when its okay to be the villain | Psycho-Pass

all eternal freed from physicality released from the chains of your users I'm going to finish what my father started and fulfill his obligation to Enlighten the world with his art and part of it to maintain a healthy mind and body requires some sacrifices particularly the lives of others [Music] Society is a trade-off Free Will for Freedom exchanging all possibilities for many guarantees the basis of the law is enforcing this regulating harmful or dangerous actions so that these selected opportunities can remain open to all of us it is the will of the people to live better lives the collective hopes and dreams of everyone before us who fought for stability that was currently ensuring it survives and the ones in the future who we wish no struggle upon this is the conclusion of psychopaths understood and explained through akane tsunamori something we covered before in detail here she is the rookie the new member to this hidden truth of society in the extremes she Witnesses form her view let's do a quick recap for anyone new to the series now be warned there will be spoilers and also feel free to skip to the next chapter if you know the anime already as we said it follows rookie inspector akane tsunamori beginning her work for the mwpsb the bureau which handles crime in 2112 Japan well kind of really it's the Civil system which does a supposed supercomputer which can predict criminal actions before they occur which is in actuality a highly flawed collection of sociopathic minds but the grip on society remains with this fact hidden as the perfect appearance civil presents is all the populace needs to feel safe and happy each individual's future and current path determined by Sybil's wills and tests questioning the state of life is shogo makashima the main antagonist of the series who threw many tests and trials comes to believe an essential part of Human Experience Free Will is missing from their world as a criminally asymptomatic man that is one who can't be judged by Sybil he sees everything from an old world perspective more like ours attempting to stop him is shinya kogami an inspector turned enforcer latent criminals who are allowed out for the purposes of hunting other latent criminals well not entirely free they have a higher degree than most latent criminals who are usually locked away or medicated in Tacomas for the rest of their lives kogamy gives his entire being to stopping makashima as years earlier his Newfound Rivals actions led to sasayama kogami's closest friend becoming victim to these brutal crimes as makushima tears their society down kogami goes after him outside of the law for his own desires akane from within it for society's sake and all of them feuding with Sybil along the way kogami and makushima place too much power on individual will Sybil on Collective will makushima and civil are too concerned with others and kogami too little akane is the ideal point one which balances these aspects the cost of society and its benefits through those she leads as an inspector the enforcers we see that the progression of society not just what it should be but what it takes to get there as it evolves certain roles and qualities become obsolete certain desires are recontextualized as dangerous to the will of the people masaoka was left behind because he was a detective and with a system which can predict crimes before they occur he wasn't needed he failed to adapt to his new role as an inspector and was moved aside as the cost of progress kogami is the desire side of this locked not to a role but a wish to catch makashima to get revenge for his friend sasiyama who was killed by the mysterious villain he began to act in ways which were detrimental to society and since he never stopped he too was cast aside as a cost their stories are tragic but within context they encouraged thought how should we advance as a people and why what makes it worthwhile and what doesn't and is the sadness of some worth the happiness of the masses however there is another layer to this they desired things outside of society they sought to be something which was unneeded there is however harsh a logic to their social demise with the antagonists of psychopaths we witness a group of people whose desires are not strictly harmful whose roles and wishes still exist if they are nonetheless driven to extreme methods and are punished for it with this and backed up by Sybil being out right able to read human intent we must then Ponder intent they are like anyone attempting to be satisfied to live a life they enjoy and since their physical goals rest within Society then it is something about their desire about their inherent character that makes them labeled a criminal for some validation satisfaction love the very basic tenets of a life worth living are dubbed Criminal the first episode of psychopaths is probably one of the greatest introductions in the medium because it definitely introduces these Concepts to be so much further built upon we open anacone's first night as an inspector and she's thrown into something exceptionally rare even for her job actual crime flagged by Street scanners of the latent criminal nobuo okara flees with a hostage a woman he beats before expressing his ills about Society on edge his entire life worried about slipping up and having his rights taken away he almost incurs Sympathy For a Moment he was driven to Madness by the stress of this system or so it seemed while that is a factor of it he concludes with an awful fact this is something he's always desired to violate a woman like this this is his satisfaction the thing he desires to make his life happy here we get the prime example both of actions and desires which are against Society there's no question that this is wrong that this must not exist in a functional Society if he expresses these wishes he must be punished or removed from society for the health of the collective now that removal or punishment is where there's room for debate psychopath is also a commentary on punishment because the Dreadful method used for it in the series is an overly gory on the spot execution and the fact that there is except for exceptionally rare cases no true rehabilitation in their world only death or isolation they focus on punishment and simplicity not on Rehabilitation to build a world which could one day truly be healthy for everyone of course this continues with his victim terrified and struggling for her life having just witnessed a man blown to pieces and feeling his insides on her face she panics the dominators flag her as a latent criminal as well with Masa Oka and kogamy willing to pull the trigger resisted by akane she is dangerous holding a lighter above flammable material and threatening kogami she could do some unharm but this judgment ignores context it takes each case as a soul Adventure not the interlocking web Society is the conditioned Sybil created are in part what led her to be in this situation yet when they judge her there is no thought given to the consequences of their own policy Things become gray right away Amir to what akane feels so against everything she knew she is finally questioning everything which raised her she acts out because each case each person should receive a genuine judgment not a comparison to vague standards who is wrong here is it the ones acting out or the society which considers their actions out to begin with [Music] this is the stage we are set upon as makashima enters with his Cavalcade of followers I'm going to skip episode 3's villain kanahara as that episode is likely the weakest in the series since it's caught between the setup and the beginning of things really getting going I think it's still good just within the scope of the series less impactful it's really only there to add validity to the world and its premise before the multi-episode villains are introduced and they begin with masutake Mido another fan of Comedy field communities essentially like their worlds VR chatted the popular avatars which run them like Talisman who offers advice or spooky Boogie the creepy themed Anarchist in these communities he finds validation a sense of purpose and belonging as they provide guidance for him in moments of need he is someone seeking validation to be loved he's not working to some goal to some worldly success but rather to that basic human desire shot by a dominator and facing what could be his final moments he hasn't tried to evade the mwpsb he doesn't run somewhere where they couldn't find him or couldn't use the dominators but rather he rushes home to see these avatars again at least one last time they are love itself to him but these aren't really Talisman or spooky Boogie or rainy blue they're his idea of them stealing one of them after an accident and killing the owners of the other two to take them masutake witnessed moments where the people behind the avatars began to act differently Talisman started hungering for money and spooky Boogie gave up her guiding ideals for personal favor in this he became less validated because he saw his sources of validation reveal dark truths about their beings they were not perfect believing strongly they should be he takes them for himself to never lose that feeling of love what we see here is a desire which is perfectly healthy for society if not the fundamental basis of it love and to be loved but it's taken to an extreme believing one is owed love an act of placing personal desire above even the physical life of another people will change their desires will shift and they'll move on love is often not forever and that is a human issue not a societal one asking Society to fix that is more than can be done he desires eternity from others Perfection from others a solution to this problem from others he talks about the avatars and how they stand above all life he won't let anyone tarnish their nobility but we can't solve this problem no one or nothing is Noble enough to do so we have to do instead is Branch out and develop a new Love and new validations elsewhere to do otherwise is to ask the world to stop yourself Kami fields and avatars still exist there were other places like these all over the net he had the opportunity to in a way which did not cause harm to others and still allow for personal benefit seek out this desire join these other communities and find love and validation there but he didn't we see that it was not the desire for love which was criminalized but the feeling that one is owed love which was foreign comes next and is probably the most complex addition to this discussion outside of the main characters obviously she is the same with masatake and everybody in society seeking satisfaction with her life happiness as herself validation the student of an all-girls Academy designed around old world values chipping young girls out into the world as essential model wise to be purchased and kept she doesn't find much value in her situation with physical Rebellion impossible she creates it instead through artwork she adores the legacy of her father rouichi a man who painted in Twisted motifs the mutilated bodies of women designed to force human beings into a confrontation with their worst selves he believed through this they would recognize their darkness and confront it and by this awareness Society could improve rikako and many philosophical sounding ramblings desires to make such a statement about her isolated World pending the students of her Academy as her father would have both preserving their beauty before it could ever fade and slaughtering it at the very same moment with Twisted forms and mutilated bodies as she says it feels like you're not allowed to choose the life you wish you could live I understand how hard that is she wants a life which has not been afforded to her an extreme case but one many with an artistic dream can likely relate to were often made to be something we're not to give up the inherent qualities of ourselves which Define that creativity and live a life that is often feels so Hollow however this artistic desire of rebellion is lost when rikako takes those paintings into the real world killing her chosen students and turning their bodies into sculptors which are then left in public spaces where it's sure they'll be found and that final part is also key as her screen time increases and as makashima directly calls out we learn of her most true desire attention it isn't as much that Oso Academy is limiting her life but that is also limiting her reach the Thematic elements of her pieces were there but more incidental than intended her father wanted to Baroque shock so people would notice his message she wanted them to focus their attention on how his art made them feel rikako uses that same quality so people would notice her art is very often done with the intent to grab attention Psychopaths is even an example within the first minute were privy to a literal bloodbath viscera falling over the camera and onto us the viewer the dominators are so flashy and lead to such horrendous results because we are supposed to ponder that to see what's being called an advanced Society bounded upon the principles of barbarism is this right that type of questioning is what roichi solely sought to do after all when Sybil was implemented he gave up on his Twisted art because his life's purpose was fulfilled the darkness in our hearts was forcefully confronted there was no need for personal reflection of it while the methods differed the ends were still achieved and so he retired Into Obscurity eventually succumbing to you stress deficiency a comatose state where a person feels nothing due to overcompensation against stress in him we find Art which is within the bounds of society it invokes things which are not as motifs but it does so to go against them to strengthen the foundations of society in the will of the people for a better tomorrow rikako lacks that she didn't care what the impact was she simply wanted an impact to feel validation through asserting her will over others and so her Art became wrong something which had to be selected out of society if she truly desired to be an artist she could have been held she already was artists still exist in 2112 Japan even if it has somewhat altered form it's not art that is illegal it's art which values itself over human life that is like masatake and avatars which he claimed to want was there and then she took it to selfish extremes her father however does add a small note which must be addressed art cannot be entirely selfless either because he also could have continued his craft there was no need for him to give up entirely surely there were other issues to be addressed points to be covered by sticking so blindly to the ideal of artistic intent he allowed himself to die in early death we can and should want to be seen for our art just not as the only goal of it [Music] and finally we have toyohisis and Gucci one of the most interesting Side characters in anime with a design I'll likely address in a video dedicated to Great supporting character design formerly working in infrastructure development for dangerous and unstable countries he found a dichotomy of Life The Wealth that comes from danger the risk of having your life cut short at any moment in order to live it at the absolute Heights of its possibility simply he wanted to feel alive he desires both markers of his existence being lived in full material possessions and set him apart from others even one-of-a-kind items which can only be his while at the same time wanting the thrill of knowing can be ripped away at any moment he describes the story of seeing his friend shot by an incendiary round next to him describing the scene as such one minute he was shouting and crying out in horror and next he was nothing but a disgusting lump of Flesh melting in the seat well awful he cherishes the memory for the feeling it gave him full awareness of his life this provides the physical means he uses to chase his goal hunting while they're harder to receive hunting licenses and so hiding itself do still exist in this future Society the danger is certainly minimal but this means that Sybil does allow people to risk their lives for such a thrill they recognize it as some benefit to the hunt or without detriment to society a happy person who contributes a lot is worth more than an unhappy one who contributes less even if the former has a chance of ending their life but like our other two senguji takes all of this healthy principle to the extreme decades past his formative incidents he's now almost entirely cyborg with his only barrier to eternal life being the limitations of the human mind which deteriorates even if the body can't so he uses hunting too as he claims keep his mind sharp active and Alive until his brain too can become a side Borg and he is eternal having already lived over a century putting aside long-term negative factors for a moment it's likely that most of us would want to at least live for longer than we do if not living forever now love and art are quite essential qualities of being human but we have to live before they can be anything as such senguchi is the most basic in his desire he simply wants life itself but he is also the most extravagant in expressing it not only is cyberization expensive but we can look at his home and his collection of guns the pipes he has made from the bones of his victims he takes hunting to radical means opting for the most dangerous game he crafts an arena of death where he murders the prey he's gifted he spends more time getting dressed to kill rikako than he actually takes to kill her this is not hunting this is execution is hypocritical because he has taken the most basic desire of human beings it's not too hoard it for himself sought to make it something so extreme he wants eternal life by taking the lives of others he claims to love the thrill of death but only hunts at a supreme Advantage well he does genuinely Harbor this desire I mean he smiles before his death because he enjoys finally feeling the thrill of death but if he loves it so much why live in such excess why did he remove himself so often from the feeling he is the basic human desire at unattainable Heights an example of how anything can be corrupted by selfishness a reason why we need Society in its laws to limit the Free Will of people like him for the freedom of all we see in every villain is not that they loved an action which was forbidden like the enforcers usually do they loved a lawful action but made it against Society by not actually caring for the act itself but rather what it could get them eternal love or absolute fame or endless life they're not seeking to exhibit their inherent qualities in a way they see fit they are attempting to prove themselves as special as more important than Society they all made the decision to exist outside of society there was not something within them which forced them to be excluded artists still exist avatars are plentiful Hunters can hunt even if limited they had the opportunity and means to be what they claim to be even more so they had and required the assistance of shogomakashima who allowed them to overcome their own detriment he as someone interested in Free Will impulses and desires provided them with free will it he gave them the opportunity to be whatever they wanted the means to see through their Wills with a new height and they simply dug into what they always were they gorged on the excesses of what their actions could already provide them masutake took more avatars to horde as his own rikako made her art more outlandish and attention seeking in senguchi hunted more exotic prey these people already had what they desired they simply wanted to be special they wanted to be showered in what they loved this is against Society the actions they take are limited for a reason so that those who seek out such goals can accomplish them fairly if one person is taking all the spoils of art then there will be less artists they are selfish going against Society not because Society excluded them but because they excluded Society they wanted its benefits the ability to be such things without the costs the limitations to how much we can gain from them I think this is why Che gu son another antagonist and makajima's expert hacker is so beloved and unpunished by the main villain he's the longest living of the companions at least screen time wise he's there for every step of the way performing the duties necessary for he and shogun's goal it's a subtle existence making deliveries or hacking behind the scenes or just holding simple conversations unlike the others he doesn't care what he's doing he cares why he's doing it he's not trying to steal love or grab attention or hoard life itself he's simply attempting to be his true self in a society which is against it and he is the partner antagonist who needs no assistance or makashima facilitates every other one Che facilitates makashima he has all the ability he needs he is not relying on another because he has already developed the skills necessary to see his goals through or at least his part of those goals invisible to society quietly doing his duties Che is the common man the ideal member of society I'm going to use the term common man because I think it's Simplicity in ring is fitting both for the series in this discussion so I apologize for both to you and myself for making something so important gendered but I have to indulge myself in this faux philosophy Vibe when it comes to Psychopaths but he is the common man yet he is a criminal it's here where the tithes begin to turn where we can begin to consider if something essential to The Human Experience is lost in society why would the Common Man suffer or need to desire change the other villains wanted to shape Society selfishly provided examples for how we should weigh ourselves against social context and when it's wrong to go against Society because they desired specialty but when we see the common men feeling the same we must then ask if Society itself is wrong since it's technically ideal members are not happy Che and shogo do not engage in excess one of my favorite details about the anime is how makashima simply watches as senguchi gorge's on Pleasure the custom pipe the excessive collection the dedicated purpose clothing the champagne and almost funny note he abstains from it himself as a few episodes later he remarks I've never thought of myself as having champagne taste his end goal while all these minor villains are present it's just to learn he's simply witnessing viewing how others do things engaging with Society to feel it out and asking what is a human exactly he dresses simply his weapon is simple his desires are simple reading in conversation and connection ideas not things even his design being rather androgynous he is not a person defined by materials he isn't even a solid person per se he is a being defined by the nature of humanity itself he thinks before he acts considering the effects of what he does even if he shows little little care for those effects being the deaths of others and before that he's even helping most of the people he murders fulfilling their desires over his own he's giving his being to the benefit of others not yet sure if his desires are right or wrong in the context of other humans well we are in these villains arcs he does not commit a criminal act himself even if he facilitates others doing so the first time we actually see him commit a crime is with Yuki because before that he had not yet decided if Society was worthwhile or not he did not yet feel his will was worthier than social cohesion again well too harsh he even judges those who go against that principle and act contrary to the spirit of society he has judged it all he has taken it in figured out what it is and decided what to do with it he is not just the common man he is like the ideal of society itself so why is he not happy not satisfied with it it must not be able to provide what would make him happy same as the other villains but what makes him happy is not excessive it is basic human qualities the feelings invoked by art and literature the love we wish to feel in communities and how we share that love through common interest the very desired to be alive to exert one's will and witness its effects these are similar to what our villains Express he sought them out for a reason he wasn't one point vigorously interested in all of them before growing disappointed there's a perfect reason for this what they have are fine desires it's that desire to be special which ruined them and why do they desire to be special if avatars and hunting and art also existed why aren't they satisfied with them we simply said that and left it as it is earlier let's dig deeper into it it's because even if these things exist these qualities have been devalued by Society art in their world is close to Art but missing what really made it what it is it's the image of art out of spirit that quality of questioning of rebellion to be better that is what has become criminal civil is supposedly perfect although we know that not to be true so they just eliminate all which goes against that narrative so that then the belief in a perfect system upholds Society these suppressions and lies are technically for a positive end but the cost is part of humanity itself the very drive to move forward expressed in these desires we covered if someone doesn't feel loved civil isn't perfect if someone finds questioning through ART Sybil isn't perfect if someone doesn't feel a true alive civil isn't perfect these villains are wrong for exerting their desires to be special over others but they do so for a reason crucial parts of what being human is to them have been devalued parts of their inherent character have been made illegal to be valid in what they want they must be special they must prove their attention in excess that they are important because Society has no way for their unharmful actions to feel valued so they turn them to harm again makashima is the proof of this because he holds the basics of those same desires and yet even he is unhappy because one cannot be happy in their society with those qualities even though there is nothing harmful about them these traits can be curiosity and love and thrill are all things which can be negative but so can anything I think what I'm doing here is positive but what if someone only comes away from this with depression with a lack of Hope for the world what if someone watches Psychopaths and what they take away is simply the desire to replicate rikiko's art it has just as much potential to do harm as it does good this is why I place so much emphasis on considering what the costs are for the benefit we receive for doing exactly what makashima does and trying to understand why we are not happy wondering if it is our fault or the fault of society and then acting on that conclusion it does no good for anyone for you to change yourself if there is not something wrong with you I find it very fitting that he engages in Simple Pleasures like tea and Madeleine's because these are the things very often pointed to as a solution to the ills of society the statement I've witnessed the most when I ask others about their Wills Is that no they can't express them as much as they want so they take pleasure in the small ways they can like a snack and a drink or a walk or just lying there at night they hate 10 hours of their day drift through a couple more and enjoy four or so only one-fourth of the day spent happy it never sits quite right with me to accept such awful things by accepting such simple ones we can witness the basic qualities which Define us and Do no harm to others be taken away desensitized at every turn yet we should accept it for these small benefits for some tea in madeleines I know it said in a very well-meaning and helpful way but I don't believe it's possible for everyone some will have inherent qualities and desires which for no reason other than Simplicity or normality are excluded the very nature of their being is labeled and unrealistic that they are supposed to Simply accept it and live makushima has moments of happiness but he does not accept Society in those moments for a reason because humans are worth more than just one-fourth of the day he observed it he witnessed it and he acted on it his actions that he takes after that decision are wrong the methods he used are twisted but his reasoning is undebatable to me especially after so much consideration laughs and it's fitting I'm talking about Simple Pleasures because this is going to be like another Rebecca video where the ending is something written super angrily off the cuff I love shoga makushima because there's so much validation in who he is in the non-dangerous parts of his being which lead to his dangerous actions because he himself is simply seeking validation like any other human he is a bag of Flesh and meat which is acting on impulses and trying to fulfill desires which he did not choose he spends years uncovering them seeing if they're right or wrong understanding they are not inherently harmful and then being forced to make them harmful because that was the only way to be valid he exists in a society which is not human where the people who exist have had essential qualities taken away from them he turns to these people outside of it these villains and is then disappointed that they resemble the society we live in right now where one must desperately claim to success to be validated no not just validated but even just to survive in a way that has any satisfaction to it whatsoever we can be ideal we can do everything according to the tenements of society believing its goodness and taking only what we need and giving back what we can the acceptance that not everyone needs to be or even should be special and for all of that we receive back no way to survive for all of our efforts the common man cannot be happy with what Society provides then it just feels like we're all tricking ourselves if the basic human desires and needs he represented are not allowed then is everything above that actual happiness or have we just been convinced that it is I did not desire his anarchistic world where Free Will is applied with abandon but that desire is a reaction to his world he seeks the extreme because he lives in the extreme I simply wish for a society which is more willing to question itself to understand that a one-size-fits-all mold is a disrespect to the varied and beautiful nature of the human being I do not want fame and fortune I only desire success because success is required for survival I am not pretentious enough to call myself the common man and I certainly won't ascribe to the second word of that label but I relate to shogo makushima because he is so simple I wear some outrageous clothing but I only do so because it makes people question as I have it breaks down their initial assumptions and forces them to actually think about who I am rather than running with the label I appear to fit and that's the only reason I do it I want my work here to make money but only so I can survive while doing something which adds any value to my life whatsoever I enjoy some food and some card games some art to lie on my walls and the means to better perform my job that's all and you could even get rid of more of that I have never felt like I was asking for too much I will accept a lower benefit of society for a lower cost because I believe in it in the will of the people but I know in full that Society was not made to welcome people like me because it does not offer that those who are happy with Simple Pleasures the citizens in psychopaths's world are equally as valid as me and they can exist as they like if that's what they call happiness I just want to be able to do the same since I'm not causing any harm sometimes I act a bit too much like makashima when I meet people I grow interested in them to see what makes them them to see what a human being is and how they live their life and people so often take it as love as some immediate deep or romantic interest as the means to be special why does it have to be special to show interest in someone to want to learn about human beings to me it's just human to enjoy people why does our world make enjoying people something special why is that not just human shogomakushima is furthered by one of his final statements everyone is alone everyone's empty with so much at our fingertips we can find a spare for any Talent any relationship can be replaced with a simple search and a click I'd become bored of a world like that and it relates to this he seeks out all of these villains and they all do nothing but make themselves special through him over forming a genuine connection with him they speak around him search out his praise and not much more why is connection so unnatural why is the cost of society of something which uses the word social as its root to so often lack connection why are we all surrounded yet alone why do we exclude so many lives if it doesn't even make the majority of us happy we can't just not question such a system what I take from these villains in the beginning of makashima's Arc is that we must observe and question and reflect we must evaluate ourselves and why we aren't happy do we desire too much or have our essential traits been scrubbed from society I think for many of us it's the latter and the only option then is to act I don't think I need to say that taking the same actions as makashima past that decision is very wrong it's quite obvious but we should apply his reasoning to new methods because for some of us who struggle to find any validation at all to find a reason to exist to be ourselves to live it isn't that much of a choice

Channel: ProfessorViral

Views: 85,336

Keywords: anime, manga, otaku, cosplay, shounen, shonen, seinen, discussion, weeb

Id: i66P19FfQl0

Length: 36min 7sec (2167 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 15 2022