Psycho-Pass: EXTENDED Episode 8 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2023-12-20 14:00:09 +0000 UTC**DIVERSION-BASED HEADPHONE WARNINGS**
How?! How are we already tying back around to Episode 1's opening sequence?! How are we getting more backstory, more tension, and more insane cliffhangers?! Romania is SHAKEN! STIRRED, even!
It seems we've reached the climax of the series, but we still have four episodes to go...I have a bad, very bad, feeling about all this...
LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/cvDB7ZY5tb8zMHKjWog1g9?
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Ahhh, thank you so much for the kind words and comment - the Rule of 8 did NOT let us down! @_@ Kagari’s death is HORRIFYING and SO SAD! I was not prepared for it at ALL! And yes, it LINGERS! And how his character was raised in this system, but still doesn’t want to give into the chaos that Cho and Makishima stand for is POWERFUL. I’m glad that his backstories and Kunizuka’s were different in this series – and I love that we see this “Found Family” develop with him and the others…which makes his death more impactful as well. And how honest and open his character is? YES! It’s sooooo good! I valued his opinion a lot in the show, because like you said – he didn’t have any other agenda – he was just being honest! 🙂 This show handles the understanding of Justice SO WELL and the complications of it! That conversation with Cho – I could hear more of it for days! I loved it…ahhh…the Kagari despair – if anything, it’s made it all the more easy to DISLIKE the sybil system…even if I’m not approving of how Makishima’s trying to “dismantle” it. Yeah, not a fun week in the channel for Best Boys….THAT is for sure! Thank you for the comment and yesssss, looking forward to the rest of the series this season…even if my heart is not! T-T
Romaniablack
2023-12-26 20:23:50 +0000 UTC… Loved this reaction and discussion – it’s just the RULE OF EIGHT, ain’t it?! I’ll be honest and note that even though it has been a decade since I first saw this episode, and I have since watched it many times – it still really gets to me. There have been many character deaths which have mattered before and since, but somehow, Kagari’s death still has the power to infuriate. I think we see that a lot of the characters (beyond just the PSB, including victims and perpetrators) are excellent showcases for different types of injustice. As you note in the discussions as well - justice vs freedom vs order vs might vs chaos - and how characters are positioned within the narrative for each aspect, are core elements of their presentation. I think Kagari is a profoundly moving representation of the impacts of institutional injustice. Specifically, on children. The way it imparts a traumatic kind of depersonalisation and prevents a full development of a sense of self (and subsequently a sense of self-preservation). We don’t really see much at all of what he experienced earlier on – contrasted with Kunizuka, for example, or Kogami’s experience with Sasayama’s death, etc – we just have to go by what Kagari says, and how. I think that’s a really interesting choice, because he’s someone who comes across as the most likely to embellish for comedic effect or to push people’s buttons – what other entertainment has he ever really had? His mannerisms imply this, but then he’s actually incredibly forthright. It’s why I love many of the relationships he has in the show and especially the progression with Akane. In EE ep 1 – Kagari is the first to, explicitly and directly, give Akane shit about her choice to use the dominator on Kogami. While it is couched in ironic delivery, I don’t think that’s done to obfuscate his point - it is just what’s funnier to him. He’s concerned for Kogami, a bit annoyed and nervous – Akane’s actions are a reminder that he’s just one newbie’s first-day-on-the-job away from being blasted. But rather than then writing him as a constant snark comet, or in-opposition of a new person in a position of authority, he approaches every interaction anew in the few following episodes (the meals they share, etc.). He’s consistently honest and open (about his background and views), if Akane posits something silly, he gets openly annoyed (their conversation about choice), he’s constantly observing other interactions to get more information. On this particular rewatch and with your analysis – I’ve started seeing some of Kagari’s openness and vulnerability to be particular and almost deliberate. He’s not manipulative, but if his honesty means fewer dominators aimed at him and the people he cares about… why not? Why would he care about what anyone actually thinks of him? What would he gain from any dishonesty? It’s more effort than it’s worth. I think he only wants another day outside of the facility he was forced into - so we can assume his thinking doesn’t and cannot extend much beyond that. And then his conversation with Choe happens... I love this conversation. Because it is essentially the same as the talk he has with Akane earlier in the season – it is him saying: ‘What world do you think you’re living in? Who do you think you are? I know what I am and I know my place in this reality. Don’t subject me to your nonsense.’ He actually truly understands the dynamics of the world he exists in. So in the end, what does he express – what do we see on his face – only utter and complete acceptance of his lot in life. All of the above characteristics are just direct conclusions of knowing - down to his bone-marrow – each day he got, was all he was ever going to get. He smiles, and it is bitter and amused and scared, yes, but it is mostly: ‘Of course this is what happens to me. I would never have expected anything else.’ He was not jaded – that, to me, would require a mismatch of expectations. Kagari never expected anything else – where (when) would he have learned to hope for anything? He was five. I'm sorry for the length of this Kagari despair-essay. He was Best Boi. This has been a rough week for Best Bois on your channel, Romania 😂 Looking forward to next week! 💙
Sunspots
2023-12-22 07:46:30 +0000 UTC
