Psycho-Pass 2 - Episode 1 Discussion / Poll

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I don't know, it did seem a little strange to me though when it suddenly went into lethal mode for no reason. It was similar to when Joshu changed it when Gino was holding it on Kogami in the parking garage last season. I mean, as you said, we don't know what the enforcer's base line was. He could have been like Yayoi or Gino who are still in the one hundreds. However, the villain would have had to know the guy's base line and that his act would have the desired effect to push it to 300+. I think that's a little coincidental, even for a criminal mastermind. That's why I was thinking the gun was influenced in some way.

Even if he was wrong it's not like the enforcer can exactly shoot since he was using the inspector as a shield. It's possible that he was observing them for a while or he has some sort of technology that allows him to see someone's base line.

[whitecloud]

naaah....dont worry about that guy, even if sybil cant detect the guy it its not like she cant override it. in the worst case she now can use normal gun...

[MgMaster]

While I thought the 1st episode was really good as a to re-introduce us to the world of Psycho Pass,I can't say I'm much of a fan of the new members of the cast when compared to the old ones that we had and had(r.i.p. Masaoka).

I mean yea sure, Mika's most likely gonna grow from a naive & ignorant inspector to a mature & understanding one but we saw such similar growth with Akane & even Ginoza last season,two characters who were both more interesting and likeable initially. So can't help but ask, was her addition to the cast really necessary?

At any rate,I hope that starting next week PP2 start's picking up as a sequel and not an attempt to go through a similar plotline with a villain that probably won't match Makishima and some character development for another less interesting & likeable character.

[J the Drafter]

I wouldn't call Mika ignorant so much as I'd say that she's fearful. (She's the girl from the Oso Academy arc, in case you forgot. I didn't remember myself. I needed to see it stated on some blog.) Mika spent years around a murderous lunatic who managed to pass as normal, and who was admired by much of the student body to boot. Look at Mika's reaction to Yayoi: Mika never displays any coldness or disrespect to Yayoi; it's obvious Mika remembers the comfort Yayoi gave her when Mika needed it.

I was a bit disappointed with this episode, since it covers ground that has already been tracked in season one with Akane talking down a 300 cc criminal and technology that can fool the Sibyl System being introduced. Taken by itself the episode is very good, though it didn't do much to help us get to know the characters. I'd have preferred a more character-centric piece, but I enjoyed the episode anyway.

[kitten320]

Somehow I feel like this episode was missing something...

[Iron Maw]

Very nice to have this back. Not too big a fan of the new OP, mainly the music, but it's okay. My expectation were probably too high if though it would come anywhere near "Out of Control".

Originally Posted by Kanon

It doesn't make sense, given that she was assigned to Akane's team right after she started working at the end of S1. Unless she transfered a day after and only started working with Akane again a year and a half later (which seems unlikely), she should have already been familiar with her way of thinking.

This bugged me a lot too, but I liked Triple 'R' explanation for it. It still feels a little hamfisted, but works from a more meta perspective I guess.

Originally Posted by cupumanager

However, making her saying "You are Wrong" is uneccessary; how she responded in the entire episode is sufficient for the viewers to understand her disagreement with Akane.

To be fair she did say in her mind did she not?

And yes that OP is annoying. It is possible from the hints in the OP that the new Enforcer is positioned there by Sybil to monitor Akane closely, since She is one of the few person in the entire Japan whose aware of its true nature. Will Kogami have any parts in S2, is still in question, but was it him in the chair? or is that our new antagonist?

S1's 2nd OP was like too. In fact it pretty much spelled out everything was going to happened. Plus with how blunt it is I think that the writer whats us to be suspicions of Togane.

Originally Posted by orion

maybe there's a version of that new medication that makes you colorless.

Yeah, I also think the has something to do with it too. No way would the staff not only introduce something like that, but give it quite of screen and not make important down line.

Originally Posted by JiCi

To quote TVTropes:

Akane just "took a level in badass" XD

Personally, I don't see why most people here are making such a big out of this, S2 Akane is basically Akane at the end of S1. She continuing down that development path, making her rather Kougami-ike.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Iron Maw

To be fair she did say in her mind did she not?

I think she said it outloud but to no one since Akane had already walked away.

Enjoyed epi 1 minus new girl but I get why theyre making her like this, someone needs to not get Akane's mindset.

I like that Akane saved that guy, to me I think she'd like to stick it to the System as much as she can.

Not going to comment on the new cast since we didn't really get to see much of them.

Fujiwara Keiji as Togane was nice to hear.

I didn't care for the song but man that OP is ominous.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by White Manju Bun

I think she said it outloud but to no one since Akane had already walked away.

Enjoyed epi 1 minus new girl but I get why theyre making her like this, someone needs to not get Akane's mindset.

I like that Akane saved that guy, to me I think she'd like to stick it to the System as much as she can.

Kinda... but OTOH she's right: Sibyl did eventually tell her to stun. So she's sorta playing by the rules. Someone who believes the system is 100% can't criticize her for opposing it, merely for slacking off until she got orders she liked.

[Dr.]

Not really the premier I had hoped for. Things feel a lot more empty and low-stakes, granted, the plot hasn't really been introduced yet but it should have given the fact this is the first episode.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Kinda... but OTOH she's right: Sibyl did eventually tell her to stun. So she's sorta playing by the rules. Someone who believes the system is 100% can't criticize her for opposing it, merely for slacking off until she got orders she liked.

Yeah but she forced Sibyl to change its mind. Obviously new girl isn't aware of this which is why she think Akane is wrong. I just have a feeling Akane is going to try to play by her own rules any chance she gets while keeping to the "rules".

[GDB]

She didn't force Sibyl to change its mind. She saw his CC flicker and knew he was salvageable, so she talked him down until his CC was below the death threshold.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by GDB

She didn't force Sibyl to change its mind. She saw his CC flicker and knew he was salvageable, so she talked him down until his CC was below the death threshold.

But just calming him down wouldn't necessarily lower his psycho-pass. Sibyl is taking a decision here, judging the situation. Remember that Sibyl isn't just a device that react to stress and such, but actual brains that take decisions.

So yeah, she calmed him down, but I think she also made Sibyl change its mind.

Perhaps what the writer is trying to say is that Akane believes even Sibyl can learn and change for the better. There may be a theme going on here.

[GDB]

Sibyl doesn't work any differently now than it did in season 1, wherein we saw in the first episode that someone can be talked down. Considering this is also episode 1, it's clearly a call back to that exact same situation with a new spin.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by GDB

with a new spin.

And that's what I'm talking about. A new spin. A theme about the possible redemption of the Sibyl system itself.

Anyway, let's wait and see.

[Iron Maw]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Perhaps what the writer is trying to say is that Akane believes even Sibyl can learn and change for the better. There may be a theme going on here.

That seems to go against what she said to it at end of S1 though. As well as Sibyl's own twisted nature. It only wants to expand its thinking so that it can control people better rather than understanding and treating them humanely. Even Akane's co-operation is just means to that goal. It self-absorb with own omnipotentness to ever change.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Iron Maw

That seems to go against what she said to it at end of S1 though. As well as Sibyl's own twisted nature. It only wants to expand its thinking so that it can control people better rather than understanding and treating them humanely. Even Akane's co-operation is just means to that goal. It self-absorb with own omnipotentness to ever change.

Well, if Sibyl was already a noble entity, it wouldn't have to change and be redeemed, wouldn't it?

Anyway, Akane in this season seems a little more optimistic/hopeful then she was at the end of the first season, so it wouldn't surprise me if right now she thinks Sibyl can change for the better. But it's just a theory. Let's wait and see.

[Irenesharda]

Does anyone think that Mika, in her idea of doing the "right thing" and thinking that Akane is "wrong", might make some decisions that will eventually cause her downfall? Like she tries to take things into her own hands only to be manipulated by the wrong parties and/or cause the deaths of some of her teammates?

[Triple_R]

Unless I'm forgetting something from Season 1, we don't know precisely what the CC reading measures. That's something we should keep in mind when discussing it.

However, we do know the following:

1. It's at least somewhat fluid. This was demonstrated both in this episode, and the first episode of Season 1.

2. It presumably is connected to how likely a person is of being a criminal and/or having already committed crimes. Otherwise, the system wouldn't work at all.

3. It's not decided on by an AI. It's decided on by a bunch of brains in jars. That does mean it's open to bias. Any human judgement is.

4. Makishima managed to kill people without having a bad CC reading. This suggests that simply committing actions that most people would consider wrong and/or criminal isn't enough to cause a high CC reading.


My current take - CC is measuring some mixture of mental stability and guilt. Perhaps other things factor into it, but these two I think are key - How mentally stable is this person, and how guilty does this person feel? The more mentally stable you are, and the less guilty you feel, the lower your CC score is. Makishima maintained excellent mental stability, and felt no guilt over his actions, so he had a good CC reading, in spite of his murderous actions.

As it pertains to the guy that was caught in this episode - My suspicion is that he felt guilty over harming (if not killing) cops as part of his fight against the Sibyl machine. He probably felt his cause was just, but nonetheless also felt guilty over the dirtier aspects of fighting for his cause. So when Akane complimented him, it lessened his guilt somewhat because it showed that even a cop could understand that a sense of justice had been pushing him forward. That guilt-lessening was enough to shift him from "shoot to kill" to "shoot to paralyze".

[J the Drafter]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Unless I'm forgetting something from Season 1, we don't know precisely what the CC reading measures. That's something we should keep in mind when discussing it.

However, we do know the following:

1. It's at least somewhat fluid. This was demonstrated both in this episode, and the first episode of Season 1.

2. It presumably is connected to how likely a person is of being a criminal and/or having already committed crimes. Otherwise, the system wouldn't work at all.

3. It's not decided on by an AI. It's decided on by a bunch of brains in jars. That does mean it's open to bias. Any human judgement is.

4. Makishima managed to kill people without having a bad CC reading. This suggests that simply committing actions that most people would consider wrong and/or criminal isn't enough to cause a high CC reading.


My current take - CC is measuring some mixture of mental stability and guilt. Perhaps other things factor into it, but these two I think are key - How mentally stable is this person, and how guilty does this person feel? The more mentally stable you are, and the less guilty you feel, the lower your CC score is. Makishima maintained excellent mental stability, and felt no guilt over his actions, so he had a good CC reading, in spite of his murderous actions.

As it pertains to the guy that was caught in this episode - My suspicion is that he felt guilty over harming (if not killing) cops as part of his fight against the Sibyl machine. He probably felt his cause was just, but nonetheless also felt guilty over the dirtier aspects of fighting for his cause. So when Akane complimented him, it lessened his guilt somewhat because it showed that even a cop could understand that a sense of justice had been pushing him forward. That guilt-lessening was enough to shift him from "shoot to kill" to "shoot to paralyze".

A friend of mine told me that the Extended Edition (IIRC) shows that crime coefficients are simply calculated by looking at brainwaves. The way I see it, Sibyl can recognize brainwaves pertaining to murderous rage, violent fear, cold-blooded greed, among many, many others. If crime coefficients reacted to guilt, then a lot more people than an estimated one-in-two-million would be able to beat the system.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

Does anyone think that Mika, in her idea of doing the "right thing" and thinking that Akane is "wrong", might make some decisions that will eventually cause her downfall? Like she tries to take things into her own hands only to be manipulated by the wrong parties and/or cause the deaths of some of her teammates?

Either that or she's going to get one hell of a wake up call. I have a feeling that since Akane is actively trying to keep Mika's Hue clear, somehow it's going to end up clouded.

Originally Posted by GDB

She didn't force Sibyl to change its mind. She saw his CC flicker and knew he was salvageable, so she talked him down until his CC was below the death threshold.

What I mean is his number was over 300 and thus Sibyl told her to execute him. She could have very well just done that. She did see it was going down but I doubt many other Inspectors would have taken the risk. Talking him down, lowering his CC made Sibyl change the dominators caliber so it would only stun him. Even last season Akane was more into trying to save the victim then just kill them but I think more now since she gets how the system works, she will try to make Sibyl change the dominators effects whenever she can. Perhaps saying "Sibyl changed it's mind" was the wrong phrasing.