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This replica gun from anime hit 'Psycho Pass' is seriously impressive

Japanese manufacturer Cerevo's $800 Dominator gun replica lights up and unfolds into an "Eliminator" form.

Adam Bolton
Adam Bolton is a contributor for CNET based in Japan. He is, among things, a volunteer, a gamer, a technophile and a beard grower. He can be found haunting many of Tokyo's hotspots and cafes.
Adam Bolton
2 min read
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Cerevo

Everyone knows anime is big in Japan. And borne out of the country's intense fandom is insane merchandise, like Cerevo's new Dominator gun.

The Dominator is a handgun from the popular cyberpunk TV series "Psycho Pass." In the show, it has the capability to judge a person's predilection for crime and, when confronted by the most extreme cases of villainy, turn a perpetrator into red paste. This incredibly detailed replica can't make ketchup of a foe, but it can light up and elaborately unfold mechanically from its standard "Paralyzer" form into its intimidating secondary "Eliminator" form, replete with over 100 voice samples from the show.

The Dominator also has a few other features included thanks to the direct supervision of Naoyoshi Shiotani, the show's director, such as a touch sensor activation in the handle. It also mimics its ability in the show with a "Crime Coefficient Score" readout, which analyses the potential for crime of anyone (or anything) that it's pointed at. You can see the replica in action here:

Also popular in Japan, and the rest of the world, is cosplay. While it's become somewhat commonplace to see Legend of Zelda fans with a makeshift version of Link's Master Sword, or Kingdom Hearts cosplayers with a home-made Keyblade, this replica gun takes costume commitment to the next level.

The world of "Psycho Pass" isn't a fun one in which to live. It's an authoritarian Tokyo dystopia where the populace is monitored by artificial intelligence and round-the-clock surveillance. Should the government's brain-scans detect extreme shifts in personality, mental state or a person's probability to commit a crime, the Public Safety Bureau can be called in to capture or eliminates criminals using this Dominator gun. If "Blade Runner" and "Judge Dredd" ever had offspring, this show would be it.

Suffice to say, the replica hand gun is a hotly sought-after collectible. With the amount of work that has gone into its creation -- the mechanisms, the sound, LED lights and sensors -- the Dominator comes with a rather hefty price tag. The replica gun in all its glory will set you back a sizeable ‎89,800 yen (around $800, AU$1,120 or £555). This item may not be for everyone, but it's perfect for a huge fan of the show or a professional cosplayer. For the badass factor alone, however, it might just be worth every yen.