Psycho-Pass Episode 2: Queries and Quandaries

“What needs to be done is done by those capable of doing it. Such is the grace bestowed upon mankind by Sibyl.”

Impression

In contrast to the mass amounts of blood, gore and death we experienced last episode, this week was actually much tamer in comparison, and I suppose it can be counted as a sort of bridge episode between the heavy gore scenes. Plot development is something I’m expecting great detail on in this show after all.

Today we had more focus on Akane, and I’m convinced that she’s actually the main character instead of Shinya as various promo material led us to believe. I found it really cute how she was all worried about her job route and whether she was really doing the right thing – as of course, she instinctively shot Shinya last week and is obviously feeling very guilty about doing so. I’m not sure how things work in that world, but if she’s gotten A rankings (I think are aptitude tests) for all professions, then she must be able to diversify herself immensely to do all sorts of jobs. As her two friends said, she’s in a really enviable position to be able to freely pick what job she wants to spend her life doing, without having to worry about whether it’s suitable for her. She was also the only person to get an A ranking for the MWPSB, and I think we’re starting to get a few hints on why that is.

And that’s through the changes that Akane can make to life in CID – not necessarily reforming the system as Shion said, but definitely in terms of her job and relationship with the Enforcers as an Inspector. Clearly, she feels useless at not being able to do anything, and having to leave all the dirty work to the Enforcers, which happened in today’s episode too. It was quite a chilling response the old guy (whose name I really have to learn at some point) gave to Akane – he basically said that her job as Inspector was just to be there to make sure the “hunting dogs” don’t run away and do their job properly, with the power to reign them in if they step out of line. His own Crime Coefficient is crazy, with him having an ability to instantly identify latent criminals due to having worked on the job everyday. Choosing such a job is definitely better than being locked up in some kind of prison cell, but the fact remains that the Enforcers have no freedom, and they’re very aware of that. I think that’s probably why the young guy got so pissed at Akane choosing to become an Inspector on a whim – because she’s had the chance to do so many things that would make her happy, compared to the guy, who’s been a latent criminal since he was 5.

We had a hint of it before, but here we’re properly introduced to the kind of technological lifestyle Psycho-Pass displays. While I might not like a pink floating jellyfish waking me up every morning and telling my what my Hue is, it’s very handy to have instant methods of displaying the weather, receiving reminders about appointments and even regulating diet, with everything being way more tech advanced than what we can offer at the moment. The clothes thing was really intriguing as well – is it holographic like the creepy pedobear suits, meaning that in reality, everyone isn’t wearing anything? I’m not sure what another explanation would be, with the ability to quick-change your clothes instantaneously.

Now this is just my bit of speculation, and something which I feel is eerily similar to stuff I’ve encountered IRL. I’m a fan of dystopian novels (stuff like Brave New World, We etc.) and while there isn’t as much oppression as some of those worlds describe, I can see a world that may be hinting towards a future totalitarian society. Already there’s a crackdown on people’s mental statuses through the Crime Coefficient, and I found the Sibyl System pretty shady as well. It reads your talent and tells you what way of living would bring you the most happiness, essentially dictating what kind of jobs you should do along with their ranking system, which segregates people even more. All the technological advances make things more convenient, and people like Shinya are shooting people instinctively because the gun says so – and is it really for a better society? There’s this lack of individuality the characters have in the show apart from Akane, who’s thinking about the reason she was born, something that only she can do etc. It’s something that sets her apart from others, and maybe this is the ability unique to her – like Shinya said, while under her command maybe the Enforcers will act like detectives instead of hunting dogs.