diagnosis a lot more accurate since they often are accompanied with changes in brain physiology (eg. schizophrenics have larger ventricles), neurotransmitter imbalances (eg. low serotonin levels in those with Depression), and other biological cues the Dominator can ostensibly detect. Combine the Psycho-Pass system with an assessment of their personality and behaviour, and you’ve got a new, holistic system that would revolutionize the world! A lot of people don’t even realize or admit they have something wrong, so putting mandatory scans in place could help catch a lot of people who would have gone unhelped otherwise. However, whether or not they want treatment should be up to them.
The system of Psycho-Pass is so wonderfully complex and full of little loopholes that I can’t wait to hear it described in detail. If you couldn’t tell already, I think the implications of releasing such a gun to society are endless in both good and evil capacities. It may seem silly to compare an imaginary gun to REAL LIFE SCIENCE but, hey, that’s what I find fun so deal with it!
I really like Psycho-Pass so far! It took a bunch of things I like and then rolled them all together into a katamari of attractiveness. The first case was purposefully a touchy one that that caused a big conflict in interests between Tsunemori and Shinya. I can’t wait to see how they deal with her after this little stunt she pulled. If you couldn’t tell by now, I’ll be blogging Psycho-Pass from now on, and will try to get the episode 2 post out for your reading pleasure as soon as possible. Until then, please don’t think I’m crazy for wishing that the Dominator was a real gun so fervently.
Preview: More females, wow! Tsunemori is introduced to the rest of the police force now that she isn’t in a rush after being assigned to a case so quickly. We’ll most likely get a debriefing of the mission that was just finished, and some insight about how this crazy world works.
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think it’s worth noting that it’s not just the Dominators that have the capability of scanning people. This is omnipresent, seemingly in both roving drones and static locations, which is how they were alerted to the guy in the first episode.
I fall far more on the pessimist side of this system than you seem to, OC. Particularly since the concept of ‘mental health’ and ‘mental illness’ is such an amorphous, inexact, and even politicized subject. Systems like that are invariably used to curtail the freedoms of people, and they become self-justifying. Sure, you can say at the beginning “well, treatment should be voluntary”. But then it takes just a couple incidents where people who should have gotten treatment or segregation from society then commit a crime for the howls to start for that treatment or segregation to be mandatory, with that commensurate loss in freedom. And much of this is because people are horrible at risk evaluation. Your chances of injury or death in a car accident around the corner from your house? Far more than the chances of being shot or assaulted by some random crazy person, by orders of magnitude. But what are people afraid of? DC Snipers, Colorado theater gunmen, Bell Tower snipers, and terrorists. But they’ll blithely drive off to work every day.
Anyway, this is a huge subject, and my personal philosophy is based on minarchy, so I view increases in state power as power waiting to be abused.
As for the show, it was pretty good, but I felt like I’d seen this before. We’ve certainly seen the gritty-future-city-at-night in everything from Blade Runner to Ghost in the Shell to Bubblegum Crisis (both versions). It didn’t look much different here, either. I was heartened by Tsunemori’s actions – surrounded by those who don’t care, she made a definite difference. We’ll see how the show goes from here.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Ah, you’re right. The whole city is wired to catch people who have high Psycho-Pass ratings. I almost forgot.
Well, to be honest I was describing a best case scenario. I doubt our system would be much better than the Psycho-Pass system. :/ There are no clear cut-off points when you’re looking at probabilities, so it would be easy to slowly encroach on people’s rights “in the name of safety.” Give it time and even those at slight risk will be condemned. Even if we started off with a nice, well-meaning system…it would probably devolve into forcing people into therapy much like what happens in Psycho-Pass.
I actually haven’t seen a lot of movies/anime like this, so this is pretty fresh to me.
Tsunemori is an interesting little gem, and I’m glad she tries to go against the grain. We can’t have everyone just going along with the system!
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
I’m going to actually have to disagree with you here. I didn’t really care for the main character. The woman whom they were trying to capture, they were just capturing her with a paralyze gun, much like the glasses detecive did later. I just rolled my eyes a bit and groaned as she screamed for them not to do it. I went oh great. This anime reminds me a bit of Gantz to be honest. But the main characters are whining and ridiculous to be honest. It was a paralyze gun, it just put her to sleep. And also they do put them through Therapy. So it’s not like it was that big of deal. This is the same issue I had with Gantz, it’s really good, but I am so tired of people say “don’t kill the alien blah blah” For god sake the alien has ripped someone into pieces, and ripped a guy a head off I think it’s safe to say to kill the alien okay. Quit trying to be morally implicit on something that should be common sense. They were just going to stun the girl and I found the main characters panicking just annoying. I hope she toughens up a bit. Or this anime I’ll watch with mild annoyance as the MC gets in the way all the time.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think you missed a really significant part of the story there. They weren’t trying to capture the woman, necessarily, but her proximity to the violently bad guy and his threats of raping her, and then exposing her to the confrontation pushed the woman’s psycho pass far into the “bad” zone. If Tsunemori had let Kougami shoot when he was going to, the Dominator would have killed her, not paralyzed her. It was only because of Tsunenmori’s action of stopping Kougami from shooting her, and convincing her to put down the lighter, pulling her back from the brink of craziness, that the Dominators for Ginoza’s group switched back to non-lethal mode.
So they most certainly were *not* “just going to stun the girl” when Tsunemori intervened.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
No remember there were two modes:
-Lethal and None Lethal
It only became lethal as the woman became more hysterical. And the detective glasses man did paralyze her. Which was their originally intention. I strictly remember in the anime, even the old man saying “i’m just going to stun her” and the gun was NOT at that point in time in lethal mode. It was in paralyze mode. Which means they WERE going. But as the girl got more hystericaly [at some point she did have a lighter and some gasoline] then it became lethal.
If she had originally let him stun her, then there would have been no problem and there would have had no update on the guns progress.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I like to see it as her giving the girl a choice; and that it was happening in the climax of the episode is just damn good pacing. All the build up was about people not having any choice at all; that the potential people have is far more important (not just as important, mind, but far more important) than the actions they take with that potential.
And not to spoil, but this gets some very clear underlining in the second episode involving Tsunemori’s potential.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
I didn’t like the whole screaming it was annoying. She was basically resorted to a begging and pleading girl. Instead of something a little more authority. As Enforcer, they are the dogs tell your dogs to stand down and not in the most annoying way possible. I don’t know her begging and whining really annoyed me in the first episode. I was like someone shoot her and the bitch whom almost got raped. I was almost done with the anime, but did watch the second episode. But I still disagree with them and think that she could have handled herself better than that.
“I am your enforcer, I command you to stand down dog”
You have no other choice. From what I understand of Enforcers they take commands from their enforcer. Enforcer fancy word for Parole officer. lol
Has anyone noticed:
Glasses Detective looks a little like Sebastian and Claude
While Ogami looks like Hibari from Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
As stated there could have been a completely different way for her to react. By the end of it I wanted someone to shoto her and the woman in the gasoline pile because they both were getting my nerves. More specifically the MC girl. And even at episode 2 I wanted someone to shoot her, please someone shoot her. I really dislike those mopey, I’m doing the right thing, but I’m going to be sad and question myself. Someone just shoot her. I would much prefer if she wasn’t the MC or they wrote her differently as a character. From what I understand of Enforcers, they make the rules. The dogs must obey. I think if she hadn’t basically had a mental breakdown in the first episode and actually behaved like an Enforcer should they would have had no other choice, but to stand down.
I really just hate the whole Gantz, let me cry and whine about life and death and try to be moral. It annoys me. Specifically when it’s MC the whole “STOP” and crying like a five year old.
Has anyone noticed
Glasses Detective looks like Claude and Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji
and
Ogami looks like Hibari from the future of Katekyo Hitman Reborn
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
She’s a bit on the dull side, but I find her to be a really capable woman. She rushed into her first case, was given a new weapon, and managed to stay true to her own moral compass even during all the chaos. It takes a lot of guts to go against what every other person is telling you and do what you think is right. She also doesn’t treat the Enforcers as dogs, but as real people, which is why she avoids using harsh orders and tries to reason with them instead. I think she’s shocked they don’t agree with her.
She had a few panicked moments that I saw as signs to show how green she was at he job, but I can see how other people could see it as annoying and whiny. It just depends on what you’re looking for in a main character. I will admit, morally corrupt characters are more my cup of tea haha
I can see the resemblance for sure, especially the Hibari one. Although it’s pretty easy to compare them to Reborn! characters since it’s the same character designer.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This was worth the wait this season even though there were hardly any explanations on the story beforehand. Just random trailers with the Psycho-Pass passing around to raise curiosity. Very Christopher Nolan style. It also makes you think on a lot of obscure possibilities in the near future.
I like the presentation because not only does it a gritty downtown mob style feel, it delves into the human psyche and the moral center of humanity on what is controlled, what should or should not be permitted. This anime shows similar elements of Ghost in the Shell and Burst Angel and the “in the near future, when it is possible to instantaneously measure and quantify a person’s state of mind and personality” motif gives it an Equilibrium feel where emotions were outlawed because society believed they could no longer leave their volatile natures to chance along with Minority Report on predicting things before they occur.
Tsunemori is the earnest young rookie who strikes as the kind, obvious naïve idealist. A person of such traits usually has their psychological limits tested when taking on this line of work because the person is forced to see gruesome things and must be able to keep composure at all times and from this episode alone; she’ll have trouble coping with her reality before she reaches her limit.
The idea of a Psycho-Pass coming into existence is nothing short of thought provoking. It’s a curse that seems to bring more harm than good which defeats its initial purpose. With the way some would see society, a device like that could be real but it could also lead to an abuse of power. I mean, the suspect here was just an ordinary guy who wasn’t himself for while and ended up getting labeled. He was simply pushed into a corner, the same as his victim after she witnessed his death right in front of her which would press on anyone’s nerves. Where would it end once it has started? And who would have the right to decide what is permitted? A sort of uncompromising vision of Totalitarian regime fueled by fear of persecution if you can picture V for Vendetta fitting into this.
Then you’re in for a long ride. The anime is 22 episodes long. It’ll help with the Phi Brain withdrawal. Hehehehe.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
A lot of facts were kept under wraps, but yes, it was worth the wait. My most anticipated show of the season wasn’t a disappointment.
…Every movie or show this anime is compared to is something I haven’t seen. I haven’t watched any of the anime/movies you listed aside from a few episodes of Ghost in the Shell and Burst Angel (and I dropped them pretty hard and fast). D: I kind of wish I had seen these things to draw more comparisons.
I’m sure she’ll be tested. I think some people may support her ideals, but the more cold-hearted characters may really start to push her and go against her orders. I don’t get the feeling she’ll waver and change her opinion though…based on episode 2. Yikes, I was late for this post if that’s already out. It’ll be fun to see her struggle to retain her morals in a world that’s completely against her though!
In a purely theoretical sense, the Psycho-Pass system could work wonders at helping millions of people. If it was actually let loose in our society, we’d end up just like the anime is depicting. Abusing that power. There would be some good outcomes too, but overall it’s kind of ominous. The boundaries really become far too blurry with this sort of thing, so what’s right or wrong also becomes…quite the issue.
Yes, everything I do in life that isn’t watching Phi Brain is just filler. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS BUT PUZZLES!
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
the animation is great
the story is kinda…not defined relatively speaking but cool so far
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Mmm, yeah, it seems to be on more of a world-building, thought-provoking track right now. Nothing too concrete yet. The overarching storyline will probably come later once we know all the characters and more intricacies about this Psycho-Pass system. Which is cool! I’m totally fine with that.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 304 comments
I’m absolutely loving Psyco-Pass so far. I haven’t watched the second episode yet, but I like Akane. She’s pretty adorable and is getting a lot of undeserved hate, in my opinion.
Everything from the animation, to the sounds, to the story is great so far. Well, it’s kind of early to say that this will have an amazing story, but I’m hoping it won’t disappoint me, not with Gen Urobuchi behind this.
This is probably one of my favorite, if not my favorite, first episode of the season. I just hope that the rest of the series stays this good.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I agree with @Amutofan123 about Akane. I do not think she is a bad character at all. Saying she did nothing but whine and mope is ridiculous, given that she shot her co-worker and defied the justice system.
I also think she was completely correct in her assessment. Just imagine if a present day police officer tazed a rape victim because she was emotional and he just didn’t want to hear it. And of course @Highway pointed out (above) that the Sybil system was calling for an immediate execution.
On the technology: I tend to be on the pessimistic side of this. My guess is that if a machine could accurately measure the mental state of human beings, very VERY few people would be able to pass the test reliably every minute of every day. There might be some people who are unredeemably broken, but the rest of us are broken, too, at least part of the time. Everyone has had an argument with someone and had elevated heart-rate and felt adrenalin coursing through their body. Everyone has been depressed for some period of time. And of course the show provided a worst-case scenario with the poor girl who was kidnapped and raped. The issue of finding folks who are emotionally “at risk” is one thing. Branding them as social deviants is another.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I tend to read a few writers who are big police watchdog types, and you’d probably be disheartened what actually goes on, and far more than you’d think. The taser has become an easy go-to for ‘compliance’, and there are far too many police whose first reaction to anything is escalate to forced compliance, in the name of ‘being in control of the situation’. Many people who, in my and many other people’s opinion, shouldn’t be tased do get tased just because they are not complying with officers orders in some time frame the officer thinks is good enough. Then we find out things like they were diabetics having a hypoglycemic event, or they were drunk and lying on the ground, or all manner of other reasons. And let’s not get into the wrong-door home invasions on specious warrants, and dog shootings.
More police officers like Tsunemori in our time would be better, too.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
That’s disturbing to hear. But I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised after all those pepper spray incidents from last year. 🙁
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Don’t you know, in Canada if you can’t speak English and you’re in an airport we taser you!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Even without a Psycho-Pass, our police officers make rush judgements about things. In fact, I’d hesitate to call tasering someone innocent to death a “judgement”…I’d love for more officers to be like Tsunemori too.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
I LOVE THE GUN! It is freaking awesome!
all that drama! all that action! exploding humans! blood! explosion! im loving the series so far! and i am excited to see the old “should computers decide everything for humans” come back to life again. since im recently watching S.A.C. Ghost in a Shell, these two series seem to correlate somehow in my mind 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yes! I don’t think I had enough exclamation marks in my post, but I REALLY LIKE PSYCHO-PASS TOO! The concept is really good and I find myself thinking about it even when I’m not watching it.
Maybe I should try watching Ghost in the Shell again. I tried it when I was first getting into anime and strongly disliked it. But now that my tastes have changed, maybe I’ll be more into it…
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
S.A.C. is so fun 😀 confusing, if you were new but you are a changed
mannow! go ahead and try it!(lots of violence and fun ;)) i finished the original manga, and 2 movies so far, and im going for the anime series 😀 gotta love the ai/moral values themePOWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I really liked GITS:SAC, but it kind of goes in the opposite direction from Psycho-Pass. They both are future-cop shows with cyber-punk issues about the nature of consciousness and the connections between personality and technology, but the approach is quite different.
Whereas Psycho-Pass (so far) is focussing on the embodied nature of personality (seemingly the psycho-Pass measures biological characteristics), GITS:SAC takes a disembodied approach, in which the human body can be modified, or dispensed with all together.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Thanks for the descriptions, guys. It’s sounding good now! I’ll add it to my to-watch list and give it another try. :3 It doesn’t have to be exactly like Psycho-Pass for me to like it, I would think.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
My gosh this show is just beating you over the head with it’s SYMBOLISM!, that it almost boils on the side of ridiculous. This world feels like a mix of Minority Report, Judge Dredd, with a hint of Blade Runner in there for good measure, all put in blender and then tossed out onto the set of Law and Order SVU.
I don’t know what this show has in store for me, but so far, no characters have really struck a cord yet except the obviously evil guy with white longish hair that’s kind of cute. But that’s just because of my personal preference.
Well, the going is smooth and steady so far, pretty dark, but I’m okay so far. On to episode 2….
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
*soft chuckle* Keep going, Irene, keep going. There’s still a lot in store. You haven’t seen anything yet.
That aside, what is it about white haired guys that seem to sway and drive girls crazy?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Honestly, I don’t think it’s the hair per say, but what the hair usually says about the character. I forgot what trope it is, but where white hair usually is juxtaposed against the character’s much darker personality. However, more often than not, a character with white/silver hair (especially male) is usually calm and collected and pretty sure of himself. There are of course exceptions such as Yzak of A-drei who were hot heads, and because of that, they really didn’t draw me much. So, it’s really not the hair, it’s the authority, silent confidence, intelligence, and power that they carry with them that is part of their personality. If a character has that, then I’m naturally drawn to them, no matter the color of hair. (My love for Itachi, Aizen, Illumi, or Vincent speak to that.) It just so happens that a lot of characters with white hair have those traits. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You’ll love him. 😉
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The overt symbolism doesn’t get any more subtle. Expect tons of literary references and even direct quotes thrown in later on.
It sounds like you’re a bit iffy on Psycho-Pass, but I hope you end up enjoying it! I remember it took me a while to get attached to the characters too.
…And I second Highway. You’ll love Mr. White Hair.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I’m on episode 4 now, and I’m beginning to like most of the characters. Akane is a little too naive for me, but I guess it’s nice in this kind of world.
And really this world must have millions of psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists just to maintain the level of everyone’s mental health. My cousin, who’s studying to become a forensic psychologist would love this. I, however, while I find the brain interesting, it is not really my area of science, so all this focus on the mind and mental health and people’s psychosis is a little too heavy for me. However, I’ve kinda found my groove in it.