Shogo Makishima

Shogo Makishima (Japanese: 槙島 聖護, Hepburn: 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. The character is also present in most of the series' printed adaptations and has made cameos in the 2015 film Psycho-Pass: The Movie and Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System (2019).

Shogo Makishima
Psycho-Pass character
Makishima as seen in Psycho-Pass official website
First appearancePsycho-Pass Episode 1: "Crime Coefficient" (2012)
Created byGen Urobuchi
Designed byAkira Amano
Voiced byJapanese
Takahiro Sakurai
English
Alex Organ

The character was created by writer Gen Urobuchi who aimed to make him look like a person not belonging to the setting due to how he does not approve of the advanced future with director Naoyoshi Shiotani finding the character likable while providing parallelism between him and Kogami. Makishima 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 with Sakurai's performance also being the subject of praise.

Creation and development

Shougo Makishima is the antagonist from Psycho-Pass whose rivalry against Shinya Kogami is seen from Akane Tsunemori's point of view.[2] Makishima is commonly serene even during violent scenes as a result of lacking any sort of humanity.[3] Series' writer Gen Urobuchi himself said that one of the series' central themes is "fear" as seen through Shougo Makishima's feeling of being out place. He believes Makishima could have found happiness had he been born in a normal world.[4]

Director Naoyoshi Shiotani said the most relatable character to him was Makishima as both do not like the setting as a result of the advanced technology provided by the Sybil System in order to tell what to do. He considered the criminals to have more humanity than the policemen hunting him down. Nevertheless, he also enjoyed Kogami's characterization for sharing a similar opinion. Furthermore, the director drew parallelism between Makishima and Kogami but felt the aspect of the protagonist and an antagonist in fiction is common. Shiotani further explain this is common in real world in every person. To further distance Makishima from Kogam, their clothing was the opposite with Makishima wearing white while Kogami wears black. Their names are also the opposite: Makishima is Shogo which means the time between midday and sunset, and Kogami is Shinya the time between midnight and sunrise.[5]

Character designer Kyoji Asano said be may be most similar to Makishima. The artist stated that expression on Makishima's face were the hardest to articulate because the character has many different expressions. Asano described him as "scary", but at the same time, the character laughs and shows off his madness, making it very hard to put his thumb on the expression. While describing Makishima as a handsome character, Asano stated that, he still had to adjust his face multiple times due to his actions in the series.[6]

In voicing Makishima, Takahiro Sakurai retrospectively had no idea what to think about his character until he read the script for the series' finale. He found himself liking the character to the point he still felt Makishima was not dead. Shitoani felt that while he originally saw the series from a policeman's point of view, he also ended finding sympathy for the character. Sakurai states that despite murders in the series to the point of showing pleasure when doing them, Makishima had showed humanity when discovering that his only friend, Choi Gu Sung, was killed by Chief Kasei. Shiotani agreed to the point they considered giving Makishima an extra scene in episode 20 where Makishima might be talking to Sung but it was not included in the DVD.[7]

Appearances

Shougo 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.[8] 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 "sound," which means his Psycho-Pass does not detect any abnormal or illegal behavior to report to the Sibyl System.[9]

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".[10] 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.[11]

Outside the anime series, Makishima also appears in the novelization of the series which expand on his relationship with Choe Gu-sung.[12] The novel prequel also features Makishima as the mastermind from the case Mitsuru Sasayama died and caused Kogami to become an Enforcer.[13] He also appears in the manga adaptation Inspector Akane Tsunemori.[14] In the 2015 film Psycho-Pass: The Movie and the 2019 feature Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System, Makishima appears as hallucinations Kogami suffers when dealing with their similar senses of justice.[15][16] He is also a supporting character in the visual novel Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness.[17]

Reception
Takahiro Sakurai's performance as Makishima earned praise.

Shogo Makishima received highly positive response. Following his brief introduction Hiroko Yamamura from Japanator got a feeling related with the anime series Cowboy Bebop.[18] There was praise owing to his orchestration of several crimes but criticism to his immunity to the system by Kotaku's Richard Einsbeis.[19] Fandom Post found his murder of Tsunemori's friends as a "horrible" scene due to the impact on the viewer and most notably Akane, who finds herself helplessness to stop Makishima.[20] For the second half, Kotaku kept giving praise to the character and the balance he made with Akane Tsunemori in entertaining the audience.[21]

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."[22] 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.[23] 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."[24] During the series' second half, Kyle Mills kept calling him "A fantastic series villain."[25]

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."[3][26][27] 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.[26][28] Although Makishima does not appear in Psycho-Pass: the Movie, he has made cameos in the form of hallucinations Kogami suffers. This was the subject of criticism by Anime News Network.[29] Similarly, Makishima's presence was the subject of discussion Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System but in a more positive because of how Kogami deals with his revenge against the antagonist.[30]

The character has been the focus of an analysis by ANN writer Gabriella Ekens. Ekens noticed that Makishima has a tendency to cite multiple novels, most notably 1984 by George Orwell that features a dystopia similar to Psycho-Pass. A closer similarity involves the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad where Makishima is compared with Kurtz as he forces Kogami's Marlow to abandon his ideals. In Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche Makishima was found similar to Nietzsche due to similar views in regards to the modern society and its reliance in regards to their preferences rather than being express individuality.[31] Ekens went to list Makishima as her favorite villain in anime, standing out as one of well-written characters by Gen Urobuchi.[32]

In an official Noitamina poll, Makishima was voted as the best character voiced by Takahiro Sakurai and ranked second in the category "Mister Noitamina."[33] Sakurai was also praised by Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network for his role as Makishima as he makes a "creepily soothing tone."[34] Multiple other polls have included Makishima as one of Sakurai's best performances in anime.[35][36]

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References
  1. 槙島 聖護. TVアニメ「PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス」 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. 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. Dong, Bamboo (March 25, 2013). "The Stream These Girls Can Jump Rope Too, Can't They?!". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  4. "Interview: Gen Urobuchi". Anime News Network. September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  5. "An interview with Psycho-Pass Director Naoyoshi Shiotani". Otaku News. November 29, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  6. "Check Out The Summary Of The New "Psycho-Pass" Character Designer Interview". Crunchyroll. February 4, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  7. "関智一さん、花澤香菜さんをはじめ、豪華キャスト陣が最終回を迎えた『PSYCHO-PASS サイコパス』を語り尽くす！　BD＆DVD発売記念イベントを徹底レポート!!". Animate Times. April 11, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  8. "Symbolism of Bletilla Striata". Psycho Pass. Episode 7. November 23, 2012. Fuji TV.
  9. "Saint's Suppe". Psycho Pass. Episode 11. December 21, 2012. Fuji TV.
  10. "Heart of Iron". Psycho Pass. Episode 17. February 14, 2013. Fuji TV.
  11. "Perfect World". Psycho Pass. Episode 22. March 22, 2013. Fuji TV.
  12. Fukami, Makoto (2013). Psycho-Pass 2. Mag Garden.
  13. Takaba, Aya (2013). Psycho-Pass Namae no Nai Kaibutsu. Mag Garden.
  14. Miyoshi, Hikaru (2013). Inspector Akane Tsunemori. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-870623-8.
  15. Psycho-Pass Sinners of the System On the Other Side of Love and Hat] (DVD). 2019. Studio: Production I.G.
  16. Psycho-Pass: The Movie (DVD). 2015. Studio: Production I.G.
  17. 5pb. Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness. NIS America.
  18. Yamamura, Hiroko (October 16, 2012). "First Impressions: Psycho-Pass". Japanator. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  19. Eisenbeis, Richard (January 8, 2013). "Psycho Pass is a Compelling Cyberpunk Mystery (And It's Only Half Done)". Kotaku. Kotaku. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  20. "Psycho-Pass Episode #10 – 11 Anime Review". Fandom Post. January 21, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  21. 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.
  22. Chapman, Jacob Hope (April 29, 2014). "Psycho-Pass Season One Blu-Ray - Complete Collection [Premium Edition]". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  23. "Psycho-Pass: Part One (Blu-ray)". DVDTalk. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  24. "Psycho-Pass Episode #10 – 11 Anime Review". Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  25. "Psycho-Pass: Part Two (Blu-ray)". Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  26. "Psycho-Pass Episode #21 – 22 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. March 21, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  27. "Psycho-Pass Episode #16 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. February 12, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  28. "Psycho-Pass Episode #19 – 20 Anime Review". The Fandom Post. April 17, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
  29. Chapman, Jacob. "Psycho-Pass: The Movie". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  30. "Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  31. "The Literary Secrets of Psycho-Pass". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  32. "Your Most Memorable Anime Villain". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  33. "Winners of Noitamina 10th Anniversary Fan Vote Announced". Anime News Network. March 31, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  34. "Psycho-Pass episodes 12 - 22 Streaming". Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  35. "櫻井孝宏さんお誕生日記念！一番好きなキャラは？19年版 「PSYCHO-PASS」槙島聖護を抑えたトップは…". Anime Anime. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  36. "櫻井孝宏さんお誕生日記念！一番好きなキャラは？10年以上愛される"あの男"が堂々の1位に". Anime Anime. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
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