Psycho-Pass Re-edit: Episode 1 [ MORE MAKISHIMA ]

Guys I love Psycho Pass and I want to be excited for other things but the first two minutes is Makishima exposition. CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS? His sub is not as good as his english voice since Alex Organ can talk about muffins and I am interested, but guys, I have issues. And they’re all about Shogo Makishima. 99 PROBLEMS AND SHOGO MAKISHIMA NOT BEING IN MY PANTS IS ONE OF THEM.

I am so sorry he is a terrible person and deserves his fate but I just rub my face to the screen. Makiiishiiiiimaaaaaaaaaaaa.

The beginning of the episode is a lengthened version of the first episode- it properly displays the true conflict of season 1. Makishima Shogo versus Shinya Kogami. They understand one another better than anything else, and have sick twisted feelings for one another. Not in the sense you’d be thinking; one wants the other to suffer and die, and the other wants to toy with him and destroy him until he is nothing. Purely, one finds the other one fun to cause pain and the other hates his opponent. A true form of rivalry, seldom do anime ever display this kind of hatred between two men. They understand each other, but they’d never be friends.

They were always destined to be enemies.

Of course in between the two of them is the biggest point of contention. Akane Tsunemori- a girl with the ability to keep her psyche clean and respect the order of the world, Kogami respects her and Makishima finds her ‘disappointing’ on many levels. How will the re-edit display the struggle of power between two men and the one woman who is trying to keep their game of cat and mouse from becoming murder on either side? Let’s watch and see.

For the most part, the first case is identical to it’s representation in the first anime. I don’t mind this since it was already good at doing it’s job. . . and I’m hoping they spend all the budget on makishima. . . but heyyyyyyy not a big deal, right? Hahah. Haha. Ha. Long story short, Akane is a noobie who needs to go into a serious mission on her first day. Their object is to stop a latent criminal and potentially rescue a kidnap victim who is with him. Akane does let it show she’s nervous at the sound of everything around her, even pointing her dominator at a homeless drunk who is nearby out of fear and paranoia.

Akane and Masaoka seem to get a little more rookie bonding time as he leads her through the situation, and we see Kagari and the others fail to apprehend the crazed psycho as he runs off limping with his hostage in hand. Akane and Masaoka end up as a decoy as Kogami shoots the culprit from afar, but the issue comes to light as the hostage is losing herself to the madness. Kogami is about to kill her even for a second, shows a smile that is reminiscent of a scene we were shown just a little earlier. The sickening smile of Shogo Makishima.

Just the way he looks in that scene, for the first time I really felt a vibe of Kogami I didn’t get until rewatching the show. Akane shoots Kogami to make him stop and the victim is paralyzed in order to keep her calm once she has been calmed from terrified to okay. Ginoza, of course, just simply demands a report on the situation. Good ol’ Ginoza. .  .ya sexy stick in the mud. Then we get a new exposition from Kogami’s mind about how society works in Psycho Pass, and how despite knowing what he must do. . . one case haunts him.

Kogami’s mind is a complex thing, but Akane’s is not. Despite her depression over doing poorly the first day, she is still at a good hue level and manages to get up. We see small additions and traces of how Japan has advanced- and how easy day to day life is for the people there. It abruptly ends when Akane goes into the Bureau (with the addition of how obvious it is shion and yayoi are screwing. . . ) for her shift, as well as to check up on Kogami. She seems guilty as well as bored as she observes the Enforcers who are basically slacking off.

Akane learns very quickly her current position is little more than a babysitter, but as she explains later to Kagari she believes that because she was the only one highly ranked she should be able to do something more here, or fight for more. Perhaps even explain her life, and I get that. She wanted to show her stuff and see if she could protect something no one else could. While Kagari views this as naive and offensive, she couldn’t be more right.

Akane apologizes to Kogami over what happened, but he thanks her for reminding him of how he sees the world and what he truly wanted by becoming who he is. By ending the episode here we have a clear distinction. Makishima, who views respect and appreciation and hatred as something similar is the opening force of the episode. Akane fills in the middle being taught, spoken to, and learning about the world when she is the only one who is truly like any of the people watching. And the episode ends with Kogami, who is struggling between the twisted view Makishima has and the hopeful world Akane represents. Akane cries over this and thanks him, surely believing she was somehow right in believing this was a place for her.

Yet the struggle is still there. . . Kogami has something he has to do. . .something he cannot die before completing.

 

Oki