Psycho-Pass – 06
Wooing a girl step 1: don’t pass out while wining and dining her
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This show is slowly taking over my life and influencing everything I do. For example, I chose “murder” as the topic for my neuroscience paper and keep hovering towards writing about potential preventative measures society could take. I can’t exactly come out and say “INVENT DOMINATORS” but I’m certainly taking a ton of cues from the show. I just pretend I’m writing a blog post, and the essay-writing goes by a lot faster. In fact, I’ll probably go right back to writing my essay after this to make the process as seamless as possible. Let’s go! |
This week’s episode serves as more of a linker episode between the ending of the last case and the beginning of a new case (that also happens to involve re-occurring villains from the past murders). There’s a lot of things that need setting up, so I’m going to rapid-fire through a lot of things since there’s a large amount of subjects covered superficially instead of one deep topic to really bite into. The Chex-Mix of Psycho-Pass episodes, if you will. After rummaging through the bag, the first handful surprisingly reveals a lot about the other members of the police force for once. Or pretzels. You know, I’m not really following my own metaphor, so I’m going to drop it.
Instead of just asking Kougami or looking up his file, Akane decides that she wants to do her research on her partner privately so as not to stir up any suspicion or touchy subjects. All of the Enforcers and other police force members are actually quite open with her and tell her everything she needs to know. As a former detective, Kougami had an Enforcer named Sasayama under his wing, and they got along like they were best friends. Perhaps Ginoza was even in on the whole friendship circle at the time. Back then, even the terminology was a little less strict, as Enforcers were called Hounds and Handlers were called Shepherds. The word “shepherd” conjures images of a benevolent fellow wearing breezy clothes and lazily waving a stick around to command a faithful dog to herd some sheep. The Hounds are loyal to the shepherds and obey without question, but there is a more reciprocal affection underlying the hierarchy. A hound is a noble animal who just rounds up the lost sheep, which sounds a lot less threatening than “Enforcer” does. A handler-enforcer relationship sounds more like a cold, business-like affair where one person makes the calls and the other obeys. The Enforcer will enforce those laws using…well…force.
Good morning, sunshine
Everything changed when Sasayama was murdered. During a murder case, Sasayama had his body preserved in resin and chopped into neat little pieces as if he was an art display. This traumatized Kougami, and he still hunts for the criminal to this day. The reason he never got his revenge is because the main suspect disappeared, and the evidence convicting him was only circumstantial. Now that we know more about the case, it’s easy to see why this is eating up his life. He saw his best friend’s corpse and couldn’t even catch the killer, despite the fact that it’s his job to do so. It’s one thing being a helpless bystander and seeing someone die, but it’s another thing to feel responsible for it when it’s your line of work.
Kougami seems like such a just person because he loathes the idea of criminals not getting what they deserve for their crimes, such as the one who killed Sasayama. It’s what fuels him, and also what will undo him. As the current case dovetails with all the previous cases and brings us closer and closer to the middleman co-ordinating all of these crimes, Kougami is getting closer to the source of his abnormally high criminal coefficient. What happens if it gets too high? Will he be demoted even further? It may seem nosy of Akane to snoop around, but learning all this about her partner is actually very important when certain triggers can set them off. You have to know those landmines, and be prepared to step around them or learn how to disarm them if they’re somehow tripped.
Working overtime never felt so good
This middleman criminal who deals not in weapons or information but in crime appears to be Shougo. We saw him in the internet case and the most recent killer-lesbian case. He’s basically an anime version of Sherlock Holmes’ Moriarty. He approaches criminals and supplies them with whatever they need to commit their criminal acts. Need to steal avatars? No problem, because Shougo will find you a hacker. Want to kill someone with hard to obtain resin? Shougo will get some chem prof or something to buy that stuff in bulk. Is your thing chopping up girls into pieces to make art displays? Free critique from Shougo himself as he sits in on your drawing sessions! He might have to contact yet another source to get what is needed, but he is the one funding these criminals and essentially investing in crime. His only motive seems to be because it’s fun. He isn’t upset when his clients are caught, either, so there really is no way for him to lose. As long as someone is suffering and he gets to watch, then any ending is a happy ending. We still haven’t seen much about Shougo aside from these little tidbits as he meets with his clients or watches them, but so far he seems like a wonderful villain.
As for the new killer in the all-girl’s school, I’m a bit tired of seeing this sort of thing, so I don’t really care one way or the other about her. She’s a bit dull. I don’t know if any artistic killers can really top Bioshock’s Sander Cohen. It might be because I find video games 10x more frightening than less interactive media like anime, but he killed people in artful ways that were insanely depressing…yet oddly beautiful and artistic in a twisted way. Plastering his disciple to a piano filled to the teeth with explosives and making him play until he gets the song right and putting up pictures of the corpses of his murdered disciples are just some of the lovely way he expresses himself. Perhaps as her art displays get more flamboyant and bold, I’ll start to get more creeped out. Her first piece seems to be making a mockery of the police force since it strongly resembles their logo.
Sorry I don’t have a better screenshot of the logo!
What’s more interesting about this new case that has spawned is that it gives us some additional insight on the Sibyl System. I find it hilarious that they think shipping girls off to an all-girls school and isolating them from society and icky things like boys will keep their Psycho-Pass ratings in the clear. They really think it works! However, I get the feeling that only a few people really believe in it, and the schools desperately hide any cases of cloudy Hue Checks from everyone else to make it seem like their methods are working. Anything to prove their own beliefs and disprove others. Despite having this high tech system, it seems people will still form their own wild theories and do as they please. I wonder if they’ll let the male Enforcers into the building when they’re trying to protect the innocent little lambs from male exposure. I doubt they’ll take no for an answer – especially Kougami. He feels like he’s getting closer to finding the person behind all these murders, and when the police force start to work on this case, he’ll be all over it.
Kougami’s enthusiasm is a little troubling to everyone, especially Ginoza. He actually seems more like he’s worried than a stick-in-the-mud who hands out orders without emotion. Part of why he does so much self-regulation is because his father got a high criminal coefficient. It appears he was also in the same line of work, which instantly makes me wonder if Masaoka is his dad. That would explain the age difference and the tension. But they have different last names and it seems a bit TOO convenient, so I’m just stating it as my “off-the-wall prediction of the week.” Heh. Anyways, it’s nice to learn more about the human iceberg, Ginoza! He’s a lot more sensitive than he looks, but he tries to be as stoic as possible so that his criminal coefficient doesn’t go up. Can you imagine living a whole life actively trying to alter your emotions and thinking patterns to remain happy and stable? There is stress being put on him to remain stable. “Criminal coefficients” aren’t directly inherited, but a lot of other traits are genetically-based, so Ginoza could be an at-risk individual. I’m finally starting to feel bad for the guy.
“Dude, now’s not the time to binge on your secret cookie stash”
Not only do we uncrack the hard nut that is Ginoza, but Akane does her rounds visiting the other police force people for dirt on Kougami. Her first target is Kagari, who tries to turn the tables by getting her drunk and getting her to spill her own secrets. Unfortunately, he’s a lightweight and Akane is a tank, so she wins. I was pleasantly surprised by her alcohol tolerance, especially since no one in that society even drinks actual alcohol anymore. Those kinds of vices are provided via crazy future technology that serves up highs in legal doses. Sounds like a pretty damn good solution to me. Kind of like those legal injection sites where druggies can go in and get clean needles, except they actually give you all kinds of drugs too. At least, that was my understanding of it. Anyways, I digress. I’m always distracted by cool technology! I liked seeing more about Kagari who cooks and drinks and does normal people things that apparently no one can be half-arsed to do anymore. Shion and Yayoi also get some more lines, finally. This week’s episode wasn’t the most exciting, but I think setting up this sort of character development was much needed before things progressed further. I think we’ve about to dive into what scientific experts would call “deep shit” rather soon.
Bonus: Show ▼
To put it simply, there is an abundance of “stuff” that makes the entire episode seem jam-packed with a myriad of different ideas. Some of them gel together, some of them seem completely disparate, and the whole thing is a very messy series of quick cuts from scene to scene without any thoughtful transitional timing. In the beginning we see Akane laughing, and it’s cut midway to her stealing some food from Kagari as if some footage was just missing. It was a really hectic and chaotic episode that didn’t have the same flow and patience as the previous ones, but that didn’t stop it from being good. Although the pacing had to speed up to fit everything in, all the new storylines and little tidbits about the characters crammed in there is really neat stuff. There are 3 major events: Akane gathering info about Kougami (and the minor characters in the process), connecting all the previous cases to the Sasayama incident, and the new murder case at the all-girl’s school. They are all quite important, and it’s hard to know exactly where to focus, but it’s also very exciting. Like a sugar rush. Which I am currently experiencing from all those blueberries I devoured.
Hush, it’s alright…Don’t you worry…there will be another episode in just a week’s time.
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
From someone else who pointed out the same likeness of the logo: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdl1p41P9o1qby9cgo2_1280.jpg
Is it bad that when Karanomori was talking about Yayoi not being affected by Akane talking about murders while she was eating that I thought of you, Overcooled? 🙂
I wonder how much of the Sibyl system goes through evaluations. Do they ever go back and compare evaluations to what people are actually doing? If not, it seems like a huge mistake on calibration. That kind of system seems like it would need constant updating.
There are also people speculating about Ginoza: Show ▼
My feeling of treating this show like it’s a 70’s / 80’s rogue cop exploitation movie is still pretty spot on, I think.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Ah, thanks, that’s a better image.
I’m flattered that Yayoi made you think of me ahahaha!
Do you mean evaluations for their current job? Like if someone isn’t suitable for a certain job after working there for a while, the system should update itself and suggest a new job?
Part of why I like blogging is that instead of making theories in the closed box of my own mind, I get to see what other people are thinking too. I guess if other people came up with the same theory independently then it’s not so much as an off-the-wall idea as I thought! I can’t wait to see that bomb drop when it does.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
No, I mean does the Sibyl system itself get calibrated based on successes and failures it’s had. It’s exceedingly optimistic to think that it’s perfect, especially when we see that some people can be de facto murderers and not really trip the hue checks enough to raise suspicion. So I’m wondering if the operators of the system take the data they get, such as the records of the guy who reprogrammed the robots, and try to figure out why the system didn’t correctly pinpoint that guy. They could do the same thing with people who wash out of jobs: take the specifics of that person and try to figure out why their performance didn’t match up with what was predicted.
Or do they just write these things off as isolated incidents and say “Well, mistakes happen”? There’s opportunity to improve the system there. Does it happen?
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
I liked this episode and I like the lesbian art murder too, and not because they are lesbians, but because it’s cool. I always like when crime shows, show more than one type of murder.
It was nice to see Gino break through his robot facade, Kougami and him the tension was great.
I also am going to go with Masaoka being his father as a theory.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I like the more creative murders, definitely. It’s not everyday you see a corpse statue complete with flowers as decoration.
He’s the only older guy in the cast! It’s making more and more sense!
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
Heh, yuri school lovers, with a murderous twist! Psycho Pass been one heck of a good show, but I agree that, whilst some things mix in quite well, others do feel as if they’re just stuffed in…last ep had me shaking my head when they shoot the suspect but then were like, well, who was he talking to?
My response….Y U NO JUST ARREST HIM FOR QUESTIONING INSTEAD OF KILLING HIM?!?! *insert y-u-no.jpeg*
Oh wells, looks like Takahiro’s character in the shadows starting to show up, and given Kougami’s zeal in catching the one responsible for Sasayama’s death (Tsunemori might be going for someone that’s batting for the opposite team, if you get my drift…tehe!)
Apart from that, definitely loving the mix of characters; the bond between Yayoi and Shion reminds me of Hazuki and Yuko from DtB…funny and awesome pairing.
Welp, onto the next episode!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
As cool as the Dominators are, it really needs a setting in between “light stun” and “MESSY GUTS IMPLOSION.” I was shaking my head too at their inability to capture a key criminal for questioning. At least they brought the factory guy in for investigating.
It is a pretty interesting pairing, and I’m not even a yuri fan. I wonder if they’ll actually explicitly show the yuri relationship instead of just furtively hinting at it every now and then. Be brave man! Be brave!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
If the stun is reliably incapacitating, then they really don’t need an intermediate setting. I have no idea why the “terminate” setting causes people to explode, tho. That seems a little bit gratuitously gory.
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
At first, when I saw the piece of art made by the murderer in this episode, I was freaked out. I mean, it. just. looked. psycho. But when you pointed out that in fact it does resemble the Sibyl logo, it looks less freaky to me now.
And I’m gonna go with the guess that it’s there a possibility that Masaoka could be Ginoza’s father. Hands down.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It goes to show how much sadistic pleasure she took to carefully place the pieces together to make such a disturbing figure. Oryo is a true psychopath. It’s scary how twisted a human can be. What makes her even more sick was her reasoning for killing her. She did it to “free” the girl because she was violated.
I mean, I’ve come to handle casual violence like bodies being horrendously severed apart, you know, the usual gory stuff but someone being carefully dissected and drained of blood to be put on display as “art” leaves a creepy, lasting effect on my mind.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You know, hearing from other people that this episode was kinda gross and creepy, I was a little worried. But that didn’t affect me at all. I mean, here I’m analyzing it to see where the cuts were made (the flower lines hide the cuts, as well as metaphor for blood). I even tried to figure out who the dead girl was (It doesn’t seem to be anyone we’ve seen in the show so far, although I thought it might have been one of the two girls from the lunchroom scene).
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
I was freaked out when I first set my eyes on the art peice ‘sculpture’ under the holo fountain, but I remembered I was also sorta inching my face closer to the laptop screen, trying to focus on how she re-patched the dismembered body of the victim in such a hauntingly artistic way…Coz, the first thing I noticed from that art piece was the fact that the arms were replaced with legs, in the mid-sec part is the victim’s face and her arms are sorta twisted down below…(which I now know it’s because it’s resembling the symbol…CRUEL!!!) It peaked my interest too, while it managed to freak me out lols
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’m not easily creeped out by gore and dead bodies so I just thought the sculpture was really cool. Of course there was the eerie element of it being so deadly still, but I was mostly looking at how well-made it was too. Think of how much work it would take to haul a body there and put all the pieces together. I mean…these things don’t exactly stick together with glue. Plus, dead bodies usually look hideous, so she had to kill her in a serene manner. There was SO MUCH PLANNING behind her deadly masterpiece. Intriguing but kind of sick. I love it!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
…I had to rescue my own comment in my own post from Spammy, the insatiable spam monster.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Both Psycho-Pass and Zetsuen no Tempest are casually using Shakespeare material.
Ehhhh? How will Phi Brain handle this betrayal? You once devoted yourself to puzzles and even started a cult now you’re leaving it for the study of criminal minds and preventative measures. Maybe because you can relate to them more. Now why does that sound similar to a silver haired megane monk? Hehehe. I’m terrible, aren’t I?
The way Akane is discreetly investigating Kogami while having dinner with Shuusei shows she’s not as innocent and naïve as she appears to be. Saying she and Kogami are similar means she risks the same fate if put in the wrong direction. For a first timer, she sure can hold her alcohol.
My thoughts weren’t completely off about some elements in the anime. There are some yuri undertones hiding in it and in this episode, to the point of stalking.
What I think about the mastermind’s plan is using weak, impressionable or ambitious people to show fatal flaws in the Sibyl system. One of the flaws maybe being the monitoring of the Psycho-Pass. Oryo (voiced by Maaya Sakamoto) clearly is responsible for the murder under the fountain hologram but she remains under the radar. If you notice, the painting has slashes where the girl was dismembered.
When I saw the murder scene set up like an art, not only was I disturbed by it being there but by how hauntingly well it was preserved. The look of it was presented much like a wax doll. As a reference, like that horror movie “House of Wax” where the victims were killed or restrained alive while being turned into life sized wax figures and put on display.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Are you talking about the painting earlier (of what turned out to be the ‘sculpture’), or the later painting of the other (twintail) girl, who I’m imagining will be beheaded eventually.
We’ve seen different ways that the criminals have avoided the notice of the authorities. Mido actually had to plan his routes for 3 years to avoid street hue checks. The robot factory guy just got somewhat cloudy but then better after his crimes. We’ll probably find out what Oryo has going on to avoid notice (direct intervention on the part of Shogo as a teacher at the school?).
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I’m cheating on Phi Brain with Psycho-Pass right now, before I run back into its arms when season 3 begins to air again. It’s a tough relationship. You wouldn’t understand!!
Akane really got around! I think Akane is underestimated by viewers sometimes because she doesn’t do anything physically demanding such as shoot people or get into fights. However, she’s very adept at gathering info, speaking her mind and organizing things.
Funny how people found a way to cheat a seemingly all-knowing system. I wonder what Oryo is doing to stay hidden form the school’s scanners. Maybe the school can’t afford to turn her away or else it will cause a ruckus. She might be the daughter of someone important, like the principal or something. It could be Shougo though. He certainly knows how to pull strings.
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
“Back then, even the terminology was a little less strict, as Enforcers were called Hounds and Handlers were called Shepherds”
It seems they’re still using this, at least the Hound part. In episode 1 Kagari referred to himself as “Hound 4” and Ginoza called Kunizuka “Hound 2”
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
My bad. They use Hound and Shepherd a lot less often now though. I don’t think I recall them using it past episode 1.
POWUH: iLurker with 19 comments
I was hoping to hear HanaKana act drunk, but I’ll take hearing Sakamoto Maaya act like a psychotic murderer.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It’s all about trade-offs!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hey, check it out! There’s a manga version that was released two days ago but it’s under the title Kanshikan Tsunemori Akane. It’s good if you’re itching for a little more info. The first couple of pages explain Akane’s rise to becoming an inspector and rest follow the beginning and end of the first episode but with a bit more detail.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Neat. It’s a bit of a shame the art isn’t by the Reborn! artist…especially since I think Reborn! finished recently. I need to catch up. But I digress…this is a cool find!
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Wow Akane originally had a longer hair. She looks quite good with it. But the current one is fine too I guess.
And srsly, Akane is so moe in there…..
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Ah, so this is the girl BB was talking about. She doesn’t seem too bad, I’ve seen worse. I’m beginning to get into this show. Symbolism is normal now and I’m enjoying all the literary references. Mikashima (is that white hair mastermind’s name?) is pretty cool. I like the whole police team now, they have a great camaraderie and banter. I’m trying to guard myself though since I know who’s writing this. 🙁
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Ha! That’s what you think. I’m confident that soon enough, you’re going to eat those words because it’s a proven fact looks are deceiving. That refined appearance of hers isn’t to be taken lightly and you’re sure to be a bit disturbed in the next few episodes. I do like her voice, though. Maaya Sakamoto has a nice range.
Yes, his full name is Shougo Makishima, played by Takahiro Sakurai.