Excellent and fascinating episode. Probably my favorite Psycho-Pass episode so far.
I agree with Guardian Enzo on the creativity shown for the virtual world avatars. That was very well-done, and offers up a lot of possibly telling symbolism. For example, Ginoza's avatar being an American coin is an interesting and puzzling choice on his part.
What I'm going to do now is reflect a bit on the spicy, little details that Episode 4 gives us about the world of Psycho-Pass:
1) Talisman appears to be a much more colorful and futuristic version of advice columnist
Ann Landers. And he must have been a very popular one at that given the audience he enjoyed in this episode, and the fact he was living in considerable comfort, due in no small part to earnings he made as Talisman.
But more pertinent is how many people in this world (even including government agents, like Police Inspector Akane!) feel the need to turn to anonymous advice-givers for the problems in their life. In a world where psychiatric health clearly counts for a helluva lot, it is pretty eyebrow-raising how there are barely any mental health professionals to be seen.
I wonder what that might say about the state of the mental health profession in the world of Psycho-Pass. Is the "therapy" offered in this world entirely automated and/or AI-driven? Are human psychiatrists considered obsolete? Or did Sibyl (and/or humans) determine that such a profession was too mentally dangerous for any human to enter into since it would put one at a severe, continuous risk of "contamination"? Or maybe they're just having a hard time finding people willing to risk that contamination, hence a shortage of mental health professionals.
Other viewers here have astutely commented on how the police force here seems a bit understaffed. Is that similarly because people tend to shy away from police and police-related professions because it would put you in contact with a lot of "contaminated" criminals? I can't help but wonder if one or more of these Enforcers are like that. Was Masaoka once an Inspector himself, who snapped one day, hence downgrading himself to an Enforcer? There's a certain calmness, confidence, and coolness to Masaoka that makes him really stand out amongst the other Enforcers, imo. And the way he dresses even has this "professional Inspector/Detective" feel to it.
Anyway, just throwing out a lot of questions here for consideration. It went a bit longer than I anticipated.
2) One new pro and one new con (although, both are debatable) arises about this world...
Pro: Extremely low unemployment rate. Akane was shocked at the very thought that a man in his 30s could be unemployed "in this day and age". Now, while Akane often comes across as having led a sheltered life until her current employment, it's notable here that nobody contradicted her over her statement. In other words, her statement was probably a largely accurate assessment of the world of Psycho-Pass - Whatever the unemployment rate is, it's extremely low. It may be as low as 1% or even lower.
Given how high unemployment is a problem currently vexing countries everywhere from America to Canada to much of Europe, I have a very hard time seeing exceptionally low unemployment as a negative. So I'm listing this as a pro, and I even wonder if part of this society's appeal to its own people is how it keeps people employed. I'm not sure what year Psycho-Pass is taking place in, but if it's not
too far in the future, I imagine older generations in Psycho-Pass probably find this contrast comforting - "Given what the world was like when I was growing up, it's good to see a world where nobody has a hard time finding work".
Con: Strict surveillance society. "When a person goes out of their apartment, there's a record left in the street scanners" - Ginoza. Not the most comforting thought to me. In fairness, though, much of society is moving steadily and strongly in this direction (some schools having metal detectors on their doors, surveillance cameras all over the place in cities, etc...).
I'll admit that this is a bit of a subjective con, and others might not mind it so much. In any event, it does give us one reason why a certain someone may be a 1984 fan.
A couple more random notes:
- A lot of the criminals/victims so far have been single middle-aged men. The demographic is frequent enough that I begin to wonder if there's something to it.
- In fact, one thing that really stands out for me so far is the general lack of kids and teenagers in this show. What we're seeing is very much the adult world, and little else. That's quite different for anime.
Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now. Hope somebody found this an interesting read, at least.
