Quote:
Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf
I think we have to remember that, as viewers, we are witnessing episodes where the system is being pushed to its limits. We're seeing the people who have fallen through the cracks. Because we're shown scenes of the system at its worst, we as viewers become, in effect, biased observers. We've come to view the Sibyl System as something hopelessly broken.
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But doesn't this beg the question of
why are we witnessing episodes where the system is being pushed to its limits? Why is this what the author has
chosen to focus on? Why not focus on episodes where the Sibyl System comes off looking better, where the criminals caught are largely unsympathetic figures where the viewers would be comfortable in seeing them brought to justice?
In the first episode, we see a rape victim get further victimized by the system. In this third episode, we see the victim of extreme bullying, who has basically snapped for that reason. And he too was thoroughly victimized by the system.
The murderer in this episode isn't the problem, he's merely a
symptom of it.
The problem is the occupational system itself, in which you have all of these people who are working here (likely because the Sibyl System gave them no other options, or only this option and even worse ones), and they're cut off from any conventional method of entertaining themselves, so they turn to bullying for amusement. The system itself created these powderkeg conditions, and so the system itself has created this problem.
Honestly, I don't know how Gen could possibly make this system look any worse than what he has, short of having it be
cartoonishly dystopian (I'm thinking of the last few episodes of
No. 6 here). Putting aside the obvious, let's look at the subtler condemnations of it.
We have the opening scene where Mr. Cool Dude Shinya gets a minute or two of looking impeccably cool and manly. We're
clearly meant to like this guy. And this same guy makes an unambiguously critical remark about the Sibyl System (and it was delivered so perfectly too!).
Meanwhile, I don't think we're meant to like Ginoza. I think he's meant to come across as something of an uncaring control freak. And guess who's the primary defender of the Sibyl System in our main cast?
Then there's Akane. Akane might not be questioning the Sibyl System
yet, but she sure as heck is questioning a lot of the outcomes of it. A few more episodes like the last three, and Akane may well start questioning and doubting the system itself.
Again, I think Gen is tipping his hat in a big way here. He's restraining the crime-fighting scenarios
just enough to keep them somewhat plausible and realistic, but there's no question in my mind that we're meant to be disturbed by what we're seeing. I mean, "rape victim" and "bully victim" are two of the oldest and most powerful "shock and disturb the audience" tricks in the book. And Gen has already used them both in only three episodes!
At a meta-level, the direction this anime is taking towards the Sibyl System couldn't be more clear.
Now, I don't necessarily think we're supposed to see it as
entirely bad. But the narrative is clearly aiming towards the system being, at least, in severe need of serious reform.