Psycho-Pass - Episode 13

After last week's aside, we return to the real business of Psycho-Pass this time around as our thoughts return directly to Shougo Makishima and the case within which he is now beyond a prime suspect.

However, Akane's experience when confronting Makishima is giving her boss Ginoza some serious headaches, with the powers that be concerned at her story of the Dominator not working even when confronted with a blatant criminal.  It seems that this isn't a surprise to them however - in fact, it's a known issue with the Sibyl system that last manifested itself in none other than the main suspect in the so-called Specimin Case; a case with which Makishima was also believed to be involved.  Of course, those same higher-ups ensured that the culprit in those cases disappeared so as not to upset the trust of the public in the system that governs their lives, and it seems that they are willing to tread a similar path with Makishima - an idea which looks likely to built on top of other stresses for Ginoza as he struggles to control the hue of his Psycho-Pass.

One person who seems to have no such problems is Akane, who is willing to take a potentially risky measure to further the hunt for Shougo, allowing her memories to be delved into to grab a definitive "photofit" picture of him.  The downside of this is that Akane has to relieve the entire experience of seeing her friend die at Makishima's hands into the bargain - a harrowing experience which she nonetheless manages to bear with little more than some short-term upset.  The net is closing in on our killer, but surely the investigation and capture of the culprit is going to be anything but simple...

In spite of a rather weird revelation (I suppose it isn't that tricky to imagine Masaoka as Ginoza's father, but it feels at odds with the series prior to this point) this was a slow but nonetheless interesting episode of Psycho-Pass, that gave us a good feel for the strength of Akane's psyche beyond mere lip service while also further exploring the Sibyl system, its deficiencies and the barriers put up to "protect" the public from the truth about it.  None of this is the kind of thing to shock and surprise the viewer - it's all par for the course in our typical dystopian future - but given Psycho-Pass' interesting concept exploring it further in this way is absolutely fine by me, especially when the actual detective and investigation angle of the series is also pretty strong in its own right.