And the psychological horror is back in full swing for this series, and it really managed to deliver a really tense episode. It’s the episode where the proverbial hell breaks loose. What made this episode extra special is that it really showcased this show’s style of direction: paranoid and experimental. The animation here was wild and vivid, full of detail to make every scene more powerful. Kudos to A-1 here for the job they did.
Something or someone was killing everyone. There are enough theories about who it is, but we never get to see the face of who it is. In the meantime he is on a mass killing spree, not unlike what we saw previously in the series when that one kid went berserk, only this time he seems to have done it fully aware of what he was doing. Why? What has squealer done to lead to that? Is it really Mamoru or Maria?
This is where the confusing direction really works. This series always was confusingly told, but when the lives of the characters are on the line it does give the extra edge. The fact that there are hostages that need to be saved who are mentally unstable due to what they experienced and saw gave it yet another edge, and the gorgeous animation makes tihngs even better. This really shows how far the Queerats have come, and how dangerous they can be with the right allies.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)
This episode was freakin fantastic. Best episode of the week in the best week of anime there’s been in a while. The door handle turning scene has been done a million times, but there was so much tension it didn’t even matter. Every scene was effective. It completely revitalized my faith in the show.
I wish we could have had animation on this level for the entire show, they really stepped up their game for the past couple episodes. I was hoping this would get a 7/8 from you, but 6/8 is still awesome.
*Big fan of the blog. First time poster/long time lurker 🙂
Really? I dont think this ever pass Psico Pass in any thing. But is your likes.
The problem with Psycho Pass IMHO is the characters. The story is awesome but the characters all seem a bit too one dimensional. Anyway, this episode was pure awesomeness.
scruffy, you are so correct. I really dont know any of the characters…….actually I only know akanes name.
Meaby you have a point there but, at least the mayor villain is by far the best of the season if not off the year only this guy pwan the entiry cast of the new world in overall just I like much more Psycho. Point of view i thing.
Agreed, one of the best episodes of this series. Its so absurd that they just wont/cant defend themselves.
Sadly I think I’ve been spoiled – not so sure, but anyways – its been confirmed that Maria and Mamoru are dead, right? it cant be one of them, I think?
And I was so sure those people in the hospital were experimented on so I was expecting a ‘surprise-attack’ at first. Especially the screaming woman was creepy. Oh well, I guess one fiend is enough…
I’m guessing the fiend is Maria’s child. There’s a shot in the ending credits that shows someone in fetal position who is neither Mamoru or Maria. That would make a lot of sense if they were killed by Yakomaru so he could manipulate the kid.(None of what I just said is a spoiler, this is only a guess)
Anyway, amazing episode and great build up to this series climax. This just gets me more and more distressed every week.
I agree, but I think that was a giveaway in the last episode. Just before the credits, or was it afterwards, there’s a scene of Maria saying how much she really loved Saki, but in the end Mamoru needs her more…and that, in the end, Maria wanted a child and couldn’t get one with Saki.
I watched the first episode yesterday, again. There’s one thing I noticed: when Saki began to manipulate the flames, she didnt need any cantus. It was totally natural. And it was then that the old man ordered her to stop and give up that power, so he could give her a cantus. It’s like he locked her power. But the child who has been attacking the vilage never went through that process. So, he is absolutelly free to use his powers however he likes. Or maybe he really is a karpa demon.
Well, this episode was suberb! I cant remember the last time I was so tense during an anime. everything looked dangerous! Even the little queerats!! Absolutelly suberb!!! And I think it worked that way only because the anime showed us from the beggining how dangerous cantus is. Cant wait for the next episode…
The story pacing is really well set out in this series, given that the writers have to adopt three volumes of original material (no mean feat, I can only imagine). I think the ‘confusion’ could be from the shot layouts and storyboarding. IMHO there have been far too many instances in this series where there is so much character close-ups it is hard to fully carry the story and/or dramatic impact. At first I thought that the peculiar style of animation/storyboarding was a stylistic choice from the directors. But now that we are coming to its final arc, I’m more inclined to think it might just be a simpler case of heavy-handed production budget limitations. A real shame seeing as how engaging and different the story is compared to all the usual fare. I can’t wait to see how they will wrap this up with all the stakes raised so high.
But Yeah this week was gorgeous, Psycho Pass, From the new world, Zetsuen, Robotics, Zettai Karen The unlimited, All have awesomes episodes.
I’m currently taking an anthropology class and it has really helped in understanding just how complex this series has been in creating its own society which parallels to human and primate civilization. Quite fascinating (especially in regards to the bonobos). This episode was beautifully done, and the atmosphere was tremendous. However, some of the musical pieces feel just a bit out of place…If they had forgone some insert bgms and allowed for silence the entire episode would have been even more suffocating…
Brilliant episode!
I think shinsekai really has everything