What a ride! As an interlude rather than a series “finisher” (Please tell me that this is the case here), I feel that Psycho Pass 2 has accomplished its job and told an excellent story in the universe, even if some of it is treading old territory. The fact that it answered or at least explored some of the more unanswered elements in the first season says much about its efforts to expound upon the universe.
Sorry for combining so many episodes into one post, but I’ll be focusing primarily on the endgame here.
Aoi Tsunemori bites the dust and seems to have been the only thing that has ever shaken Akane so much. I’ll admit, I got chills when I saw her lose her cool at the end of the 9th episode. Yet, her hue remains ever clear. Let us outline the unanswered questions from Psycho Pass one and discuss a bit about how and to what extent each one of these questions was answered.
Unanswered Questions and plotlines:
1) What causes people to be criminally asompymatic?
2) What became of Kogami Shinya? Was his view on justice correct, or was he just seeking self satisfaction?
3) To what extent was Makishima correct about the Sibyl system?
4) How does Akane keep her pyscho pass so clear? What about her is “special”?
5) Finally, and most importantly: How should the sibyl system ultimately be dealt with? Should an evil system seeking the perception of perfection be destroyed?
Ultimately, this season toyed with many of these ideas, mostly 1,3,4 heavily, and 5, while completely ignoring 2. Supposedly the psycho pass movie is supposed to deal with this (And trust me, I’m very excited about that) but I can’t help but feel we need more time and something more definite. It may be that there will be a third season to conclude many of these thoughts.
Akane’s ability to stay clear was expounded upon much further in this season – I believe her desire for order and to change the system from the inside out is what keeps her clear in the eyes of sibyl. Nothing conclusive was presented so a theory is all I can give you.
Sibyl went from being an evil entity seeking the perception of perfection to a misunderstood “super computer” seeking to better itself – or so they purport. I’m not sure I buy it, I still think some brains need to be smashed. I can’t tell you how excited I got when I thought Kamui was going to blow them to fucking kingdom come. My heart stopped when he pointed the dominator at sibyl and saw their 300 crime coefficient. I was thinking “This is it – this is how they see their end.” Not quite, it would appear, although I think he made great strides in exposing one of sibyl’s weaknesses, even if they weren’t quite as easy to judge as he had thought. Sibyl appears more benevolent than one might have thought. I still don’t buy it.
Also, how many times has the fucking chief been killed? I understand that her body is essentially a husk that is possessed by her mind in the sibyl system, but I thought we finally saw an end to her at last. She’s clearly insidious and seeks only to vilify opponents of sibyl, I’m not sure why Akane tolerates her existence. Maybe it’s just because there is little she can do about it.
I am personally of the opinion that sibyl (and by extension, the chief) need to be either destroyed or disassembled – you cannot and should not tolerate evil in the hopes of one day creating a non-evil. It’s clear they’re willing to make sacrifices and care only about propogating their existence as a god – why are they continued to be allowed to rule a world they no longer respect?
There are many questions to be posed as Kamui drives a knife into the wound Makashima opened. It won’t be long before another opponent of Sibyl challenges the order of society. I hope it’s sooner rather than later.
