「成しうる者」 (Nashi Uru Mono)
“Those Capable”

Sibyl’s system is nowhere near perfect – there remain enough chinks in the armor for the darker side of man to slip through, as it unfortunately always seems to do. Crimes are still committed and culprits still need to be caught, but at least it provides plenty of actual detective work for the Public Safety Bureau to do more than serving as mere bounty hunters of sorts. PSYCHO-PASS is presumably taking an episodic approach in the early going with a “one case per week” formula, but it is effective here in the third episode as the case is used to contrast how the show’s detective procedures, and in a sense, its ideas of justice, differ from ours.

On the surface there’s a murder mystery at play here, with three recent mysterious deaths at a robotic drone factory deemed unusual enough to merit a closer look from the PSB’s detectives. If the setting of the show were a contemporary one, this setup alone would likely have enough detective legwork to fill an entire episode, if not more. There would be evidence to collect and suspects to interrogate, not to mention the lengthy trial process that some shows like to incorporate. However, with tools like Psycho-Pass hues and crime coefficients at detectives’ disposal, the only evidence some of them need are a simple number.

Ginoza’s notion of carrying out justice is twisted from the one we know. For him, an sudden change in a suspect’s Psycho-Pass hue coinciding with a suspicious death along with the fact he is being bullied, is considered circumstantial evidence (as it should), but a crime coefficient derived from Sibyl performing a “cymatic” scan of a person’s brain, probably akin to an highly advanced version of today’s functional MRI, is considered all the evidence he needs to close the book on a case.

PSYCHO-PASS is quickly becoming a study of contrasts, beginning with the struggles faced by the latent criminals vs. non-latent criminals, and now detectives who swear by their instincts and good old fashioned police work, vs. detectives for whom Sibyl’s word is the absolute law. It’s easy to see which side of the fence Ginoza and Masaoka respectively fall on, and it’ll be interesting to find out the source of their animosity, but the real question is where Kougami and Tsunemori will end up once this series is through.

The no-nonsense Enforcer’s change of heart in the last episode in becoming a detective who cared about true justice and protecting people came so abruptly it was almost too hard to believe. Usually, it takes a good amount of experience with a good cop, Tsunemori in this case, to influence the “bad” one, so by having him change so quickly felt like the show was deprived of a major avenue of character development for the simple sake of advancing the story. Fortunately, the events in this third episode throw all of the words Kougami said while recuperating into doubt now that he is back in the thick of the action. The “Enforcer as a hunter” personality reared its ugly head as he basically entrapped Kanehara Yuji (whose seiyuu sounded eerily like Tsuruoka Satoshi who played Caster in Fate/Zero) into trying to kill him and Tsunemori with a pair of reprogrammed drones. Along with his obsession in finding Makishima, it’s hard to envision him abiding by any notions of justice and duty as he seeks to settle his score. Probably the only hope for him to change his ways lie in the cute new Inspector, so there’s hope yet for the “bad cop sees the light” trope being played out in its fullest.

On the other hand, Tsunemori looks firmly in Masaoka’s camp for now, relying on old fashioned detective’s intuition and dirty work to nab the suspect, but with Ginoza lurking behind her shoulder the possibility does exist, however minute, that it could only be a matter of time before she switches sides. Much of this is due to a perception that her idealism appears to be fragile at the moment, as if all it would take is a single tragedy for it to unravel into something more resembling the black and white morality of her senior Inspector.

Aside from the now expected exposition, this episode also marked a return to the action and thrills that were promised in the premiere. The twist that the drone factor was an anechoic chamber, thus negating all EM radiation and turning the fancy Dominators into worthless hunks of metal, was a smartly written and plausible device that accomplished two things. It not only explained what the difference between Psycho-Pass hues and Sibyl’s cymatic scan based crime coefficients was, but also set up the tension as Kougami and Tsunemori raced from the center of the building to a place where Sibyl’s signals could reach. Kougami’s fight against Kanehara’s drones also served to showcase how – for lack of a better term – badass of a detective he is. He’s able to sport a devilish grin even as thousands of pounds of oil, metal, and wires are trying to kill him, sometimes coming as close as mere inches away from his face. After his shirtless turn in the beginning of the episode, Kougami probably gained a lot of female admirers, while his effortlessly cool action scene at the end of it likely gained him a good amount of the male fandom.

All in all, hopefully Sibyl’s limitations will continue to offer plenty of material for the series as it shifts to an episodic style. For a complex dystopian setting like the one found in this series, every bit of exposition that an episodic style can offer is welcomed as it helps shed more light on what makes the world tick, and when combined with more of the action that was found in this episode, may be prove to be a winning formula for this series. Assuming PSYCHO-PASS continues with its crime of the week pacing and remembers to hint at the overarching story from time to time, there is a lot here to like for viewers who don’t need their plot spoon fed to them. For those with the patience, the reward is a series that effortlessly melds excellent exposition that is sure to inspire smart discussion, subtle and nuanced character development, and action scenes that exude a slick coolness.

  • How did Sybil scan a brainless robotic drone to determine a threat level without a crime coefficient that is calculated from a “cymatic” scan of the brain, a number which is presumably needed for the Dominator to fire a shot capable of destroying rather than merely incapacitating?
  • Full-length images: 05.1, 05.2, 06.5, 11, 13.5, 15, 18.1, 18.2, 28, 34.5, 36.

64 Comments

    1. Actually he didn’t miss it, he just took the Bad-Cop course and skipped on the Good-Cop one XD

      In all seriousness you know .. almost every movie focused on detective work and investigation has those (Good Cop/Bad Cop) technique being used to psychologically put the interrogated under pressure and make his lean towards confessing to the good cop to avoid being harassed by the one posing as the bad one .. here Kogami was playing Bad cop to put a lot of pressure on the culprit and make him breakdown .. it’s a legitimate technique (i suppose Tsunemori was meant to play the “good cop” here but Kogami didn’t give her a chance .. lols).

      HunterWulf
      1. I actually think what he was doing is a basic method of interrogation, and not really anything to do with a good or bad or whatever cop. I don’t know the terms, so someone fill in the blanks for me:

        – Kougami convinced the suspect that everyone had already known that he was the criminal. If the man was innocent, he would have no reason to admit his guilt because he isn’t guilty. If the man was guilty, knowing that he had been caught might cause him to drop his act of playing innocent and to come out open.
        – Kougami was blunt, violent and quick. On a psychological level, he pushed the suspect into a corner and left him with no time to think things rationally, pushing him to act on instinct. If the man was innocent, he would have nothing to turn to to fight back, or rather, he probably wouldn’t have known of any way to react (besides maybe pissing his pants). There would have been no instinctual reaction to fight back because he was never guilty in the first place. If the man was guilty, he might have chosen to fight back. Based the actions that the man takes, Kougami can further evaluate the suspect and act based on the results.
        – Kougami faked blackmail to provoke a response from the suspect. This could cause varied reactions from either an innocent or guilty party, but by doing so, Kougami creates a situation whereby the suspect, if guilty, could admit his crime, whether by will or by accident.

        The point was for Kougami to get the information out of the suspect, in order to have enough evidence to arrest him. It would make no sense for him to ask ” Did you kill those men?” and hope that the man would cooperate willingly with the answer “Yes.”, and the same would apply for any other interrogation that takes place. So yeah, I’m pretty sure the techniques he used were the basics.

        And I’m not too sure if the “good cop” thing works that way.

        junglepenguin
    1. I suspect that watching Keanu Reeves movies was the cause of Kanehara’s change in hue, not the bullying. Keanu is clearly a threat to society that even Sibyl cannot fully contain.

      celebrinen
      1. Correct. The reference was to the original short story by William Gibson, published in 1981, not the dumbed down hollywood adaptation.

        Basically, Johnny Mnemonic is a data trafficker who stores extremely sensitive digital data in his brain for other companies/crime organizations/rich individuals that were too risky to be hosted on computers or transmitted through networks. Only the client knows the password.

        So for Psycho-Pass, the criminal hacker has the program or password to access this sensitive data, and the drones were not aware of its content nor were they able to retrieve it.

      2. But in the context of the episode this doesn’t match the evidence. The original story was fine and not likely to drive a person into a murderous rage. If we examine the post-case file we can see the cause of Kanehara’s psycho-pass spike. Here are some (totally legit) excerpts from the file:
        “Kanehara Yuji accidentally subscribed to a ‘Keanu Reeves movie every month’ deal. His psycho-pass spikes and murderous rage coincide with having watched these movies”
        “The fact that the suspect remained docile under constant workplace hazing suggests that physical and mental abuse is preferable to watching Keanu”
        “Enforcer Kougami’s attempts to expose Kanehara was not shown in its entirety. Viewing unedited footage shows that Kougami also began quoting Keanu and this caused Kanehara to experience flashbacks resulting in another psycho-pass spike”
        “Enforcer Kougami has been reprimanded and personnel are cleared to Dominator-tase him in the butt should he use cheesy movie lines again”
        There it is folks, clearly Kanehara Yuji was the victim. Poor guy.

        celebrinen
  1. -it seems Sybil isnt as all-powerful as it seems
    -live-in “offline” work? WHAT KIND OF HELL IS THAT? no wonder people devolve into bullying etc…
    -it seems Sybil analyses not only objects psychic hue but its actual actions, hence drones attacks made it deemed “lethal target” Remember the girl from ep 01? She was deemed “lethal target” only after threatening to start fire…
    -lines of tension within the enforcer team are drawn, but its not like they are permanent…
    -the case was obvious murder from the get go – if it was accident, therte would be nobody to take away “malfunctioning” drone memory…

    ewok40k
      1. It could easily be both. The events gave her a higher crime coefficient and her action just sealed the deal. Cuz after she dropped the lighter she also stopped being a target for elimination.

        JHN
    1. “live-in “offline” work? WHAT KIND OF HELL IS THAT?”

      Uhhh, the equivalent of a workplace that existed before the internet was created? There will always be bullying, but to imply that humans can’t live together harmoniously without WiFi…

      junglepenguin
  2. It is what it is…

    I agree, it looks like it’s episodic formula-based at this early point in the series.
    I didn’t get the shooting of the drones either. Can Sybil assess any threat?

    mac65
    1. I kinda agree, i suppose Dominators Decomposer mode can be activated based on the judgment of the officer/enforcer using the gun as long as the gun isn’t aimed at a living-being .. i suppose it also doesn’t really scan the robot the same way it scans humans .. i suppose the threat level is determined by the officer/enforcer in this case.

      HunterWulf
  3. I’m starting to love Akane’s different faces. I wonder if that’s a deliberate attempt to make her cute.

    I find this episode quite interesting because it reveals the chinks of the SYBIL system. To me, SYBIL sounds like something I could get behind because it actually takes mental health into account. But as always, no system is perfect, and there are ways to bypass it. Here a company has somehow developed this bizarre bullying system away from SYBIL’s eyes. In a sense, the murders weren’t the systems fault, but by the management trying to bypass it to maintain productivity. What to blame becomes quite blurry at this point.

    As for Kougami I’m still convinced that he meant it when he said he wanted to be a detective. Its just that he’s been trapped as an Enforcer for so long that it affects his obsession to deal justice and it borders on vigilantism. That’s why he needs Akane to keep him in check.

    This also what contrasts Gino from Akane. Gino believes that SYBIL is a perfect system to solve crime but that would mean there would be no need for Enforcers in the first place. I think that’s what Inspectors are meant for, to give a human perspective that SYBIL can’t provide in its law-enforcment.

    fragb85
  4. – Ginoza was probably once as idealistic as Akane, and some sort of tragedy led him to become the cynical officer he now is, believing only in the black and white of the Sibyl system rather than the old-fashioned detective instincts which Masaoka is still a believer of. Maybe he saw a bit of himself in Akane and thus hoped Akane would soon see the “error” of her ways soon enough.

    – Ginoza and Masaoka being former partners in the police force is certainly plausible, as Kagari and Yayoi both commented to Akane on how that subject is taboo. Gino is probably pissed at Masaoka for relying on his detective instinct and putting himself in the criminal’s shoes too often that Masaoka ended up with a high Criminal Coefficient and branded as a Latent Criminal as a result.

    – Seeing how the Dominator vaporizes the drones, it does seem Sibyl doesn’t just assess the latent criminal threat posed by human beings, but also whether inanimate objects pose a threat to each Dominator’s user as well.

    – The Dominator’s shots are kind of cool, it only vaporizes objects which it has locked on, you don’t have to worry about friendly fire as long as you remain BEHIND the target. – As seen by how Akane remained unscathed while looking at a hole being punctured out of the drone in front of her, though Kagari would need to dodge Kougami’s shot as he was IN FRONT of the drone.

    – Most intriguing plot thread left behind: Who provided the guy with the “Johnny Mnemonic” drone berserk programme? While the factory supervisor certainly sounded suspicious with his desire to stay out of trouble, but he was just being the usual bureaucratic prick, so I don’t think he’s the mastermind if he’s involved.

    Kinny Riddle
  5. Another excellent episode from Psycho-Pass, loved it the minute i knew it’s going to feature actual detective work and a murder case which will show us another different facet from the work of the Public Safety Bureau (like the first ep showed us some cop-style work, and the second showed us some public safety-style work of capturing someone with a high coefficient and sending them for treatment department) .. now we get some actual detective work, but it’s quite different from the normal due to Sybil’s involvement.

    I also really enjoyed the tension and differences in views inside the team, it seems that Masaoka, Akane and Kogami are all old fashioned detectives while Ginoza believes in just following Sybil’s directives without much thought (i.e like a robot) .. the tension between Ginoza on one side and Masaoka+Akane was really sky-high as Ginoza was really ticked off by Masaoka’s old-fashioned detective mindset and Akane’s support for him .. Masaoka and Ginoza seem to really have some bad-blood between them.

    I also loved it when Kogami pulled off some Bad-cop spoof on the suspected worker to make him breakdown and commit a mistake that exposes him (although he was very reckless to not apprehend him before he completes his reprogramming of the bots into killer robots), heck he even didn’t allow Akane to play Good-cop in the spoofed interrogation he made XD

    There is also some excellent world building here, the way the manager let the bullying slip by just becasue it’s the only outlet for the workers in the isolated working hell (cheap bastard, couldn’t he just get some arcade machines or gym or something to keep the workers busy during their free time and give them an outlet !!!), and Bureaucracy is alive and well after all .. the part about the factory being under jurisdiction of the commerce ministry and how they don’t the Public Safety Bureau sticking their noses in their business so they don’t mind passing a murder as an accident (bastards) and the manager was actually going to succeed in send out team away with the famous “Get me some bureaucratic paper work done and i’ll let you investigate” trick .. but Kogami put his “Bad-cop” routine to work and got things done XD

    The highlight for me was how the isolation aspect was EXCELLENTLY used not just becasue it’s truly the best deterrent against external hacking, the reason why the workers resorted to bullying and also a way to showcase the limitations of the Sybil system and the Dominators .. but also getting us to see some cool action sequence in the final part of the episode with Yayoi and Kagari racing through the factory to deliver the “cable-connected” Dominators platform/robot to Kogami and Akane .. that’s some solid writing here *a round of applause*

    HunterWulf
  6. HunterWulf explained this a bit in a previous comment, but how does the Dominator decide what mode it’s on? I understand that the Decomposer is probably never used on a human being, but what I’m referring to is: why was Kanehara only paralyzed? If I remember correctly, back in episode1, Okura’s crime coefficient was over 190, and he basically blew up because of the judgment the Sibyl System passed onto him via the Dominator. The woman was also about to be blown to bits (first by Masaoka and later, Kogami) since the Psycho-Hazard extended to her, and her coefficient was over 190, I believe. I thought that she was only paralyzed by Ginoza, Kagari, or Kunizuka because she had slightly calmed down.

    Not to mention, Kanehara actually killed 3 people whereas Okura only refused to go to therapy and kidnapped and raped a woman. And if the Dominator’s mode is based off of the owner’s threat, Kogami should’ve had no problem in doing more than just paralyzing Kanehara.

    Shiawase
    1. Good points, i suppose (and that’s my theory) that again like with the Decomposer mode i think it’s up to the enforcer or officer himself/herself .. and due to the fact that almost everyone following Sybil directives without question once the anti-personnel mode is “unlocked” they immediately use it in accordance with Sybil’s judgment .. in short .. the mode is unlocked only but doesn’t override the paralyzing mode, the choice is up to the user to stick to paralyzer or switch to lethal once it’s unlocked.

      Seeing Kogami actually told Akane he decided to change the way he works and start acting like a real detective rather than a mindless hunting dog it isn’t surprising he refrained from following Sybil’s recommendations (based on the high coefficient the criminal had Kogami could have activated lethal mode) and ended up using paralyzer mode to apprehend the criminal instead of activating lethal mode and killing off the criminal like he did in ep when still followed Sybil’s directives without questioning them.

      HunterWulf
      1. Makes enough sense, yes. But if that’s the case, it’s hard to believe that they would entrust the mode of the Dominator to latent criminals. I’m sure there are many more like Ginoza who think that the Enforcers should be left with as little responsibility as possible.

        Shiawase
      2. @Shiawase
        Good point, but don’t forget few things
        -Ginoza doesn’t control the system nor put the rules, if the government allowed Enforcers to use Decomposer mode to deal with non-human threats then even if he doesn’t like that there isn’t much he can do about it.

        -There is a good reason why enforcers have officers (or as Ginoza calls them “handlers”) assigned to oversee their actions, if an enforcer goes rampaging with Decomposer mode (which doesn’t directly hurt humans) his/her handler should easily be able to shoot them with non-lethal mode to knock them cold and capture them (probably they end up sent to jail or some treatment facility).

        HunterWulf
    2. Having rewatched Episode 1, the Dominator has two different assessment systems, first there’s the usual Psycho-Pass Criminal Coefficient measurement, the second would be the threat assessment (which includes Lethal Eliminator and Non-Lethal Paralyzer for humans and Decomposer for inanimate objects).

      It seems the two measurements are independent of each other, just because a target has a high Coefficient is not enough for the Dominator to deem him/her a threat to be eliminated just yet, but rather, it is how the target reacts that the Dominator would change its threat assessment real time.

      In episode 1, Sibyl originally had Paralyzer set for the guy, but due to his resistance, Sibyl instantly upgraded his threat assessment to Eliminator.

      The woman hostage’s threat assessment was supposed to be only Paralyzer, due to shock from being taken hostage and the need to bring her into treatment to prevent her from hurting herself and others, but Akane’s intervention ironically ended up exacerbating the hostage mental state, and Sibyl, who could only assess threat levels real time but blind to the bigger picture leading to the changes in her mental state, coldly upgraded her threat to Eliminator. Fortunately for Akane, she quickly amended her mistake and intervened again to bring the hostage’s threat assessment back down to Paralyzer.

      So the Dominator’s initial assessment for all latent criminals would always be set at Paralyzer by default, regardless of how high their Criminal Coefficient is, it would seem.

      Had Kougami’s first Paralyzer shot missed Kanehara and/or he continued his resistance, I would believe that Sibyl would instantly upgrade his threat to Eliminator, and he WILL be blown to bits the next time he is shot. So Kanehara is in a way lucky.

      Kinny Riddle
      1. The real question here is how exactly does Sybil determine threat levels (which is as you noted, separate from the criminal coefficient), the criminal coefficient is obtained through a direct brain scan using stationary scanners or Dominators, but what method does Sybil use to measure “threat level”.

        While i do see your point of view having potential validity i personally still think switching to Lethal mode or Decomposer mode is up to the user’s assessment (and Sybil just controls when to unlock Lethal mode for user) .. but i guess so far we have no clear-cut way of 100% confirming which way it is (or how Sybil measures something so vague as “threat level” or “resistance” as opposed to the easily obtained “criminal coefficient” which is raw numerical data based on a brain scan).

        HunterWulf
      2. @HunterWulf, As for determining threat level, I’m pretty sure Masaoka (or someone) described the Dominators as being Sibyl’s eyes. Not sure if that was to be taken literally though… ^ ^;;

        Shiawase
      3. @Shiawase
        I thought about it too, but for Sybil to be able to analyze and assert non-human threats like that (or even human threats which are separate from measuring crime coefficient) it has to be one hell of an advanced AI with very powerful visual scanning, recognition and analysis capabilities, and also has to have lots of ways to monitor and oversee the environment around the Dominator gun user, i can think of many complex situations where asserting a non-human “threat” can be extremely hard for an AI that’s looking at things through your gun barrel only XD

        So far despite how Sybil is adjusting a lot of people’s decisions and providing them with it’s judgment .. it’s doesn’t strike me as an all-seeing Big-Brother-esque system .. yet, who knows what we will find out about it in the future XD

        HunterWulf
      4. If you watch carefully, Kogami actually stand on the oil in episode 1, thus as the woman hold the lighter, the dominator put the woman as ‘capable’ to harm officer (in this case Kogami)…
        However this point seems moot due to the fact that in episode 3 the dominator still in paralyze mode even thought the employee evidently use dangerous bot…

        My only explanation is the employee’s controlled robot isn’t the one that do the killing, it is after the employee lose control that the robot able to do the threat…
        In a sense, this will allow the whole killing be a simple accident as the employee doesn’t do the killing directly, it is the ‘uncontrolled’ robot that does the killing…

        Another explanation is because the employee has his back on Kogami, the system deem him as non-lethal to Kogami at the time…

        Mu other explanation would be, the lethal mode only activated once the target has been scanned at least twice…

        These theory only possible however if the enforcer really doesn’t have control over dominator mode…
        We still need to wait the official or proper explanation…

        Ante
  7. @VERDANT
    “It’s hard to envision him abiding by any notions of justice and duty as he seeks to settle his score. Probably the only hope for him to change his ways lie in the cute new Inspector, so there’s hope yet for the “bad cop sees the light” trope being played out in its fullest”

    Hmmm, actually i think he did change, but the change was subtle (perhaps too subtle), the interrogation scene was actually reminiscent of the bad-cop/good-cop technique that is used in interrogation to put psychological pressure on criminals (although Kogami’s version was extreme it’s still a legit technique XD), also .. Shiawase pointed out above that the criminal’s coefficient when he was shot was actually high enough to allow for usage of Lethal mode, yet Kogami refrained from that and instead shot him with paraylzer (which really surprised me), this makes Kogami feel more like a detective and less like a mindless hunting dog (i do have a theory about Lethal mode and Decomposer modes being activated by user-choice once Sybil unlocks them rather than overriding the gun completely .. this also ties with the theme of contrast between those who follow Sybil without question .. i.e using the lethal mode once Sybil unlocks it, and those who don’t like Kogami -supposedly- did this ep and made a choice not to use Lethal mode).

    I guess he is really trying to change his ways but the writers made it subtle so it doesn’t feel like he just took a 180 degrees turn all of a sudden .. he recklessness and badass attitude probably will stick around for a while .. but he is indeed starting to change IMO.

    HunterWulf
    1. You mean Yayoi, she didn’t disappear, she just jumped off the robot (off screen) and let Kagari ram the hacked bot with it (as there was nothing to gain from her staying with Kagari on top of the robot after she delivered the gun to Kogami), she can clearly be seen standing over the body of the knocked out criminal in the 21:37 mark.

      HunterWulf
  8. I read some comments about how the Dominator’s mode selected. During episode 2, at 10mins 10seconds on the video, Akane’s report on the screen was shown for a split second.

    Here’s the screenshot of that scene.

    http://s1271.beta.photobucket.com/user/shock222/media/Untitled-4.png.html

    My hypothesis is once the crime coefficient is over 300, lethal mode is in force to eliminate the target? And in the middle of resisting arrest, their crime coefficient(the 2 guys from both episode 1 and 3) just rose over 300?

    My insight doesn’t add to how the dominator determines the robot’s threat level though.

    BlackShock
    1. Interesting…I was wondering how Tubby managed to go batshit insane on a robot with the intent to kill without getting blown into meat confetti. It’s odd how that rape victim in episode 1 triggered Lethal mode faster then the bullied person in this episode. They both seemed unstable to me…if there’s a guy who killed 3 people tried to kill me by chasing me with a robot…I’m pretty sure that’s good enough reason for him to get blown up.

      kondeelai
  9. so on top of making bio units go explody explody…it could melt through solid steel…and we’re letting ‘latent criminals’ roam freely with these? i mean i know they’re under constant watch…but all it needs is an itchy trigger finger…who knows
    …and a bit of actual back story as to who designed sibyl would be very much appreciated…
    Show Spoiler ▼

    ErinTevra
    1. A Handler/officer can very easily knock an enforcer out cold using his own Dominator non-lethal mode if the enforcer got trigger happy or acted wrong and became a threat (lethal mode only activated when Sybil allows it and Decompose mode only damages non-human targets) … i thought that was shown clearly in final scene in ep1.

      HunterWulf
    1. It depends on what kind of society you want and how much privacy and freedom you are willing to relinquish for it.
      On one hand Sibyl removes a lot of the guess work in peoples lives and therefore theoretically reduces stress.
      On the other hand, when every damn cop-bot has the right to scan you to see if you are going to behave and a cop can shoot you for something you will do in the future, it becomes a question of individual rights vs society.
      Is such rigid control of people really beneficial? Perhaps if it worked 100% of the time. But the fact that crimes still occur suggests that Sibyl is imperfect (or that humans are just too erratic to predict or control).

      celebrinen
      1. Cops can only shoot you if you resist being sent for treatment .. the guy in ep2 wasn’t shot .. he was just captured and sent for a facility where they will assess the reason behind his high stress level and try to cure it .. it still feels forceful and a violation of freedom .. but it seems Sybil puts the benefit of the entire society as a whole ahead of the benefit of individuals.

        HunterWulf
      2. You are right, the option of shooting depends on the situation and the threat. I should have said “could”.
        And yes Sibyl is incredibly intrusive. People are being informed by a computer of their mental state every day, and will get scanned a few times a day. I would probably stress out trying not to stress out.
        Also where does Sibyl draw the line. I find it hard to believe everyone was in favour of introducing this system. If Sibyl thinks for society as a whole, would that make people opposed to it latent criminals? Furthermore, if it could be manipulated its a good way of getting rid of undesirable people in the guise of re-educating or complete erasure (death).

        celebrinen
      3. saw this on Wikipedia when i Googled “hypocrisy” to see if it was right word to use on the above, seemed directly related to this show:

        “C. G. Jung a few times referred to the hypocrisy of people who are not aware of the dark or shadow-side of their nature.

        Every individual needs revolution, inner division, overthrow of the existing order, and renewal, but not by forcing them upon his neighbors under the hypocritical cloak of Christian love or the sense of social responsibility or any of the other beautiful euphemisms for unconscious urges to personal power (Jung, 1966:5).

        It is under all circumstances an advantage to be in full possession of one’s personality, otherwise the repressed elements will only crop up as a hindrance elsewhere, not just at some unimportant point, but at the very spot where we are most sensitive. If people can be educated to see the shadow-side of their nature clearly, it may be hoped that they will also learn to understand and love their fellow men better. A little less hypocrisy and a little more self-knowledge can only have good results in respect for our neighbor; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures (Jung, 1966:par. 28).”

        shadowalker
  10. I think something happened to Ginoza in the past. He was so angry when the others are so sure of the culprit. Maybe someone close to him got arrested/killed when old fashioned detective work was used. I hope the series sheds light into that.

    conyo985
    1. My guess (or theory) is that Masaoka (the old man with the prosthetic hand) and Ginoza where sort of partners (or Masaoka was actually Ginoza’s mentor and senior) and then due to Masaoka sticking to his instincts and gut-feeling like old-fashioned detectives instead of following Sybil directives something really bad happened and Masaoka ended up being labeled a latent criminal and got fired from his position as an officer (and probably also lost his hand .. the one replaced with a prosthetic hand) .. now Ginoza rose in ranks and became officer while Masaoka became an enforcer that takes orders from him .. i guess that would explain why he would be so pissed off at him and doesn’t want to listen to anything he says .. the way he screamed at him in the ep felt like he is telling him “LOOK WHERE YOUR DAMN GUT FEELING GOT YOU”

      HunterWulf
  11. Definitely liking this show so far. Kogami’s seemingly whiplash change in values was better explained in this episode, I think.

    Some random thoughts:
    18.5 – What the hell is wrong with Kagari’s eyes?
    It strikes me as rather funny that a character’s chances of being good/relevant/surviving/etc. seems to be directly linked to how attractively they’re drawn. lol

  12. I can’t agree more with Hunter Wolf’s opinion on what might’ve happened between Ginoza & Masaoka-san in the past..Can’t wait to see how the story is gonna unravel itself in the coming episodes..:-)

    AdeekYool

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