True. That’s all he ever wanted, was for people to live life how they should instead of relying on sibyl to cruise through life since he himself never had that chance. It’s why he valued those who acted on their own will and strayed from the path, and never minded killing people. To him, the world was lifeless and meaningless, and if he could destroy sibyl he could restore society. But he failed, and decided society could no longer be saved, attempting to starve everyone in Japan instead. Even though he ultimately failed, he got his point across
I loved the helmet section too! It reinforced the bystander effect to stay in line with the Sibyl System. Wish there was more Makishima and Akane because their dynamic was a lot more interesting to me. But what I loved about this video in general is the reason why Makishima picked Kogami as his last opponent. How each of the characters throughout the video and the season challenged the dissonance that Makishima felt his entire life. All to feel human in an inhuman world.
Makishima was such a philosophical character. I really feel that he is the greatest anime villain. Honestly he changed the heroes in a better way and his final monologue where he was thinking about how much the society has deterioated and he was bored with such reality felt kinda relatable. I think our future is heading towards it due to AI and other high technologies and how the normal public is exploiting it.
But what psycho pass does not delve into how one pleasure system is superior to another. Imagine a world full of sadists, what would happen ? Even if a modern industrial society could emerge, what if the mightiest always abuses people ? It would put the abused into a state of pain in which they can’t be productive which means less entertainment for our higher faculty, the cognitive aspect of our being. The superior character is not to be found in a vacuum because there is no good character in itself but the good character is to be found with the characters effect on society and the cognitive aspect and societies effect on character and cognition. That’s why I dislike most criminals because they are just worms character wise.
Well edited and voiced video with a good structure, but I have an inherent issue with it that comes from the core of Psycho-Pass itself, which I figure I'll try to get together cohesively here. The fundamental issue of Psycho-Pass is that it's handling of the polis is completely nonsensical when you think about it for more than a second due to Urobuchi's focus on (bad) character writing and complete inability to deal with any higher concepts. This is also a trap you seem to fall into which I'll get into later. I'll dole out all of my issues with it and disseminating your analysis here: I'll start out with tackling Makishima and the particulars of the video then move into broader issues. The core of my issue could be said to be around Makishima and what exactly he brings out not in simply other characters and the Sibyl System but also the implications of the writing as well. He is undoubtedly the "villain" of the story and it goes to extreme lengths to show his brutality and the influence he has on characters, yet also giving him a pedestal ideologically. But by him opposing the sibyl system for completely valid reasons, it is also impossible to deny the validity of his intentions. Kogami, Urobuchi's typical cool, edgy and brooding secondary (actually main) character, an archetype quickly grown weary because I think Urobuchi does it because he thinks its cool, goes out for revenge against him for killing his friend all John Wick-style so the audience immediately is to support him. Kogami's reasons are entirely personal and the grip this arc is supposed to have is based on whether or not you care about this basic revenge plot, and it's Makishima that gives any meaning at all to their dynamic rather than Kogami. Honestly never much to say about Kogami beyond this so I don't even bother. Makishima is clearly supposed to be the Dionysian factor of this undeniably dystopian society that denies exactly that. The arc with the paintings reveals this the most obviously. A painter's passion is suppressed and he is emptied out because his works fell out of what the system decided was societal norm in a similar vein to how Socrates saw Homer's works as repugnant to public good and requiring censorship. As a result, his daughter is inspired by this and by Makishima's touch, as the Bacchus of this story, to then go to an even further extreme for artistic merit. What was once a completely valid and harmless form of expression is smothered by the extreme Apollonian governance and then, in turn, corrupted into decadence. The problem isn't simply that Makishima and the characters he inspires are sadistic killers by physis but in response to a burdening nomos. “Christianity gave Eros poison to drink; he did not die of it, certainly, but degenerated to Vice.” This is exactly where the sympathy for Raskolnikov comes from. Sure, he became a murderer and is very much responsible for that action, but the setting of Saint Petersburg is depicted as a particularly degenerative society, and it is this environment that informed the act of his murder. Now, the theme of that novel can be said to not allow such a rotten state to corrode one's spirit (represented in Sonya's saint-like status despite her destitute position of being forced into prostitution for her family), but this itself isn't particularly applicable to Psycho-Pass because it's tackling an entire system that is the center of the plot, whereas Crime and Punishment's environment is just that, an environment. That's all well and good and if the work actually understood what all this meant then I would've liked the anime. But then, Makishima's arc is relegated to being a personal matter, as the writer tends to fall back on. He is no idealist and while he may want the chaos he strives for, it is entirely because of his personal circumstances of never being incorporated into the system itself. This then debases Makishima and his plight to what is private, not because of a stroke of fair writing, but because to do otherwise would then entreat the writer to prove Makishima's ideologue wrong (which he cant do) and it gives way to things that the writer is unable to tackle (if he did then then he'd be having to hit "unsavory" ideas). Sure, maybe his rebellion was just an emotional outburst, but it is still unable to deal with the fact that this outburst was a completely valid and human response. Look at the Roman Empire and how it's focus on the Apollonian aspects (Pax Romana and Emperors upholding traditions for a better social structure) quickly de-evolved into debauchery and destructive hedonism due to their ignoring and outright suppression of the more Dionysian aspects of the culture(s) they incorporated. Urobuchi is clearly aware of ancient Greek ideas and concepts, at least I assume so, but as a whole he is philosophically incompetent. He name-drops literature and philosophy which only work on a surface level but doesn't involve the ideas that come from such works into the plot, the sower bit you mention being the most he's even been able to achieve, but even this is on the nose and without this reflecting a real power behind the works on Urobuchi's part. It only really shows what I listed in the previous paragraphs but this is just as easily understandable through the episodes where this happens itself. I mean, dogs named Lovecraft and Kafka. How does this relate to the ideas explored in Urobuchi's writing? If they do relate, then how does Urobuchi develop them beyond their origin? He doesn't, they're just names and much like his writing as a whole, provide little more than pretensions to maturity than anything else. This problem accentuates itself most notably in Akane, who is the usual idiotic naive idealist girl Urobuchi also loves to write, and an archetype that doesn't realistically fit in this dystopian setting. Sure, she develops into being less naive, but the fundamentals of her ideology not only do not change but are empowered by the plot. Think about that last scene in season 1 where Akane confronts the true form of the Sibyl System. She doesn't destroy the Sibyl System but says that one day humans will surpass the need for it, that someone will in the future come to turn off the power. But, she also says that, at least for now, the Sibyl System is a necessity. At one point it's stated, in a laughable bit of lore, that Japan is essentially the only functioning society and this is because of the Sibyl System. Does Akane ever actually prove this, do we get a future season where Akane is true to her belief of elite liberal reformism where she is able to move humanity past it, or even show a hint of evidence for it? No, not at all. Why does Urobuchi not write past season 1? Because he has no answer to this. He co-wrote the movie sure, but this only exposes this issue further. In it, the Sibyl System is expanding abroad and Akane is simply a mostly unwavering agent of the Sibyl state The movie simply shows that the Sibyl System has not at all changed but is in fact growing even more powerful and is just as easily susceptible to being corrupted (blaming this on external agents is an excuse) by others just as it is fundamentally corrupted in it's home territory. Then at the end of the movie, we get the SAME dialogue from Akane, talking about how the Sibyl System will be "truly tested" or "re-examined" in the future. Will we ever get this "re-examination?" Of course not. How are we supposed to eat up that Akane is in any way noble or has a point when Urobuchi cannot give a shred of evidence as to why? Are we supposed to gush and believe in Akane's "hope" despite having no reason to, and in doing so, taking up a privileged position over the common citizens who are absolutely and demonstrably being repressed by this unjust state of affairs? Ironically, Psycho-Pass can be used as to exactly WHY this "elite liberal reformist" angle is not only flawed but corrosive to the people it supposedly protects. Urobuchi focuses on the character drama rather than the broader implications of the System itself and what it means on a grand scale, treating politics as something that exists within a vacuum and through this outright ignoring the outside world (this is also why I view 3 as the best psycho-pass season because it actually tries to explore this area, still sucks and suffers from the same conclusions). As a result, everyone analyzes the characters and why they work within a vacuum as well. This is why I think many fans sympathize with Makishima's ideas so much is because they have recognized that he is indisputably right without realizing that this wasn't Urobuchi's intention, he is just good enough at structure to hide away from this fact to most viewers. This isn't all because of separate interpretation, this isn't my ideology speaking itself into the story, this is just what the writing itself established. It'd be like if you wrote 1984 but the writer tried to show Big Brother as "necessary" and it's rebels as particularly villainous and violent. We can't even really debate about the "philosophy" of Psycho-Pass because the story isn't even concluded. We aren't led to become introspective because of the lack of any tangible "answers" but because readers put their interpretations into the material itself to make up for the story quite literally being unfinished due to the writer's own failings. I have a similar issue with Urobuchi's other works along with anime such as Geass and AoT (with it's ending) but that's another discussion entirely. Continuing in reply due to character limit. - FuchsiaFree
Bro, good analysis, but I think you completely misenterpreted Ryoichi Oryo. Did we watch the same anime? Nowhere was it said that Sybil druggged him to death to prevent him going full violent based on this work, HE decided to do that to himself as his agenda completely aligned with it's principles as he didn't see a reason to keep working. Or was it?
personally i think what makishima wanted all along was to raise the soul value of people
True. That’s all he ever wanted, was for people to live life how they should instead of relying on sibyl to cruise through life since he himself never had that chance. It’s why he valued those who acted on their own will and strayed from the path, and never minded killing people. To him, the world was lifeless and meaningless, and if he could destroy sibyl he could restore society. But he failed, and decided society could no longer be saved, attempting to starve everyone in Japan instead. Even though he ultimately failed, he got his point across
Makishima was completely crazy. Just a violent mniac. Kougami on the other hand, was the best character, I could completely relate to him.
I loved the helmet section too! It reinforced the bystander effect to stay in line with the Sibyl System. Wish there was more Makishima and Akane because their dynamic was a lot more interesting to me. But what I loved about this video in general is the reason why Makishima picked Kogami as his last opponent. How each of the characters throughout the video and the season challenged the dissonance that Makishima felt his entire life. All to feel human in an inhuman world.
Really enjoyed this video thanks
Thanks for the effort, great conclusions!
Great Video man
fuck yeah, a video on one of anime's greatest villains. hope this gets more views
Makishima was such a philosophical character. I really feel that he is the greatest anime villain. Honestly he changed the heroes in a better way and his final monologue where he was thinking about how much the society has deterioated and he was bored with such reality felt kinda relatable. I think our future is heading towards it due to AI and other high technologies and how the normal public is exploiting it.
Nice work
Great analysis, thanks 👍
But what psycho pass does not delve into how one pleasure system is superior to another. Imagine a world full of sadists, what would happen ? Even if a modern industrial society could emerge, what if the mightiest always abuses people ? It would put the abused into a state of pain in which they can’t be productive which means less entertainment for our higher faculty, the cognitive aspect of our being. The superior character is not to be found in a vacuum because there is no good character in itself but the good character is to be found with the characters effect on society and the cognitive aspect and societies effect on character and cognition. That’s why I dislike most criminals because they are just worms character wise.
Thanks.
Nice. Congratulations for 200 subscrubers btw!
Shinya killing shogo made the series gone down bad shogo should’ve lived.
one thing i love about makishima that he never wantedv to die actually.......one of the saddest death in anime history
Underrated take 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
Fantsatic video
Bro you sound exaclty like KingK wtf
Well edited and voiced video with a good structure, but I have an inherent issue with it that comes from the core of Psycho-Pass itself, which I figure I'll try to get together cohesively here. The fundamental issue of Psycho-Pass is that it's handling of the polis is completely nonsensical when you think about it for more than a second due to Urobuchi's focus on (bad) character writing and complete inability to deal with any higher concepts. This is also a trap you seem to fall into which I'll get into later. I'll dole out all of my issues with it and disseminating your analysis here:
I'll start out with tackling Makishima and the particulars of the video then move into broader issues. The core of my issue could be said to be around Makishima and what exactly he brings out not in simply other characters and the Sibyl System but also the implications of the writing as well. He is undoubtedly the "villain" of the story and it goes to extreme lengths to show his brutality and the influence he has on characters, yet also giving him a pedestal ideologically. But by him opposing the sibyl system for completely valid reasons, it is also impossible to deny the validity of his intentions. Kogami, Urobuchi's typical cool, edgy and brooding secondary (actually main) character, an archetype quickly grown weary because I think Urobuchi does it because he thinks its cool, goes out for revenge against him for killing his friend all John Wick-style so the audience immediately is to support him. Kogami's reasons are entirely personal and the grip this arc is supposed to have is based on whether or not you care about this basic revenge plot, and it's Makishima that gives any meaning at all to their dynamic rather than Kogami. Honestly never much to say about Kogami beyond this so I don't even bother.
Makishima is clearly supposed to be the Dionysian factor of this undeniably dystopian society that denies exactly that. The arc with the paintings reveals this the most obviously. A painter's passion is suppressed and he is emptied out because his works fell out of what the system decided was societal norm in a similar vein to how Socrates saw Homer's works as repugnant to public good and requiring censorship. As a result, his daughter is inspired by this and by Makishima's touch, as the Bacchus of this story, to then go to an even further extreme for artistic merit. What was once a completely valid and harmless form of expression is smothered by the extreme Apollonian governance and then, in turn, corrupted into decadence. The problem isn't simply that Makishima and the characters he inspires are sadistic killers by physis but in response to a burdening nomos. “Christianity gave Eros poison to drink; he did not die of it, certainly, but degenerated to Vice.”
This is exactly where the sympathy for Raskolnikov comes from. Sure, he became a murderer and is very much responsible for that action, but the setting of Saint Petersburg is depicted as a particularly degenerative society, and it is this environment that informed the act of his murder. Now, the theme of that novel can be said to not allow such a rotten state to corrode one's spirit (represented in Sonya's saint-like status despite her destitute position of being forced into prostitution for her family), but this itself isn't particularly applicable to Psycho-Pass because it's tackling an entire system that is the center of the plot, whereas Crime and Punishment's environment is just that, an environment.
That's all well and good and if the work actually understood what all this meant then I would've liked the anime. But then, Makishima's arc is relegated to being a personal matter, as the writer tends to fall back on. He is no idealist and while he may want the chaos he strives for, it is entirely because of his personal circumstances of never being incorporated into the system itself. This then debases Makishima and his plight to what is private, not because of a stroke of fair writing, but because to do otherwise would then entreat the writer to prove Makishima's ideologue wrong (which he cant do) and it gives way to things that the writer is unable to tackle (if he did then then he'd be having to hit "unsavory" ideas). Sure, maybe his rebellion was just an emotional outburst, but it is still unable to deal with the fact that this outburst was a completely valid and human response. Look at the Roman Empire and how it's focus on the Apollonian aspects (Pax Romana and Emperors upholding traditions for a better social structure) quickly de-evolved into debauchery and destructive hedonism due to their ignoring and outright suppression of the more Dionysian aspects of the culture(s) they incorporated.
Urobuchi is clearly aware of ancient Greek ideas and concepts, at least I assume so, but as a whole he is philosophically incompetent. He name-drops literature and philosophy which only work on a surface level but doesn't involve the ideas that come from such works into the plot, the sower bit you mention being the most he's even been able to achieve, but even this is on the nose and without this reflecting a real power behind the works on Urobuchi's part. It only really shows what I listed in the previous paragraphs but this is just as easily understandable through the episodes where this happens itself. I mean, dogs named Lovecraft and Kafka. How does this relate to the ideas explored in Urobuchi's writing? If they do relate, then how does Urobuchi develop them beyond their origin? He doesn't, they're just names and much like his writing as a whole, provide little more than pretensions to maturity than anything else.
This problem accentuates itself most notably in Akane, who is the usual idiotic naive idealist girl Urobuchi also loves to write, and an archetype that doesn't realistically fit in this dystopian setting. Sure, she develops into being less naive, but the fundamentals of her ideology not only do not change but are empowered by the plot. Think about that last scene in season 1 where Akane confronts the true form of the Sibyl System. She doesn't destroy the Sibyl System but says that one day humans will surpass the need for it, that someone will in the future come to turn off the power. But, she also says that, at least for now, the Sibyl System is a necessity. At one point it's stated, in a laughable bit of lore, that Japan is essentially the only functioning society and this is because of the Sibyl System. Does Akane ever actually prove this, do we get a future season where Akane is true to her belief of elite liberal reformism where she is able to move humanity past it, or even show a hint of evidence for it? No, not at all. Why does Urobuchi not write past season 1? Because he has no answer to this. He co-wrote the movie sure, but this only exposes this issue further. In it, the Sibyl System is expanding abroad and Akane is simply a mostly unwavering agent of the Sibyl state The movie simply shows that the Sibyl System has not at all changed but is in fact growing even more powerful and is just as easily susceptible to being corrupted (blaming this on external agents is an excuse) by others just as it is fundamentally corrupted in it's home territory. Then at the end of the movie, we get the SAME dialogue from Akane, talking about how the Sibyl System will be "truly tested" or "re-examined" in the future. Will we ever get this "re-examination?" Of course not. How are we supposed to eat up that Akane is in any way noble or has a point when Urobuchi cannot give a shred of evidence as to why? Are we supposed to gush and believe in Akane's "hope" despite having no reason to, and in doing so, taking up a privileged position over the common citizens who are absolutely and demonstrably being repressed by this unjust state of affairs? Ironically, Psycho-Pass can be used as to exactly WHY this "elite liberal reformist" angle is not only flawed but corrosive to the people it supposedly protects.
Urobuchi focuses on the character drama rather than the broader implications of the System itself and what it means on a grand scale, treating politics as something that exists within a vacuum and through this outright ignoring the outside world (this is also why I view 3 as the best psycho-pass season because it actually tries to explore this area, still sucks and suffers from the same conclusions). As a result, everyone analyzes the characters and why they work within a vacuum as well. This is why I think many fans sympathize with Makishima's ideas so much is because they have recognized that he is indisputably right without realizing that this wasn't Urobuchi's intention, he is just good enough at structure to hide away from this fact to most viewers. This isn't all because of separate interpretation, this isn't my ideology speaking itself into the story, this is just what the writing itself established. It'd be like if you wrote 1984 but the writer tried to show Big Brother as "necessary" and it's rebels as particularly villainous and violent. We can't even really debate about the "philosophy" of Psycho-Pass because the story isn't even concluded. We aren't led to become introspective because of the lack of any tangible "answers" but because readers put their interpretations into the material itself to make up for the story quite literally being unfinished due to the writer's own failings. I have a similar issue with Urobuchi's other works along with anime such as Geass and AoT (with it's ending) but that's another discussion entirely.
Continuing in reply due to character limit.
- FuchsiaFree
Bro, good analysis, but I think you completely misenterpreted Ryoichi Oryo. Did we watch the same anime? Nowhere was it said that Sybil druggged him to death to prevent him going full violent based on this work, HE decided to do that to himself as his agenda completely aligned with it's principles as he didn't see a reason to keep working. Or was it?
Yep, you're right.