1. Appearances

2. Creation and design

3. Reception

4. References

Kogami was created by the Production I.G staff who wanted to have a strong protagonist in order to make stand in the confrontation against Makishima. Kogami is voiced in Japanese by Tomokazu Seki and in English by Robert McCollum. Critical reception to Kogami's character has often been positive due to his traits and role in the series while his rivalry with Makishima has often been praised, while his return in the 2015 movie earned similar praise for his return after an absence during the second Psycho-Pass anime. He has also been well received by fans earning him the "Mister Noitamina" award in an official poll.

Appearances

Kogami is the protagonist of Psycho-Pass, working as an Enforcer under Inspector Akane Tsunemori's view. He is in charge of hunting down criminals even though Kogami himself is a potential criminal due to his high "Criminal Coefficient."^[2] It is eventually revealed that Kogami was an Inspector whose involvement in the Specimen Case caused his Crime Coefficient to rapidly increase to abnormal levels. While investigating the case, Mitsuru Sasayama, the Enforcer that worked under him, 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 Sibyl System, restricting his freedom and limiting his movement to inside the Public Safety Bureau.^[3] Despite his violent actions, Kogami feels relaxed when Akane is assigned as his Inspector as he believes he will be a detective rather than a killer under her judgement.^[4]

As an Enforcer, Kogami takes extensive physical training so that his superiors will not have to kill criminals.^[3] Kogami and Akane manage to arrest Makishima but following his escape, Kogami is taken off the case due to the Sibyl not wishing Makishima dead. As a result, Kogami leaves Unit One to hunt down and kill Makishima alone.^[5] He ultimately succeeds and is not seen again by his comrades,^[6] although in the audio drama After Stories he contacts Akane about how he will stay away from society in order to avoid being detected.^[7]

Kogami also appears in the manga adaptation of the series Inspector Akane Tsunemori which follows his actions in the first series.^[8] He is also the titular character of the nanga Enforcer Shinya Kogami.^[9] He is also the protagonist of the prequel novel where he is still an Inspector and is shown working in the case where Sasayama dies.^[10] The novelization of the first anime ends on a dark note as Kogami expects himself to be next person to die.^[11]

In the 2015 film The Movie, it is revealed Kogami now lives in the Southeast Asia Union, a superstate which has begun to import the Sibyl System technology from Japan. Kogami is the leader of freedom fighters who oppose the exposition to the Sibyl System, having taught his students his fighting skills. During the movie, Akane comes to the Southeast Asia Union to confront Kogami, but both end up cooperating in discovering the identity of the upcoming President of the superstate. Both Kogami and Akane end up being attacked by mercenaries but are saved by Unit One. Kogami and Ginoza once again join forces to defeat the mercenary leader Desmond Rutaganda. Following Rutaganda's death, Kogami and Ginoza part different ways with the former staying with his new group now that the President is considering taking place in another election.

Kogami is also set to return in the 2019 film Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System Case.3.^[12]

Creation and design

Kogami was created by the Production I.G. staff as the hero who would encounter Shogo Makishima across the series with their showndown being seen from Akane Tsunemori's point of view.^[13] Makishima and him were made to be polar opposites to the point their names indicate different meaning connected: Makishima is Shogo which means the time between midday and sunset, and Kogami is Shinya the time between midnight and sunrise. Despite the similarities about the two characters' despite their similarities in themes and motives, both characaters take a different path across the series based on their choices shown in the story.^[14] Naoyoshi Shiotani described Kogami as a "troublesome person" due to his serious personality to the point he stated while he liked the character, he would rather have Makishima as a friend due to his talkative mood.^[15]

His character was designed by manga artist Akira Amano. Character designer Kyoji Asano emphasized a major contrast when illustrating both Kogami and Akane: while Kogami wields a weapon with one hand freely, Akane instead wields it with both of her hands, showing the latter was less trained.^[16] As the series was "anti-moe" the team decided to avoid having Akane remove her clothes during episodes and instead have Kogami do it.^[17] For the first Psycho-Pass film, the main idea brought by the staff was about Akane finding the renegade Kogami which was influenced by multiple films like Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan. The non-romantical relationship between these two characters was found appealing by the staff due to trust both have on each other.^[18] Both Japanese actors behind Kogami and Akane agreed, with one of them believing Ginoza to fit more this relationship with Akane.^[18]

He is voiced in Japanese by Tomokazu Seki^[1] and in English by Robert McCollum.^[19] Seki stated he liked the character and wanted him to appear in the second Psycho-Pass series, saying alongside Shiotani that he was still the most capable character in the story due to how the cast had problems finding the antagonist Kirito Kamui. For the film, Seki felt that Kogami became less brooding than in the first series as he was no longer attached to the idea of revenge. The reunion between Kogami and Akane was one of Seki's favorite scenes due to how the two interact by handing out a cigarrete without talking.^[18]

Reception

Kogami has been well received by fans and reviewers. He won the "Mister Noitamina" award in an official poll involving characters that appeared in noitamina television series.^[20] In the Newtype anime awards, he was voted as sixth best male character.^[21] In a Newtype poll, he was voted the 24th most popular male anime character from the 2010s.^[22]

Critical reception to the character has been positive. Hiroko Yamamura commented that although it was obvious Kogami would be the series' protagonist it was interesting seeing him "at the wrong end of the barrel for the first episode" leading to possible interesting character dynamics.^[23] Richard Eisenbeis from Kotaku criticized him as an "static character" for lacking the development Akane Tsunemori showed across the series.^[24] Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network commented that Kogami appeared to play "the role of brawn to her [Akane's]brain." She added that "Not that Kogami does not consider his actions – it is perhaps more accurate to say that he is not afraid to act on his thoughts, to work outside the system, while Akane prefers to change things from within."^[25] Jacob Hope Chapman from the same site praised the relationship he had with Akane as they "struggle for mutual understanding while refusing to compromise their ideals is satisfying."^[26] Kyle Mills liked Kogami's "enigmatic" characterization due to how he interacts with Akane in the second episodes despite having been shot her once as well as how his past is explored across the next episodes to the point of being his favorite character.^[27] David West from Neo said Kogami "is every inch the shonen action hero" due to his role in the series when it comes to fighting so long as Akane does not have to hurt her in the process. The reviewer noted this was so repetitive that he laughed when Kogami was impressed by Akane's development.^[28] The fights between Kogami and Shogo Makishima have generated well response with Bamboo Dong from Anime News Network appreciating the use of weaponry and stated the "armchair psychiatrist evaluations of each other seemed a little forced."^[29] Although Thomas Zoth from the Fandom Post found the first battle a little anticlimatic, he highly praised the two fighters' final "quite" duel due to the setting and the characters' interactions.^[30][31] While praising Kogami's role in the final episodes, Zoth still criticized "the idea that Kogami is so “in touch” with Makishima that he knows what strategy he will choose is a little hard to take."^[32] Kyle Mills from DVD Talk found Kogami as the "apparent villain" of the series due to how he leaves his comrades to save society from Makishima and get revenge for Sasayama's death.^[33]

In regards to Kogami's role in the film, Jacob Chapman enjoyed his interactions with his former Inspector Akane but criticized his hallucinations where he talks with the dead Makishima. Nevertheless, Chapman enjoyed touches like Kogami quoting dead writer Frantz Fanon.^[34] In anticipation for the movie, IGN writer Miranda Sanchez expected to see more interactions between Kogami and Akane due to Psycho-Pass 2 lacking that. However, she noted Kogami's role was mostly fanservice believing the developers did not use the duo's bond to their full potential and instead the final fight is mostly focused on Kogami.^[35] Alexandria Hill from Otaku USA praised the first interactions between Kogami and Akane for its action as it contrasted the heavy use of dialogue in the beginning.^[36] Robert Frazer from UK Anime Network praised Kogami's role in the prequel manga Psycho-Pass: Inspector Shinya Kogami due to his interactions with the rest of the cast to the point Frazer believed it was more appealing than Akane's role in the anime's sequel.^[37] Anime UK News has noted that Robert McCollum is one of the best English actors for the dub alongside Kate Oxley while Rice Digital shared similar feelings.^[38][39]

The character has also been the subject of analysis by Anime News Network. The site compared him with the character of Charles Marlow from the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Like Marlow, Kogami's obsessive hunt draws him closer to his prey both inside and out to the point one of episode of the first series he is seen reading the book. Across the story, Akane wishes her partner to follow her ideals while Makishima instead wishes Kogami to embrace the darkness. While Kogami kills Makishima, he still decides to remain in the darkness and parts different road with Akane.^[40] In the book Law and Justice in Japanese Popular Culture: From Crime Fighting Robots to Duelling Pocket Monsters, Kogami's character is noted for how surprised he is by Akane's thoughts in regards to whether or not his partner views the Sybil System, as Kogami's exclamation explicites that while the status quo is approved by her, Akane still does not value the Sybil System that monitors the world of the series.^[41]

References

• Hito steyerl
• Hitoto yo
• Hitoto Yo
• Hito Tres Fronteras
• Hitotsubashi Keiki
• Hitotsubashi University
• Hitotsume Kozou
• Hitotsume-kozō
• Hitotsu Yane no Shita
• Hitoyoshi
• Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto
• Hit Parade
• Hit parade
• Hit Parade (Audio Adrenaline album)
• Hit Parade (Spirit of the West album)
• Hit point
• Hit Point
• Hit Points
• Hit points
• Hitra
• Hitradio Ö3
• Hit rate
• Hits+
• HITS algorithm
• Hits allowed