Psycho Pass Re-Edit: Episode 9 [ An Actor in the Play; Eternally ]

The aftermath of the incident caused by Shogo Makishima is utter chaos. Civilians are in need of medical care for their psycho pass, and the whole city is reeling from the broken illusion of peace.

Akane and Kogami seem to be drifting apart in idealism. . .yet seem to be close as well. They discuss their ideologies and the two seem painfully separate in ability and thought, yet it’s clear they both want badly to be able to stay connected to each other. Whether as a viewer you take this as a partnership or love, it is undeniably a bond that they have both benefited from. Yet the thought haunts Kogami that they should have simply killed Makishima – and the worry haunts Akane that he will give in to the hatred he feels in this new system.

Meanwhile, it seems Shogo Makishima is not supposed to be interviewed at all. In fact, they have lost jurisdiction. In truth. . .we see a startling scene appear. Makishima awakens on a medical bed to see Chief Kasei. When she claims to know him he doesn’t recall her, and the following is one of the more startling revelations: Kasei IS Touma, Makishima’s previous follower who was responsible for the incidents in the specimen case. Furthermore…he says he is known by another name. . .the Sybil System.

Meanwhile Touma reveals even more. . .the truth behind the Sybil system. The power behind it is in organic minds of criminals who can analyze society with no bias, those who cannot empathize with other humans. Humans who in our terms would be defined as having a personality disorder are the ones ruling over and deciding the Sybil System. And Touma has an offer. . . for Makishima to become one of these minds and enhance the Sybil system with his intellect and cunning.

Makishima listens as Kasei rambles, but this is the most important moment of the series for deciding one key element of Shogo Makishima. Is he just a power hungry anarchist? No. This scene turns around with Makishima quoting the tale of Balnibarbi as sarcasm, he clearly puts it that this is just a lie they have created in order to feel self important and righteous. In reality it is a murderous farce. Makishima proceeds to beat the shit out of the android Kasei despite his protogees pleas.

Shogo explains this. . .he forever wants to be a player in the game of life, as he loves it more than anything else. He has no desire to rule over the world. He doesn’t want to rule over men. Makishima Shogo wants to be able to play in the game and be with other people, even if he is twisted and dark. This moment..he smiles. ..and then throws the book given to him by his student away. This moment suggests a desperate sense of loneliness from a man who plays a cold game. He doesn’t seem to enjoy murder, he enjoys a challenge. In a sense all of his actions have been made to force human interaction, no matter how it is. Shogo Makishima is calling out to the people of the world and saying, think, feel, have emotions- I need that companionship. And the only sense he can find are with murderers who don’t have a meaning, a point, a message, a goal. He kills them one by one because they want to lord over humans, because his desire is completely opposite. Ruling them is not what he wants, then he can’t be with them, he can’t be close to them.

It’s why he felt remorse Senguji had to die- because he had a genuine purpose and idea about people. Yes it was twisted and dark, but it wasn’t true power he needed. He needed to be challenged, just as Shogo did, to keep on living. Without something to stimulate him even with his brain he would die. Shogo Makishima is the same- his goal is sincere fulfillment and desire. Yet at this point, it seems he must have given up on a real connection. He has become a dark and evil man willing to kill to incite a genuine emotion from the cold world. And he will rip the comfort of the Sybil system from their hands if he must do it to regain what humanity really is. He will fucking MAKE them feel things and kill and die to get it.

This is why Makishima is such a good fucking villain. He is not a one note mommy issues abusive murderer rapist – he is a complicated asshole murderer who wants feelings and emotions and has destroyed a lot to get them.The motivations are so simple but so distinct: He is alone and he sees how the world has become WRONG and he WILL fix it no matter what. Fuck this asshole…I want to have sex with him HE’S A MONSTER WHO NEEDS TO DIE BUT FIRST CAN HE PLEASE SLEEP WITH ME? FUCK! He is evil but so, so, so terribly sympathetic. I can’t hate him. He is so pragmatically . . . perfect.

Kogami is called by Makishima in the night and told this. . . the Sybil system is not something worth fighting for.

The rest of the episode is a genuine look at the dissolve for Kogami. In his head he hears Makishima speaking about how he should have been killed. About how he is a good dog…but can he catch him while he’s on a leash?

Kasei took Kogami off the case, but Ginoza is determined to allow him on the field. His plan is foiled by Kasei however and it is made painfully clear that Kasei intends to kill Kogami, or rather have Ginoza do it for her. This is the truest turning point for every single character in the MWPSB. In this moment, Ginoza’s ideals are met with harsh manipulation as he realizes things are much harder to work with when your bosses are up to something sinister you cannot explain. Kasei’s motivation is to capture Makishima again, becoming more obsessed with him, and the idea of Kogami killing him motivates him to use Ginoza.

At this moment, Akane shoots Kogami in order to save his life. She has become harder in order to save him – and Ginoza is losing his resolve. At the center of it all is Kogami, who has once again been foiled in his effort to bring a madman to justice even if it’s a harsh form of justice. He almost died because someone else has it in for him, and has an obsession with Makishima. He and Akane seem to have a heartfelt moment between each other in this episode, and the second scene is far more painful. Akane asks Kogami to promise to remain a detective and not become a killer. Yet from their conversation it’s clear he’s probing for her approval to stop Makishima in his tracks rather than let him continue as he is. She can’t give him that approval, she doesn’t even seem to notice he is asking for it.

Kogami knows he can’t do this anymore. Each member of the MWPSB helps him escape, as he leaves with a helmet and a key to Masaoka’s safe house. All that’s left for Akane is a letter. Each and every member has the repercussions of pain and misery at the hand of Shogo Makishima, but he is not the cause of the real despair. Akane knows she can’t allow chaos and misery, but Kogami can’t allow someone who has so grossly destroyed so many lives to escape. In his letter you can see he knows how selfish he is, but he can’t live with himself if he doesn’t go.

And truthfully, how wrong is he? Makishima’s one and only goal is to never stop until the Sybil System is gone and he can truly exist in a world of true human splendor. Kogami is the opposite, his one and only goal is justice in it’s bloodiest form. They are obsessed with each other but I think it’s incredibly important to note the difference here. Akane says it in herself ‘They were not two ships passing in the night’. This is not sexual tension, angst, or love. This is hatred from Kogami and manipulation from Makishima. The two are obsessed with each other but not sexually or romantically.

There is no room to believe they might have a lingering attraction- One wants to challenge the other indefinitely to test himself. Makishima would not be interested in Kogami if he blindly changed his beliefs and simply joined him, as his sense of justice and his challenge would be gone. He would grow bored from the simplicity and isn’t interested in Kogami merely because he is intelligent, but because he is motivated and willing to do what is ‘wrong’ in this society to obtain what is ‘right’. Kogami blatantly hates him and wants him to die. Their connection is one of contempt and evil. Makishima is freely willing to kill Kogami and the same is certainly true for Kogami.

And what of the last piece of the puzzle, Akane Tsunemori? She is not unimportant in this. While Makishima does not understand her importance that cannot be said of Kogami. He couldn’t bare to hurt her and let her down, he couldn’t even look her in the eye. Yet it’s all the same – he has to do it. Akane is the only true fighter for ‘justice’ but will that change? What will her motivation be if she learns the truth? Next week, we find a focus in the perspective of Akane Tsunemori and begin the end of this triangle of existence that is the world of Psycho Pass. Without the final piece, we cannot understand the true justice in the series and contemplate the themes behind season 2.

Join me next week for the penultimate episode of Psycho Pass the Re-edit for a tantalizing look into the motivations of Sybil once they realize. . . the game for Makishima’s life has begun.

Oki