Psycho Pass - a masterpiece and one of its kind

I could have chosen to write this entry in Lithuanian it being my mother tongue. However the first word that comes to my mind is in English. The first word to come is

"masterpiece" 

Recently I have been watching the anime that left me speechless and even having in mind to write the blog entry after that I somehow hesitated - of course, being unsure if anyone at all reads my blog and if it is worth taking my time writing it down. But now that I've suddenly got a chance to rewatch it, it came across my mind once again.

"masterpiece"

The anime was recommended to me by a friend of mine, having stated this is one of his all-times favourites, overcoming the famous Death Note in his list. And I have to say whatever the clichee about Death Note is - being simply popular and sort of "pop anime", it is truly worthy of attention as an original creation -or so to say it is one of the kind.

So I thought it was worth giving a try to Psycho Pass. It actually happened so suddenly and randomly, we were just sitting, well, to tell the truth we were drinking wine and eating cheese, and I was bitching about him not wanting to party and take me to clubs. Anyways, so he was just browsing the net and he came across the news - turns out his favourite anime has got a new take - new edition, making it 40 minutes to every episode. As he started to watch it and suggested I do it as well, I joined him. At that time there were one or two episodes of new edition released so I can't remember if after that we just went straight to the old one or did I wait and start watching it at my own appartment later on. However, it was so worth it.

The anime took me to an alternative reality, suggesting future system of ruling over human beings in society, being able to judge one's intentions, stability, psychological state with electronical devices, if in need - immediately. People would avoid any possible stress, their exams and psychical state would determine what activities and occupations they could choose from to feel simply good or maybe even as if their lives are truly fulfilled. In every society as it is there would be people who had to be kind of left behind, shut down, and these people would be called latent criminals, having only two options allowed - staying in some sort of psychiatry ward hoping their psychological state can be "cleansed" or, if the system of the world would decide they have such capability - they could become enforcers, helping detectives to do their job catching criminals and solving crimes. To them the police would usually leave all the dirty job - catching murderers, figuring out criminals' minds, as it is said that trying to think as a criminal will lead you to the same state as the criminal itself.

In that set of the surroundings, a new inspector is taken into police's service, being young and ambitious to soon meet the reality of a tough job. Growing accustomed to her team and learning things the hard way she solves her inner conflicts, motivating others as well.

Starting with various unconnected crimes the storyline soon dives in switching settings and immediately letting the spectator somehow transform into something more than just a passive watcher. For me - it took me in completely. I grew fond of the characters and their complexity. Being quite the diverse anime covering anything from the futuristic ideas to philosophic quotes, and even getting us deepen our knowledge base on intellectual works (mostly literature ones that actually exist), anime roots in situations that the system deals with or is worthless in, unhealthy obsessions, questioning the true human nature and value of life if there is any at all, living in such a setting.

What this anime provided was an astounding timing switching scenes and stories, combining future and past, sharing experiences, personal short story-lines helping to empathize with the characters. It provided developing plot however not a completely solid one, that could be broken for one reason or another - to alter our feelings or to give some ideas of what happens in human mind. Also and what I utmost appreciated - no unneeded romance, actually almost no romance at all. This anime kept back from becoming silly and retained accenting important matters till the end, without single fail, throughout the whole plot.

What I've especially adored was the idea of the system used. Not only did it not lack originality, it seems to be perfectly possible to develop one like this ourselves in the near future. It is based on logics and technical improvement but also following the leads that humanity is already trying to follow, most likely. It covers the system and it's cost, the failures and wins of it, and carries the concept of justice and judgement at its best.

I think the story did not lose its logics even once. Rewatching I have found like two very very small logical flaws, one of them being a sign typed in the wrong direction according to the traffic. So... I guess you know what I mean. Every 22 minutes would be a feast to both my excitement and knowledge, from time to time asking to develop my own conclusions about the subjects and damn, there were many.
The characters, the sides of good and evil blended in so tightly you would lose your judgement and get confused from time to time. Not showing a simple answer, justifying both sides and making it all... Well, in my opinion, it made all of it to reflect human nature where nothing in itself is simple, good or bad, but rather has arguments to both sides and simply determining which ones are more important drives us to one or another.

I can't unwatch it

It's perfect

Every time I search for a new anime to watch now, after the first five minutes it starts to lack the strategy or the base logics. Having seen a really good creation leaves you striving for more, and the truth is it is not easy to find anything else that would satisfy you. If you enjoy watching everything, your standards might really level up after it. Anyway, the journey this anime took me on is like a once in a lifetime event, changing my way of thinking or at least questioning it a little bit. Learning to appreciate quality. Learning to stop misjudging people and situations. The complexity of human nature this anime was able to show me is close to the one we see every day but don't consider present. 

The ride was perfect. I bow to my friend low and many times. I damn him for the recommendation that now made it so difficult to choose another thing to watch, Psycho Pass being one of its kind. And yet it was truly worth it. It was anything and everything I would expect from a good creation. And at the same time it was nothing I anticipated. 

It cannot be unwatched

It's a masterpiece

"There's a limit to the amount of pleasure a person can obtain. 

But pleasure brought out by intellect is infinite"

- Psycho Pass

"You are not given the right to live if you trust everything you see"

- Black Lagoon

here it comes

It's very easy to trick the one who thinks he can't be tricked. At least twice as difficult it is to trick the one who accepts being tricked as a possibility.

Must karma be a bitch, it is a very fair one

I am sure all of you are well acquainted with the saying "karma is a bitch". Referring to the word karma in English dictionary I find:

1. Hinduism & Buddhism The total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence,regarded as determining the person's destiny.
2. Fate; destiny.

None of these are unclear definitions. Believing in karma or not, being Buddhist, Hinduist or whatever - I think we are all familiar with the saying.
And, besides all of it, it is widely used by all sorts of people, from believers to level 9999 atheists.

It's good to see the situations that it is commonly used in. I have just remembered my weekend, generally speaking, spent with my friend who would almost tumble after every time she had said something offensive or simply negative about other people - known and unknown to her personally. Of course, shoes had to do a lot with it as well. But God damn it, after the first stumble I advised her to look ahead. And well, after the third time the same happened in such an accuracy with what she was talking about, all the other explanations were simply left behind.
And only one thing was clear.

Karma is a bitch

I am not sure whether I believe in karma completely. As a person holding deep interest in psychology I also question myself every time I hear my minds going on about "he got what he deserved" headline.

But however it is amazingly satisfactory to watch the people who use this saying at the right time. If you are still alive and able to talk and have a sense of humour, you can surely use it. It brightens up a situation. And if it happens for the third time in one day, possibly, in two hours, after the third time it gets such a meaning! We are laughing our asses off. And waiting for the fourth time. I even questioned myself if I would be sad if by any chance my friend, proceeding to the fourth stumble would actually fall and break her leg or something. I guess that is what we think of when we consider one's actions unacceptable or we can't approve of one's
virtues. But that is what I love about being friends: you don't need to accept all of others' virtues.

You can simply choose most of them and successfully ignore what is meanwhile left aside. Let it be. She has an opinion and I have one. And this certainly does not disturb be nor does it distract me from having fun listening to "karma is a bitch" recording for the third time.

Generally having friends and being able to tolerate some part of them, that asks for it, I think, is amazing. You can always refrain from having any sort of relationship with a person whose virtues you have seen and were not tremendously amazed by it. But if you perhaps have a friend, whom you have accepted, because he / she inspires you, makes you wonder, change your thoughts and opinions and laugh your ass off, you just have to come in an compromise with whatever you dislike in that person, his thoughts and feelings. And generally we are allowed to feel anything and we have that right used.

And I can merely pitying watch at how the karma is working. It does not even matter if it actually exists. But there certainly are those times when someone starts gossiping. Half minute passed. And here he stumbles.

Must karma be a bitch - it is a very fair one

And I enjoy it. I enjoy it as hell.

I have no idea what I am doing

I have no idea what I am doing with my life. Literary. I have so many things I want to do it would take like four full lives to fulfill all of those.

I wanna be a teacher, a musician, a scouts leader (generally working with kids and organizing events, maybe it is better to say "teacher" too), a photographer, a writer, a psychologist... Sometimes I feel I don't make any sort of progress at any of them, sometimes I feel I have progressed a little bit. I can literary never decide if I should quit any of these and simply concentrate on one. I guess by this time I don't even know how it is done. My attention is thrown away at any direction I want. One day I am occupied with music, I write a song and I love it, I wanna play it for ages. Another day I forget about it. I am very passionate about psychology lectures. I have already built some knowledge, basis. I already know some controversial researches, theories, some of the neuro psychology. And then I think - damn, I want to study. Damn, I want to help people. Damn I want to conduct these researches. I want to find how to improve a life of a human being.

Then again I start reading something cool. I get into literature. I write a piece myself, most likely it is poetry. And yet again I am in love with arts.
That is there photography comes. After highschool I've taken a gap year. I had no idea if I even wanted to pursue some sort of degree in any sphere. It seemed unnecessary, especially in my country where it sometimes seems that you can burn your diploma the moment you get it, or you can... literary wipe your ass with it any time you want. I do agree it helps in some sort of situations, but unless you want to be a brain surgeon...

So I've taken my time, I've moved to the capital, I strenghtened my young family (now living with my boyfriend, whom I prefer to simply call my man). I took time working as a waitress and thinking what am I supposed to do in this life. I decided I would study Photography, because why not. It is one of the spheres that started to really interest me at that time. But any time I get some sort of inspiration, I want to be anything from a bartender to Aikido master. I tend to fall in love with things very easily. I tend to find motivation to do things, or to stop doing them, if I can't find the reason, good enough to continue. "Because you have to" is not an argument for me. I want to know why do I do things. What things I do. What do they give to me. What do they give to people around me. What do they give to society.

I've been switching my wishes and activities almost ever since I can remember. Here I am teaching Japanese English. Here I am passionate about psychology. Here I simply wanna take fresh clothes and go isolate myself in nature which is by the way so fascinating that I can only understand small fragments of it.
The most akward thing probably is that I need to know why am I doing every little thing yet I am unable to find reasons for my life as whole and where it directs me.
Sometimes I struggle with it, sometimes I simply take my life blindly, though not for granted.

For me, what is good in this life?
The life itself. I adore it, I am driven by it, I am addicted to it. All these experiences, sitting in a balcony while it is getting dark. Drinking my tea silently and not turning the light on. Witnessing how people move in the streets and in their own lives as well. Some of them get lost completely and I can't reach them anymore. Some of them make progress that fascinates me. And there I sit for a while, then I choose to move on with my life.

Where do I go to? Whom do I go to? I surely know what makes me happy, but oh my God, so many things make me happy! I can't measure what influences me more. Life certainly is at the top, the second best is love. So using these two I somehow manage in life. I live and try / learn to do everything with love. That involves loving every possible creature (I am not very fond of spiders, but whatever, they are not at fault so there I am learning to appreciate everything). I love nature. I learn to love what I do or quit doing it.

But sometimes I struggle so much. It is like taking a way without seeing what awaits in the next step. That usually happens to me even physically. If the light goes away or it gets dark, I am a mess every step I take. I don't feel that space that surrounds me anymore and I start to feel a mess for not being able to understand that there is a path. That path is safe. And it is so much easier to believe that fact, if you are going not alone. If someone goes just before you. If the distance between the two of you is within a reach of a hand.

The truth is even though you find who to go with, your life still is only yours. You are taking paths, you are making choices. And I have no idea what do my choices bring. Sometimes it seems that with these choices I will always sit here, writing this blog entry, and nothing will ever change. When you do millions of things it is almost impossible to witness the progress and at the same time it is of utmost importance to do so. So you would get motivated. So you would know you are not a CD stuck in a player, broken just a little bit but unable to continue to the next song of yours.

So God knows where am I going. I somehow optimistically believe that no one knows what they are doing with their lives. Some people though think they know. But they don't.
And then I feel a little less alone struggling with my choices and fears. I feel a little bit more united. A little bit more determined to climb all the hills, to change the world, to help one person that is near me and that I have the power to help to. Because this is probably what my life is about. Living, loving and sharing.
So I have no idea what I am doing, but I know why I am doing it pretty well.
And I swear I will reach someplace with what I do. Because I want it. Because I strive for it.

In this entry, the word "want" is mentioned 12 times (and 13 including this sentence). I am driven by a desire to reach someplace. Or I don't often use synonyms of "want" (14th time).

And after such a topic I have to mention - if you find any akward words that you are unable to understand in this entry, try adding "m" letter somewhere to them. Because, guys, my keyboard's m letter is not really working these days. Makes writing even more fun. Makes life even more challenging.

I have heard an interview question to the Japanese soccer player Keisuke Honda:
- What is the samurai spirit?
- I don't know because I've never met a samurai.

Well, I would go even further. I would say "I don't know because I've never been a samurai"
No matter what do you think of other people it is always your perceptions of these people and not these people itself. It is both sad and very very interesting.

*

And so you kill

You kill excitement when you also kill risks

Risks to be disappointed

Risks to be overcomed

When you've given up on getting something

and there you get it, a very tiny part of it
only a tiny bit of you feels pleasure

and all the other parts are fed with apathy

fed up with all the things that could have happened

with all the things that you've already experienced

all the things that will really happen

if you let yourself out, if you drop all the chains

if you...

how does it work?
How come you cannot enjoy if you once told yourself not to?

Preventing all the loss and damage you would have had to endure

there you get it

the thing you might have desired most in your life

there you get it

and only silence in your lungs 

you hear some kind of fizz

like coming from the old tv

that does not work anymore

that does not show channels

yet still has electricity

it's like you tumble and fall

finally understanding

that tv is the same

it still works but it doesn't

a fizz comes

it approaches

it's here

cannot show

any channels

there is nothing to show