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「悪魔の証明」 (Akuma no Shoumei)
“The Devil’s Proof”
One of the theories that I read last week was that Akane is actually Kamui herself. She could be schizophrenic, have MPD, or be an unreliable narrator, but the theory was that Akane is really living a double life. From this episode, it’s hinted that even Akane doesn’t even know herself if she is the one writing “WC?” on her own wall. While the evidence suggests that no one else could’ve entered her apartment, Saiga Jouji (Yamaji Kazuhiro) proposes that there is also a lack of evidence that disproves Akane’s theory of a ghost. I neither study law or know much about criminal cases (other than what I watch on TV), but the onus falls on Akane now to produce some form of evidence that proves that Kamui exists. Not to mention that in the process, she looks insane because it sounds like her team is against her theory of someone slipping through the cracks. Even Kasei Joushuu (Sakakibara Yoshiko) can’t believe that a ghost “exists” but she still approves of Akane’s investigation. Judging by the initial 5 mins of this episode, I would find it very hard to believe that Kamui is Akane. It would a terribly twisted story and there’s no way that Akane could go from a 30 Crime Coefficient to being illegible by the System. From Akane’s POV, I can imagine feeling like maybe I am crazy because everyone else thinks I am and there’s nothing to say that I’m not. I doubt that this will drag Akane down though because she shows persistent in her efforts to defend her sanity and that is something that I admire about her character. This is what differentiates her from others and all the while, her Crime Coefficient remains low. Unlike Nobu (and Mika and everyone scared of rising their Crime Coefficients), there’s a calmness and certainty about her that makes me believe that she’ll succeed on her hunt. Having the Chief backing you up, is also not such a bad thing.
The first initial scene of this week is definitely an eye-opener. I had a hard time digesting what I was seeing because, I won’t lie, graphic scenes do me no good. And it wasn’t even the eye that was the problem; it was seeing Kamui shove his finger in Mizue’s mouth that was distributing. There’s not much revealed in the scene, other than confirming my suspicions that Kamui is another soul out there doing heinous crimes. I don’t even understand how he lowers Mizue’s Crime Coefficient either as he sticks a finger in her mouth – is he putting something there? Is he breaking something? Is the blood even coming from him or her? He specifically says that he’s looking for a detective’s eye so perhaps that’s the key to the Crime Coefficient readings or something that he needs to complete his experiments. This scene also reveals his goals and objectives – he wants to make the world clear… in fact, so clear that people becoming invisible. Invisible to the Sybil System perhaps, but it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t exist.
As we venture deeper into the story of who Kamui is and how this impacts Akane, I’m starting to see references back to the first season in small steps. This is the first time that they’ve made actual references to Shinya in the show and the more they do, the more I miss him too (I’m talking to you Akane!). To me, Tougane can’t be Shinya and he can’t be a replacement for him; there’s just this look about him that I can’t trust. We also see the Chief for the first time this season and her interactions with Akane don’t give away too much, which I find strange since you’d think they have a more strained relationship. Aoyanagi Risa (Asano Masumi) is a character that had appearances in season 1 (in case you needed a reminder for those with terrible memory like myself) but she plays a much more prominent role this time. Similar to Mika, they both have strong personalities that believe in judgment made by Sybil and why would you think otherwise, right? Unless you’re someone like Akane and Nobu who have seen things and “know” things, you wouldn’t think that Sybil is flawed. This makes it all the more saddening when Risa was beaten up at the end by someone Sybil deemed as clear. I think I’ve seen way too many women beaten up in recent shows; it’s pretty gruesome. Just because the gun doesn’t work, I feel like Risa is suddenly very vulnerable to attacks, when in reality, the police force should be prepared for any type of assault. I hope she gets back on her feet. The two men at the end don’t seem to have any connections or resemblance, but it’s not far-fetched to say that they’ve both met Kamui (or know of him) and know what he’s capable of.
I wonder what if the drug that this man is promoting – is the same one that they advertised in the first episode… which is meant to help keep Crime Coefficients low (unless my memory is off point again). I think Kamui might be working for him (or with him) to manufacture this drug that helps keep people clear. That’s just a theory though, but it explains what he planted in Mizue’s mouth. Also, has anyone noticed the OP changing this week? I’ll have to take new OP screencaps next week (or every week) at this rate. It looks like there’s something emerging out of the static in the images.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: #PsychoPass2’s first few mins is so insane! I need to watch it twice to digest what’s happening. Very convo heavy episode. #pp_anime
Full-length images: 02.
Someone needs to fix that second inspector. Seems like her past is still messing with her.
Actually, Akane talks politely to Chief Josei while Mika is in the room, but when she leave, Akane began to talk bluntly to the Chief – letting it clear that Akane didn’t respect her.
It also means that Akane is building facades of herself to deal with multiple situation. I’m starting to think Akane is slowly losing her sanity…
https://randomc.net/image/PSYCHO-PASS/PSYCHO-PASS%202%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
Lol it’s Kasei not Josei xD
And Sybil don’t care, their collective mind told her last season as soon as she stops being useful they will end her, she alive only as long as they need her.
I won’t say she’s loosing her sanity but she is more cynical now about the system than before
Hm…I don’t think so. I think it’s more the Japanese ‘tatemae’ (public face) and ‘honne’ (private feelings) duality in operation. Akane has to keep up a front when others are around, but if there is no one besides Sybil (or representatives of Sybil) like Kasei, then she drops that front.
Yeah that “thing”(I don’t want to call it a person) is called Kasei Joushu.
My understanding regarding Kamui needing an inspector’s eye – at least part of the reason – is because he wanted to see the Dominator HUD.
We could see he hooked up some wires to the removed eye and was able to see readings and information from the Dominator on his computer screens.
I’m sure he has other plans for Mizue’s eye and more importantly the insight he now has with having the Dominator and being able to see its HUD – not to mention somehow gaining Mizue’s cooperation as we noted with the apparent trap set for Risa.
I was thinking about the usage of the new drug and some kind of hypnosis , it really never explain how crime efficiency work nor hue measure from , it just kinda pop up like that when u point the dominator at people, but i think Mazaoka and jouji actaully make a good point back in season 1 that akane ‘accept’ the world as it is that’s why she is the ideal member of this society. also i would like to note that the eyes of those bad guy have the same eyes as ouryou rikako’s father, clear and dead, the drug probably numb the body reaction you know the 5 sense and modify some hormone value in order to make these people action seem justify in front of sybly’s eyes
akane may be sane but the smoking scene showed how much she miss kougami and might wish that he took her with him, this season really resemble the ghost in the shell, where Mc might or might not be the villain herself, i actually hope that she does XD that would be interesting or it might just be that there is someone stalking her.
kamui wouldn’t be helping him i think. kamui would be the drug company’s worse nightmare, no reliance on medication to keep a clear psycho pass.
i still think the therapist might be kamui, especially to set up the inspector like that, take eyeball out and all, need medical training. and again w/2nd episode, visited the bomber to help clear him. and they need to see kamui to clear them up. akane being kamui is ridiculous, it wouldn’t work, plus the bomber would’ve recognized or acknowledged somehow and not resist so much and get blown up by Risa. therapist works for MWPSB so can find Akane’s address, also knows how dominators work and how inspectors act and the intricacies of Sibyl System.
i’m curious what Saiga did or has on his file that makes Mika run away. Mika is used to crimes, enforcers, high crime coefficients, not sure what’s special about Saiga that made her run away. working w/Kogami isn’t that serious.
the way Kamui calms Mizue down, make me think part of his technique is just making people chill. the kind of person who instantly makes you relax and calm down when you’re under a lot of stress that you generate yourself that isn’t always there. of course there’s more, and I find the show’s zooming into the eyes of characters plays a role, especially the color in the eye, the yellow shading, some have a lot like Saiga, others have little.
As to Risa being helpless in the last scene, I somehow thought that since they were in some sort of pharmacy, she might have been shot with something. That robot thing? That might be some sort of security guard and all. The old guy might have even done some Kamui style stuff and made Sybil put judgment on Risa. Like, she got a higher CC than usual and he was able to tranquilize her with her own gun.
As to Togane, the more we know about him, the more suspicious he is, a character, and it seems like, in the end, Kamui is a red herring: the real villain is not him, but Togane. And Togane acting like Kogami…it seems a way to gain Akane’s trust. This guy is obviously intelligent, and for the Chief to set sights on him like she did with Shougo, it’s like some cartoonish zombie intrigued with a wonderful brain. Also, Togane as a therapist? Lacouse drugs going around? Of course, all these info are pretty convenient to implicate him as a villain, but it’s not so far-fetch.
I’m not really missing Kogami. I always look at him like the baseball guy in Katekyo Hitman! (Can’t be helped, their artists are the same lol). But he’s a good character, and it’s intriguing what he’s up to, chillin’ somewhere.
I wish they put a little more effort in making ACTUAL animation for the opening… The updates version this episode looked like a really bad AMV, with all those filter effects. Come on, this show deserves better!
IMO, the updated OP looks more gruesome. I wonder if it will keep changing as it reflects Akane’s sanity.
Im with you on that one; i think the OP is going to change in response to what happens as the series progresses. I see a few people so far saying that this season of PP is not as “deep” as the first season, and to some degree, i can sort of agree with that statement. The first season was about setting up the world of psycho-pass, and with that came the intrigue of learning about the world. But in this season, the world building is already done. However, this does not mean that psycho-pass has still lost it’s subtlety (barring Mika of course but even her overbearing personality can be somewhat excused). Psycho-Pass S2 is still rocking some polished screenplay, and it has thrown out the world building from the first season, substituting that for the theme of perception (and to be quite honest, i think the trade-off is just as good); what is real and what isnt as well as the question of one’s sanity. That alone, makes this season of psycho-pass an interesting one. Maybe those themes arent on the same social-philosophical spectrum as the world building in season 1, but they are certainly interesting and do a lot to play with the audiences’ expectations, creating this very unsettling, dark atmosphere.
What’s more is how the OP has actually become a mechanic to the story telling as we see this week. Things in the narrative are starting to become unclear (what is real and what isnt) and as that is happening, we see that the OP has become unclear as well what with the static filters. The fascinating thing about this though is that while the OP has become seemingly blurry and unclear, we can now see certain things much more clearly in the OP that we couldnt befor and the narrative is doing the same thing. In the previous OP, when tougane shows up and places the dominator menacingly between his face, we see the left side of his face go dark with an eerie glowing eye for a quick sec. In this updated opening, the picture quality in that scene is no longer as clear as it use to be; hell, his entire face is no longer within focus of the camera. But as the left side of his face goes dark, that side becomes a lot more sinister looking this time. Also an interesting note is the scene with Akane that proceeds right after that. In the original OP, akane would cover her face from the sunlight, and then right before the scene transitions to the multicolored room, you see a quick red flash that you can barely make out if you arent paying real close attention. In this updated opening, after akane covers her eyes from the sunlight and the transition is made to the multicolored room, you can now see that the image was actually a silhouette of Akane being shot through the head and then her body dispersing afterwords, almost smudging out of existence (see; the more unclear the OP appeared to be, the more it actually revealed). i think that is so cool and i cant wait to see how the OP continues to change as the plot thickens.
It’s not about effort, the OP is meant to look like this and it is meant to be unsettling (not to mention chuck full of soft spoilers and hints at future events) …. and the filter effects are also meant to reflect the mental state of the characters (i guess !?), the OP of the first two eps didn’t have these filters .. and if you look closer you will see a lot of hidden figures and shapes in the static of the filters which weren’t there in the OP of the first two episodes.
The OPs for season 1 were also quite unique and different from normal anime OPs, and frankly PP is the last series that should get a typical anime OP.
For me personally, I’m starting to wonder if there are drugs involved here at all.
If there was one thing I felt about the Sibyl System from P-P 1, it’s that it seems to favor individuals that have conviction in the beliefs that they have and believe that their way of doing things is the correct way. These are the people who live without fear that they would be considered criminals under Sibyl, and for this there seems to be a tendency for these people (Makishima and the like) to have lower PSYCHO-PASS hues in general, especially compared to those that constantly worry about their hues. Considering also the tendency for individuals to adapt overtime, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sibyl’s just not as effective anymore because people know and understand the mindset necessary to maintain a healthy hue, and adjust accordingly, consciously or not.
In this sense, I’m starting to believe that you don’t even need special drugs to reduce your hue, and it doesn’t have so much to do with that as it is the realization that there’s no need to fear the system, which may be read as having no ill intent against it (even if it may not truly be the case).
That said, the question remains how much influence Sibyl itself can have on the co-efficient that shows up. I wouldn’t put it beyond the system intentionally giving some of these guys lower hues to add to their “collection,” and I wouldn’t be too surprised if Akane’s low hue is because the system is intentionally keeping it that way. Opens up a huge can of worms there if that’s true.
I think I completely agree. Somehow, Kamui seems to want to make Sybil useless, because since Sybil can’t identify Crime Coefficient as accurately as presented many times, people will lose trust that it can keep doing so and may abandon it in the process. And as Kamui gathers and persuades more people in his way…Well, just how it will solve this, I wonder. Who will defend Sybil? Who will remain? If everyone believes Kamui’s way.
And somebody said that religion is hell of a drug.
Here’s another theory: Akane is actually a brain in a vat being fed external stimuli. Which is why no-one around her seems to remember Makashima and his ability to elude the Sibyl System.
Makashima couldn’t elude the Sibyl System. His hue just wouldn’t go up, even if he murdered someone. This protagonist doesn’t even scan so it’s like noone is there!
There is a huge difference between having a ridiculously low crime coefficient even when doing a crime (Shogo) .. and not being detectable at all like you aren’t even there (Kamui), even Sybil thinks that’s impossible .. while on the other hand Sybil did know about Shogo’s unique and rare case and even tried to recruit him.
the other thing too is that not every-one knew about makishima nor understood what he was; Sibyl did its best to keep the makishima dilemma under wraps. Kamui wants the world to be invisible, pretty much make it so that sibyl would be unable to read anybody. kamui is like a ghost to sibyl, which should be impossible. Even if sibyl cant make a correct judgment of a person’s actions, it can still see the person. Kamui can stand in front of a dominator and sibyl wont be able to tell that someone is there, and that is ultimately what he wants for everyone. Kamui wants to reset the world to a time you could feel a certain way and no one had any technological methof of reading your psychology. The question “what color?”, as akane mentioned, is pointless to ask a person because there is no way for them to know that without a system scan, and that’s kamui’s point. No one should have to worry about their color because it’s unnecessary in his eyes. You dont need to be judged based on your color because at the end of the day, we are all clear.
It’s too early to state that Kamui wants everyone to be invisible as he is, rather by the looks of things he wants exactly what has been shown so far: everyone to possess clear hues and thus make Sibyl redundant. When considering the Sibyl system as a whole this is effectively invisibility as the world reverts to what we have now, everyone in possession of their own emotions, no one able to discern them quickly and accurately, and no method to identify potential criminal risks. WC is the main reference to this point as when everyone possesses the same colour, then there is no colour at all.
Kamui’s invisibility is special because it does more than the above, it removes his entire existence. Sibyl is only one facet of it, Kamui is physically invisible, no one sees him except when he wants to be seen (if the intro scene here can be taken at face value). It is why you have the idea that Akane might be Kamui because Kamui literally is not detected by security cameras designed to do nothing more than record a person’s image; even Makashima could be witnessed by others after all whereas nothing of the same has currently worked with Kamui. No this puzzle ain’t going to be solved that easy, although the hue medication and holograms probably do play a part in it.
Kamui’s type of invisibility is most likely due to his mindset and his skills with technology but the invisibility that he possesses that he wishes for others is the ability for ppl’s hue to be indiscernible. That’s the invisibility im referring to; a world where sibyl cant see anybody’s psychology and ultimately make it crumble. At the same time, id also argue that it’s also too early to say that kamui’s goal of invisibility is not to make other’s as “ghostly” as he is. We dont know yet what’s what so the pendulum can swing both ways.
I stand by my guess that he wants to make Sibyl (I keep on spelling this name wrong) useless, or completely unreliable by clearing the hues of people with criminal tendencies. Indirectly or not. He seems to be doing some sort of cognitive behavioral therapy or rational-emotive therapy (again with the therapist connection lol). A conversion of sorts indeed.
Also, I still think Kamui might be in that plane crash his holo model came from. He could have a lot of Holo made out of those people if he wants to go outside and stay hidden. =.=
On one end I didn’t find anything different in the OP myself; on the other end, this might be the beginning of the end for Sybil’s rule over Japan using Psycho-pass if the psychological way of calming people down is effective at fooling Sybil. And that’s really big if.
I find this week episode very unsettling, even when no one die.
At this juncture….. The plot does not thicken….. The colour either gets more clouded and clearer…
I also have this feeling that Kirito is a red herring, a mid-boss w/ death flag written over his face.
If I were to compare him with Makishima Shogo as a villain – I’d say he simply lacks the charisma. (How I miss Makishima’s philosophical mumblings.)
Togane on the other hand, looks like a person who could throw in some lines from a thick book. When I saw the op, I had my guess that he’s a cyborg the chief personally enlisted to keep an eye on Akane especially when they are farming for asymptomatic persons.
But its not even half of the season, so I guess we can give Kirito his chance to shine. Besides, we all know that the hive mind is the real villain here.
Why couldn’t these kind of incidents also happen in season 1? Seems everyone looks so vulnerable…
So in the Base, this Season is the same as last one. Someone are trying to hide from this Law and Order system, and still doing his evil deeds. But this time another path is chosen
What if the villain (Kamui and/or Togane) *are* planning to gaslight Akane – to make Akane think that she is going insane – in order to study her Psycho-Pass/convince her to join them?
My only complaint about this season is a lack of new character development. Aside from the inspector who is clearly against Akane and her methods, the new characters do not have much going for them at the moment except their cool designs.
I have a feeling that Akane has the same type of brain that the Sybil System uses…just that they’ll take hers once she dies. Explains why her A+ hue never ever gets clouded, eh?
Hi, Psychologist here.
Kamui didn’t insert anything into Mizue’s mouth other than his finger. He did it knowing that she would do the only thing she could do at that point- bite him. He accepted that, endured the pain, to let her relieve stress. After relieving some stress and being at least partially convinced that the guy has good intentions, her crime coefficient was lowered.
Interesting theory that Akane is Kamui, but it doesn’t fit with the events that unfolded in the first episode. Mizue was kidnapped at the same time that Akane was pursuing/capturing Akira. At the same time Kamui was using the hologram of the dead girl in the first episode, so I don’t see how it could’ve been Akane. That said, there is potential that she is working with him, or at least knew him in the past, as he does seem to know about her at the end of last episode.
Hope Rika survives the random attack. It sounded like something broke though in that last punch though so I don’t have hope. This felt worst than when Akane failed to save her friend in the first season, as back then Akane at least had the means to try and save her. This time, I’m sure someone could’ve just tried to restrain the man, but their fear of having their Psycho-Pass rise prevented them from doing so. I wonder if this was Kamui’s way of taking revenge on Rika since she pulled the trigger against Akira last episode. He might be the one controlling the robotic dog as well.
I wonder if Kamui’s blood has something in it that can lower a person’s Psycho Pass. Bec that woman calmed down when she bit his finger & tasted his blood.
Was upset Risa got beaten. Mainly because it felt predictable too me when she told her suboridinates (sp?) to stay back while she goes in alone (obvious death flag or whatever). This was the 1st time I felt the writing went down a slight notch since last season. Because Urobutcher always surprised me all along.
Great episode. Love it.
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed it yet or not but Mika is the girl who’s friend with missing during the Oso Academy Arc in season 1. She was that girl Yayoi was comforting at the end of episode 10.
Good eyes. You could tell she had affection for Yayoi but it nice to remember that back story.
“The first initial scene of this week is definitely an eye-opener. I had a hard time digesting what I was seeing because, I won’t lie, graphic scenes do me no good. And it wasn’t even the eye that was the problem; it was seeing Kamui shove his finger in Mizue’s mouth that was distributing.”
There was something in the drip bag, probably a new drug that stabilizing her and they rest of the criminals popping up. And it definitely Kamui blood as Mizue is bitting him out of fear and retaliation because that all she can do at that moment.
My guess is that it’s Kamui blood or even DNA that allows him to register at absolute 0. The criminals on this drug are super low rating but not a perfect 0, someone like that would escape the Sybil System. The Sybil System would read him as a object rather then a person to record data on.
I get a feeling Mika is going to find out Kamui is real the HARD way…
“You better start believing in ghost storiess miss Inspector, you ARE in one!”
Sybil doesn’t register not Kamui’s hue, but his very existence.
I guess the key is his mastery of holo-disguise. He can pretend to be, I dont know, maybe something like cleaning droid? Or can he become effectively invisible via something akin to Thermooptical camo from GITS?
As for Kamui’s “therapy” it seems to be combination of drugs (the IV) and allowing release of the negative feelings (in the captured Inspector’s case, allowing her to bite him).
But therapy seems to be not 100% reliable as both the bomber and politiican end up with their hues going up suddenly. We can only see if the newest criminal can stay “clear” after beating up the Inspector so horribly (boy the Inspectors have it hard in this season…)
All in all the cases will eventually lead to the inevitable conclusion that Sybil is not foolproof, and some kind of special unit dedicated to hunt down those who escape Sybil, and armed with other weapons than Dominators will be needed. The problem is , such unit would have to be secret because any news of Sybil being unreliable would undermine the society’s willingness to put up with the regime (and mess mightily with everyones hue…)
After reading the comments from everyone, I still have a question.. If Shisui was holding the gun, pointing towards herself, and it read her Psycho Pass (episode 3), doesn’t that mean sybila recognized her and, therefore, should know where she is? Or it doesn’t work like that when the psycho pass is read via dominator?
Hmm, you’re right. Is this a plot hole?
In Season 1 ep 3, the dominators failed to work because the design of the building prevented it from connecting to the Sybil system. But in Shisui’s case, the dominator clearly works, meaning Sybil must have known where she’s being held but did not tell anyone?
Plot hole or important clue???
So anyone else think that the nurse guy who was holding the nail-gun was actually Kamui inside a holo and watched the whole thing before escaping?
Kumui, a scientist?
Just what is his method of clearing the hue?
Kamui, just what kind of past does he have?
After watching lots of Conan and Kindaichi, most criminals have some past ordeals and events that drive them to commit the crime.
What drove Kamui on?
The Chief, the representative of the Sibyl System.
Techno-organic.
What are your thoughts of working under a bunch of criminal minds?
Aoyanagi again who encounters a trouble maker who she cannot judge.
If Kamui clears everyone’s hue then the Police will be useless.
Sibyl System will fail.
How will the Sibyl System react to survive?