After doubling down on its trash-pump aesthetic, PSYCHO-PASS turns in a nearly perfect episode. What They Say
Although Kogami is taken off the current murder case, he continues to investigate the case on his own. When he and Akane realize that the killer is within Oso Academy, the school the victims went to, they rush to school to capture the killer.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
PSYCHO-PASS has finally found its voice and become what it’s wanted to be all along, and joy of joys, it’s something I really enjoy. From the first moments of the episode showing the campus of the girl’s academy caught in a rainstorm, the atmosphere takes over and carries you along for the ride.
Police robots have taken over the school and are searching for clues ever since the second victim was found. Mr. Makishima, the mysterious middle-man who seems to be enabling all of the crimes throughout the city, wonders if Oryo is being cautious at all in the execution of her crimes. He questions her philosophy. She defends herself by saying that these girls, raised in such a sheltered atmosphere, will just go on to become dull wives for wealthy men. She is merely giving them an opportunity to make something interesting of themselves.
Akane, still not a very good investigator, is convinced that it’s the original specimen killer, Touma, is behind the attacks this time. Perfect detective Kogami, however, thinks it’s a new killer. Touma, or whoever the original specimen killer was, had a wicked sense of humor, Kogami explains. A politician whose testimony was filled with admissions of having a bad memory had his murdered body mutilated so that part of his brain was shoved up his rear end, for example (a line of bad taste that once crossed makes it impossible to return. The third coming of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex this is decidedly not). This new killer’s work lacks “originality”.
So in a scene straight out of Silence of the Lambs, Kogami and Akane head down to a prison, during a thunderstorm, to go talked with a creepy tattooed freak who just has to be a serial killer. He identifies the killer’s style as aping the art of Rouichi Oryo, the killer’s father. From there, it’s not hard to track down the true suspect.
Kogami just marches into the school, pulls out his Dominator at Oryo, and from that point on, her death is inevitable. It’s the kind of stylish cruelty we’ve been promised from Gen Urobuchi all along, and it’s finally in full flower.
There are some other great moments as well. Seeing the cops in moe-holo-cop form is always hilarious, and the lone female enforcer (whose name I have forgotten from lack of use) has a touching scene with the friend of one of the victims. It may even hint at her past, some much overdue development for a tragically under-utilized character.
The only thing that keeps the episode from reaching perfection are the robot dogs at the end. Perhaps they’re a reference to The Most Dangerous Game or Fahrenheit 451, as I have heard alleged, but there’s only so much schlock I can take at once. It makes everything feel just a little silly, when previously the goofiness still had some raw dramatic power. Still, PSYCHO-PASS is turning out to be one of the best shows of the season.
In Summary
After a lukewarm beginning, PSYCHO-PASS is really coming into its own with its perverse and twisted sensibilities. Character development is still its weakest area, with Kogami coming out as a kind of super-perfect main character whose only flaw is that he’s too dedicated to his job. Akane still feels uncertain, and other characters are still ciphers. Still, the show combines some sick style with some nicely hefty sci-fi concepts. I want more like this.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Funimation
Review Equipment:
Sony VAIO 17″ HD screen
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