Shogo Makishima

Shogo Makishima
Psycho-Pass character

Makishima as seen in Psycho-Pass
First appearance Psycho-Pass episode 1
Voiced by Japanese
Takahiro Sakurai
English
Alex Organ

Shogo Makishima (槙島 聖護, Makishima Shōgo) is a fictional character appearing as the main antagonist from Production I.G's anime series Psycho-Pass. Makishima is a man responsible for several crimes and the main cast, Bureau officers, are in search of him. Makishima wishes the destruction of the society created by Sybil System in which people are treated based on their levels of stress and sees Enforcer Shinya Kogami as one of his nemesis. He is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai in Japanese while Alex Organ voices him in English.[1]

Critical reception to Makishima has been highly positive. His role as a villain and personality earned praise with his actions generating similar response. Some of his actions praised involving his rivalry with Shinya Kogami. He also appeared in an official noitamina poll where he was well received by Japanese fans.

Characterization

Shogo Makishima is the antagonist from Psycho-Pass whose rivalry against Shinya Kogami is seen from Akane Tsunemori's point of view.[2] He prefers the company of old books to other people after he discovers that the words of the passionate dead are the only things that can make him feel human in a world of cold, purposeless convenience. He mourns the willful ignorance of a society that led to such a dystopian world.[3] Makishima is commonly serene even during violent scenes as a result of lacking any sort of humanity.[4] Series' writer Gen Urobuchi himself said that one of the series' central themes is "fear" as seen through Shogo Makishima's feeling of being out place. He believes Makishima could have found happiness had he been born in a normal world.[5]

Appearances

Shogo Makishima is a humanist on the dark side who is obsessed with cruelty, savagery, and all the worst aspects of human nature. A born evangelist, he possesses both uncommon charisma and a true gift for narrative.[1] It is shown that Makishima may be the mastermind behind the many cases the Public Safety Bureau are investigating, including the one that led Shinya Kogami to become demoted from Inspector to Enforcer.[6] Despite his murderous intent, his Crime Coefficient levels have never reached dangerous levels, rendering him safe from the Dominator. He himself claims this is because his own mind and body does not consider him killing people and committing crimes to be "wrong", but rather considers it to be completely "normal," which means his Psycho-Pass does not detect any abnormal or illegal behavior to report to the Sibyl System.[7]

Makishima attempts to destroy the Sybil System by distracting the Bureau forces from him using chaos in the streets, but he is arrested by Akane Tsunemori. However, Makishima's traits result in the Sibyl sparing his life to join them. Makishima escapes from them, still wishing to destroy them and disliking how they play as "gods".[8] Afterwards, he tries to convince Shinya Kogami to join his cause while planning on bioterrorism in order to weaken Japan's economy and force the removal of the Sybil System. However, his plans are foiled by the Bureau forces and Makishima is killed by Kogami.[9]

Outside the anime series, Makishima also appears in the novelization of the series which expand on his relationship with Choe Gu-sung.[10] The novel prequel also features Makishima as the mastermind from the case Mitsuru Sasayama died and caused Kogami to become an Enforcer.[11] He also appears in the manga adaptation Inspector Akane Tsunemori.[12]

Reception

"When I said Makashima is unique I didn't mean just for the show, but in general. He's a villain that doesn't seem like too much of a threat at the start, but as the series continues, he's the problem for literally everything. He gets shit done. There is no posturing with him and a legitimate sense of danger when his character shows up, not only that, but he's cultured and sophisticated. More shows need villains like this one."

Kyle Mills from DVD Talk[13]

Shogo Makishima received positive response. Following his brief introduction Hiroko Yamamura from Japanator got a feeling related with the anime series Cowboy Bebop.[14] There was praise owing to his orchestration of several crimes but criticism to his immunity to the system by Kotaku's Richard Einsbeis.[15] For the second half, Kotaku kept giving praise to the character and the balance he made with Akane Tsunemori in entertaining the audience.[16] Jacob Hope Chapman from ANN said Makishima was "the voice who speaks to our minds, to the self-assured sci-fi lovers who have "seen this all before" as well as "Urobuchi's act of rebellion against making "just another dystopia," and he's the key element that makes it a work of thoughtful art rather than wild entertainment."[3] DVD Talk's Kyle Mills highly enjoyed his character as based on the impact of his actions as well as his serene personality which make him not appear as a criminal mastermind.[13] In a more specific review, Thomas Zoth from the Fandom Post noted the cruelty Makishima impacted on Akane Tsunemori had a great delivery as it made the viewer feel "empty inside."[17] During the series' second half, Kyle Mills kept calling him "A fantastic series villain."[18]

His fights against Kogami were also the subject of praise; Bamboo Dong from Anime News Network appreciated the use of weaponry and stated the "armchair psychiatrist evaluations of each other seemed a little forced." For the finale, Dong commented on Makishima's thoughts as "the series was making a last ditch effort to humanize a villain that it had spent the entire time trying to portray as a social aberration."[4][19][20] Zoth criticized the use of oats in Makishima's plan for being ridiculous but in the end he found they made for a great setting in the series' finale.[19][21] In an official noitamina poll, he was voted as the best character voiced by Takahiro Sakurai and ranked second in the category "Mister Noitamina."[22] Sakurai was also praised by Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network for his role as Makishima as he makes a "creepily soothing tone."[23]

References

  1. 1 2 槙島 聖護. TVアニメ「PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス」 (in Japanese). Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Media Q&A with Executive Director Katsuyuki Motohiro, Director Naoyoshi Shiotani and Producer Joji Wada (of "PSYCHO-PASS") by Dennis A. Amith and Michelle Tymon (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)". J!-Entoline.com. May 7, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Chapman, Jacob Hope (April 29, 2014). "Psycho-Pass Season One Blu-Ray - Complete Collection [Premium Edition]". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Dong, Bamboo (March 25, 2013). "The Stream These Girls Can Jump Rope Too, Can't They?!". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Interview: Gen Urobuchi". Anime News Network. September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Symbolism of Bletilla Striata". Psycho Pass. Episode 7. November 23, 2012. Fuji TV.
  7. ↑ "Saint's Suppe". Psycho Pass. Episode 11. December 21, 2012. Fuji TV.
  8. ↑ "Heart of Iron". Psycho Pass. Episode 17. February 14, 2013. Fuji TV.
  9. ↑ "Perfect World". Psycho Pass. Episode 22. March 22, 2013. Fuji TV.
  10. ↑ Fukami, Makoto (2013). Psycho-Pass 2. Mag Garden.
  11. ↑ Takaba, Aya (2013). Psycho-Pass Namae no Nai Kaibutsu. Mag Garden.
  12. ↑ Miyoshi, Hikaru (2013). Inspector Akane Tsunemori. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-870623-8.
  13. 1 2 "Psycho-Pass: Part One (Blu-ray)". DVDTalk. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ Yamamura, Hiroko (October 16, 2012). "First Impressions: Psycho-Pass". Japanator. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  15. ↑ Eisenbeis, Richard (January 8, 2013). "Psycho Pass is a Compelling Cyberpunk Mystery (And It’s Only Half Done)". Kotaku. Kotaku. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  16. ↑ Eisenbeis, Richard (March 22, 2013). "The Second Half of Psycho Pass Isn't Perfect, But it's Still Worth a Watch". Kotaku. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Psycho-Pass Episode #10 – 11 Anime Review". Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Psycho-Pass: Part Two (Blu-ray)". Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  19. 1 2 "Psycho-Pass Episode #21 – 22 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. March 21, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Psycho-Pass Episode #16 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. February 12, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  21. ↑ "Psycho-Pass Episode #19 – 20 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. April 17, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Winners of Noitamina 10th Anniversary Fan Vote Announced". Anime News Network. March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Psycho-Pass episodes 12 - 22 Streaming". Retrieved December 30, 2013.
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