I finally started watching Psycho-Pass today after procrastinating on it for so many years. I ended up watching the first three episodes in one sitting, and honestly, I’m amazed, not only by how good the series is overall, but by how quickly I’ve grown attached to Akane Tsunemori, the protagonist.

The story centers on Akane as she joins the Public Safety Bureau as a newly appointed Inspector. In the world of Psycho-Pass, a massive computer-controlled network called the Sibyl System constantly monitors the biometrics of every citizen, producing a numerical Crime Coefficient that reflects how likely a person is to commit a crime. The higher the number, the more likely that person is to require therapy, isolation, or in extreme cases even elimination.

Akane is clearly written to be the “voice of reason,” the character the audience can relate to most easily. Everyone else around her has already internalized the system so deeply that they no longer question it. They simply follow Sibyl’s judgments, even when those judgments (as shown right in episode one) can be dangerously flawed or inhumane.

Working alongside Akane are the Enforcers, latent criminals whose Crime Coefficients are already too high for normal society. Instead of being isolated or executed, they assist with investigations and serve as tools for the Inspectors taking the initiative at times, even though in theory the final decision is always supposed to lie with the Inspector. The dynamic is fascinating, especially as we’re still only scratching the surface of how their relationships and roles work.

Across these first three episodes, we’ve mainly been introduced to the basics of the system, how cases are handled, how rigid everything is, and how terrifyingly powerful the tools given to Inspectors and Enforcers can be (like the Dominator, which is absurdly cool but also deeply unsettling).

What I’m most interested in is seeing how Akane’s worldview starts to shift once she learns more about the Sibyl System’s inner workings. She's like a clean slate, a kid that has just become adult and I have a feeling the clean, orderly façade won’t last long.

I’m also really curious about Shinya Kogami, who seems to be Akane’s central partner among the Enforcers. He clearly has a past he’s not over, and he’s made it obvious that he’s driven by revenge, but who exactly is he after? I doubt it’s something as simple as a regular criminal. More likely, it’s someone who can slip through the cracks of the Sibyl System entirely and this can be used for a climactic showdown near the end of the series…

Either way, I’m absolutely loving the series so far, and I’ll definitely keep watching (and writing about it) in the coming days and weeks.