PSYCHO-PASS - 22 (END) + Series Review
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22 weeks later, PSYCHO-PASS ends its run. A sad moment that met all expectations and even pulled off a few surprises.
Logically thinking about it, there wasn't much that PSYCHO-PASS could do to be considered surprising. The penultimate episode set us up for a predictable yet enjoyable episode, to bring the philosophizing crime thriller to an end. In honour of said philosophizing, there was barely a moment when Makishima wasn't in monologue, leaving Kougami to bide his time.
The capture of Makishima was certainly entertaining. We got to see Akane continue her streak as a badass and at the same time a poetic departure for the criminal we've loved to hate and at times envy. It's only right that Makishima's death ended up being as depressingly artistic as one would have imagined, as if a man accepting his death with open arms just because of the respect he has for his pursuer. Called destiny or call it bizarre friendship, in the end justice was served and Makishima accepted his loss with no qualms.
Of course the big surprise here is that neither Akane nor Kougami died in the process of apprehending Makishima. One would have thought the "Urobutcher" would be killing off one more character right before the end, just because. To me this was a nice surprise, as it shows the even the infamous Urobuchi Gen is capable of tweaking his style for certain genres like he did for PSYCHO-PASS. Given how much the series resembles a western police drama, it felt right to end things the way he did; gratifying and familiar.
After Akane's tears were shed it was time to resolve all other matters and questions. Before we got to the two month time-skip, we sat through another dialogue-centric scene courtesy of Akane vs Sybil system. This was never going to be resolved, simply because it would take more time - another season's worth - to really do that part of the story justice. If PSYCHO-PASS had attempted to conclude this part of the story also, I suspect there would many feelings of dissatisfaction.
What we didn't see resolved with the Sybil system, we saw with some of the finer details. Ginoza's decent into the Enforcer profession was made official, followed by the confirmation of Shion x Yayoi relationship we saw for a split second in the first few episodes. Ginoza's part of the story makes a lot of sense and wasn't unexpected in the least, carrying the same western police drama feel the rest of the episode had. Aside from this, I'm surprised they covered the reason for him getting rid of his glasses!
And what about that ending? I couldn't help but smile. Yet again, PSYCHO-PASS' way of reminding us what type of series it was. The round circle ending brought back a familiar face and gave Akane one last moment to be the cool new badass detective she is. Not a powerful ending, nevertheless and entertaining and enjoyable way to bring an end to the series.
PSYCHO-PASS SERIES (Mini) Review
When it first started, PSYCHO-PASS was the most interesting series. As the weeks went by it continued to improve, but eventually it plateaued. A high plateau, but it didn't surpass itself any more.
It was in those post-plateau episodes that my view on the series changed. I ended up seeing it as a pretentious, literature quoting anime which was the product of Urobuchi-sensei writing some self-fulfilling masturbatory Equilibrium fan fiction. Still, I don't hate it. In the same way Tarantino's self-gratifying works are great to watch, so was PSYCHO-PASS.
As a whole the series didn't really have a bad episode. There were times when it wasn't anything special and those times were counterbalanced by some of the great dramatic episodes we had in between. At times it did feel a little inaccessible, but those times didn't last long and it soon went back to being as entertaining and gripping as usual.
PSYCHO-PASS Season 2?
No doubt some of you want this, however I'm not sold on the idea. After 22 episodes, I don't really want any more. This may change in a few months, but for now I'm not left wanting. Also I fear that the story could get boring if it were to get a second season.