PSYCHO PASS 21 — The Butcher’s Back

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I was just waiting for the limbs to go flying.

There seems to be a fair amount of disagreement over this episode: earlier this afternoon, half my Twitter timeline was exploding with people saying this was the greatest episode yet, and the other half talking about how this episode was shit. I personally have to side with those who liked it. Less philosophizing and talking about wheat, more explosions. That’s the way I like it.

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We also get to wrap up Ginoza’s daddy issues (with them both losing an arm… one of them for a second time). Well I’m not sure if his daddy issues are actually wrapped up, but his relationship issues with his father are certainly… ahem… concluded.

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Akane is trying to be boss and replace Kougami. It mostly works out pretty well. Guitar girl is willing to trust Akane with her life, at least. I’m not sure I’m convinced of Akane’s sudden competence though, as my main reaction to that line was to wonder whether guitar girl just triggered a death flag.

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The effort to convince us that Akane is a super sleuth falls apart when they reach the control room. She notices Kougami isn’t there and decides she must have made a mistake. Way to trust your instincts.

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Also, yeah, it’s pretty easy to convince us that Akane is a badass detective now because PSYCHO PASS is not moe. It never was moe!

Further Thoughts

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Did they just spend half their budget on a CG helicopter / airplane hybrid? Gotta say, I’m not impressed. But I’d definitely be down for flying in one of those.

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Once again, PSYCHO PASS decides to quote smart-sounding things to sound intelligent. This time I have actually read the book in question so I can tell you that no, the Parable of the Tares has nothing to do with wheat which is why they probably chose it. But let’s assume for a moment that they think it means what it actually means. The parable is not irrelevant to the story of Psycho Pass:

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

The Sibyl system is a lot like the slaves who want to rip out the weeds before the harvest. It removes the “weeds” from society, and with it it uproots the wheat.

6 thoughts on “PSYCHO PASS 21 — The Butcher’s Back

  1. So, Makishima thinks of himself as the Master in that story?
    Just like Kougami said, this guy thinks too highly of himself.
    Despite being cunning and smarter than most people, I can’t think of him as something more than a self deluded criminal.

    1. I’m pretty sure he sees himself as the enemy sowing the weeds. A.k.a. destroying the super-wheat and replacing it with inedible stuff. They seem to be taking the parable quite literally.

      But yeah, seeing yourself as the Devil is just about as conceited as seeing yourself as God.

  2. To be honest, I just hope the series ends with an interesting note. The buildup in this episode is pretty and finally after episodes of wishing Akane to develop and do something, she delivered (Though channeling her idol may be a big contribution to that),

    I just praying that next week it would end in something interesting. Not exactly end the series with good happy happy sunshine rainbows, but something interesting.

    Also, twenty bucks for Akane to pull off a Madoka. (also known as do something extremely important that it ends up changing the entirety of the system altogether)

    1. Wait it ends next week? Damn this season flew by fast.

      I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulled a Madoka either. Or maybe she’ll hand them Makishima’s brain and then he’ll destroy the system from within.

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