PSYCHO-PASS - 09

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PSYCHO-PASS just refuses to not be the most interesting anime this season.

As each week goes by, I wonder how will PSYCHO-PASS top the previous episode. I'm not 100% sure if each episode is better than the last, but at the very least they are all A+ calibre. This episode is no exception with its great character development and thought-provoking ideas.

One thing you should know by now: this anime won't rest until your questioning anything and everything morally ambiguous. This time we're made to think about an issue that's not so far away and was actually talked about back in 2005. I'm of course talking about brain uploading, also known as immortality.

Leave it to PSYCHO-PASS to pick one of the most conflicting ideas for its story. One hand we have the idea of souls and conscience and on the other hand we have theory that proposes potential immortality. Much like the reporter stated, anything like this is either hit or miss with the public. This doesn't have to be a moral or logical issue, it can even be a 'Je ne sais quoi' that stops us from jumping with two feet.

Aside from an internal debate this topic has created for me, it's perfect for our new villain by the name of Senguji Toyohisa. There's a certain 'technology is flawed' vibe that contributes to the story, but it's the dark side of technology that we all know about that really drives it home. His involvement in the story with Makishima reminds me of Hostel which also fits dark tone so well.

No PSYCHO-PASS episode wouldn't be complete without some intuition to counter the logic. Enter Saiga Jouji, a criminal psychologist from the days of yesteryear. He wastes no time by cold reading the hell out Akane and thus establishing his worth, that incidentally the Sybil system ruled unnecessary. Whether you know it or not, many police detectives are basic psychologists. They have to judge on a by second basis if one is a murderer or not, and Saiga is representing them rather well.

An interesting point that Kougami made about the psychology of it all, was suitability of people to jobs. Just by sitting through lectures, many cloud their psycho-pass simply because they aren't suited for the job. As Kougami also points out, Akane is very strong mentally and she can probably handle it. I believed those words as soon as she reamed Ginoza out!

One of the great moments of this episode was seeing Akane stand up and take no shit. Initially she came of moe - what I interpreted as beeing a rookie - and now she's developed some character. Now instead of being the annoying girl in the background, she can really play a more active role without getting in anyone's way. This moment also served Ginoza very well. An obvious way to tell us his story and an even more obvious background story, but obvious isn't a bad thing.

Ginoza is the uptight one, and has his reasons. As Masaoka told Akane, his life has not been easy and that has led to him being cautious. I really sympathised with Ginoza, though a part of that was me wondering if Masaoka is his father. Either way, I actually like him more now.

PSYCHO-PASS is the best anime this season. No argument.