Sunday, March 31, 2013

Psycho-Pass; A fitting end.


it has been a while since Psycho-Pass has ended, looking back at this original series, it has definitely brought up a possible means of governing the city but with the over dependence on technology, it has brought forth a debatable society in the world of Psycho-Pass. its ending might not be as satisfying, but it felt more understandable, considering the facts of the existence of the Sibyl System itself. It might not be classified as a good ending or something that wraps the whole story up, or even a change for the society, and it's only suited for a concluding of the whole series as a whole, in a debatable and truthful end.

Things have not been going well with Akane after she had been shown the truth of the Sibyl System and has even made a small contract with Sibyl itself to have her Dominator locked in Paralyser mode to prevent killing of both Makishima and Kogami. She had quite a lot of opportunity to actually stop Kogami from becoming a full fledged murderer but as a colleague that she believes in him, she still clings onto the hope that Kogami would listen to her advice and use her Dominator instead of the old fashion pistol that shot actual rounds. And of course with Kogami's internal conflict with Makishima, he ultimately decides to use the pistol instead and Akane is left with no choice but only to watch as Kogami becomes a murderer, someone whom Akane doesn't wish to see becoming one.

Honestly, I've already sensed that Ginoza would ultimately become an enforcer after some details were told about his rising crime coefficient and unstable psycho pass. Somehow he feels to be more suited as an enforcer rather than a detective itself, since he wasn't actually able to pinpoint many things while he was one, and maybe as an enforcer, he might start to see things from the other point of view, distant from that of a detective.

I thought that it was a nice touch seeing how the final scene enacted the same situation back when Akane joined in the division where the current detective was already investigating an ongoing crime. In which in this case, it was Akane receiving a kouhai rather than Ginoza receiving Akane at that time. It was quite a sight to see how Akane has matured from a rookie to the detective she is today, with the Sibyl System keeping an eye on her and her uniqueness of keeping her own Psycho-Pass stable.

After Akane had failed to capture Makishima alive and allowed Kogami to killed him, she was examined by the Sibyl System which deemed her as a useful existence and allowed her to live on, hoping that with her knowledge and ability, is able to help evolve the Sibyl System into a much better judging system than it was now. And with that, the Sibyl System is left as it is and the secret is buried in Akane once again. At first glance, it all seems like there isn't a convincing end to the whole plot, where nothing actually significant has changed and the Sibyl System will continue to judge people the way it has always been. On the other hand, it does seem to be the "best" ending that this series could have. (Had actually watched the ending twice to further understand the meaning more)

Looking from an outsider's perspective, it is true that Akane is powerless against the Sibyl System. The Sibyl System can be deemed as a corrupted technological advance, or a system that does not take into account of human values or will in general. It is more of a shortcut in dealing with things that people commonly face in their everyday life. With the Sibyl System, even the police department have an easier job with the Dominator, people feel safe outside as their Psycho-Pass are scanned almost everywhere, and even jobs are automatically assigned depending on the individual's aptitude. It is indeed true that the benefits are too good, but it's the bits and pieces of loopholes that the system faces that makes it undesirable as a whole. Firstly, the people who are discriminated from the system. For them, they are living as an outcast, either deemed as a potential criminal by the System and gets locked up before even committing any crime, or that the individual is categorised in a low social level, unable to rise up in the social ladder. The idea of using Psycho-Pass to judge the person's mind is also fully debatable since it's a psychological thing and does not fully express one's actions in doing so. Having one's psycho-pass shooting up due to moments of stress or emotional damage might cause the individual to be detained due to their clouded psycho-pass which is actually perfectly normal for a society, where people find stress and overcoming them, a lesson well learnt. However the Sibyl System denies that and wishes for a perfect society, which attempts to maximise everyone's welfare and happiness, which eliminates the possibility of having stress and other psychological damages. All in all, the Sibyl System has created a near perfect society with it's own perception of what is perfect, and not with all the other secondary effects of human nature taken into account.

Considering that Akane really did shut down the Sibyl System or is able to overcome it, the society will collapse without a doubt. As shown in the previous helmet incident when people began to lose faith in the Sibyl System, everything collapsed. The society, the trust, businesses etc. Everything just fell apart. And Akane knows this would happen as well, and that is why she decided to leave the Sibyl System alone. She knew that shutting it down would only create more problems that cannot be solved within a short frame of time. Her only option of overthrowing the Sibyl System would be to look for an alternative replacement for the Sibyl System, perhaps the old form of governance? And for that replacement to settle down before the Sibyl System gets cut. It doesn't seem quite possible for the System itself to reveal the truth about it to the outside world too as I believe no one would wish to accept the fact that the Sibyl System is actually led by humans who might be previously classified as criminals but can't be judged by the system, or Criminally Asymptomatic for short. It doesn't feel good knowing that a criminal is judging others of being a criminal or not.

Overall, this original series has been great, lots of actions and debatable topics spiralling here and there, creating a world where having and not having the System has it's own advantage and disadvantage. The ending might not be perfect but it's as good as it is. Wonderful series nonetheless.

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