| Nobody Knows Your Mask | |
|---|---|
| |
| Episode Information | |
| Kanji | 誰も知らないあなたの仮面 |
| Rōmaji | Daremo Shiranai Anata no Kamen |
| Air date | November 2, 2012 |
| Opening | Abnormalize |
| Ending | Monster Without a Name |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous ← Rearing Conventions |
Next Nobody Knows Your Face → |
Nobody Knows Your Mask is the fourth episode of Psycho-Pass.
Synopsis
Division 01 attempts to find the culprit behind the murder of a man known online as the popular avatar "Talisman", now controlled by his killer. Akane Tsunemori, with the help of the avatar "Spooky Boogie", infiltrates a CommuField gathering to expose the murderer, but the ploy goes awry. Afterward, the murderer, who happens to be working with Shogo Makishima, kills the owner of "Spooky Boogie" and takes over her avatar, as well.
Story
Tsunemori talking with Talisman.
Tsunemori is seen as an avatar speaking with another avatar by the name Talisman in a virtual CommuField. She asks in an ambiguous manner whether she can trust a colleague (i.e. Shinya Kogami) because he does crazy things, yet sometimes makes great sense. Talisman tells her to accept his true nature if she wants an honest answer. His answer, of course, only confuses her.
Scene skip to Tomomi Masaoka painting tulips at an easel with Tsunemori watching him. She asks him also about Kogami's nature, to which Masaoka says, "dogs are dogs and owners are owners," adding that it's best to keep them separate in her mind since to understand Kogami, she must think like Kogami; and that is a dangerous path. They then receive a call from Nobuchika Ginoza and the unit goes to work.
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Division 01 finds a scratch on the floor.
Their case involves a man named Kimihiko Hayama, who has been missing for over two weeks. In his apartment they utilize a holo to show them the apartment as it was two weeks earlier. The furniture has been rearranged and when they move it, along with the carpet, they discover residue of adhesive tape and a scratch on the floor which Crime Lab Drones are called in to analyze. With only his instincts at work, Kogami speculates that Hayama was killed in a bloodless manner, then dismembered on a plastic tarp taped to the floor, dematerialized into organic matter and flushed down the sink or toilet. He points out to Ginoza that Masaoka would have known that immediately, causing Ginoza to bristle; however, he accepts Kogami's explanation. Shusei Kagari hacks into Hayama's computer and they learn that he was a famous avatar named ‒ Talisman ‒ a fact that surprises Tsunemori, who reveals that she met with the avatar just that morning.
Back at headquarters, Shion Karanomori sarcastically congratulates the drones for finding evidence of a dematerialized body in the sewer pipes. Yayoi Kunizuka points out that Talisman is still operating online, so Kagari kids that it's a ghost. Masaoka suggests a poser but Karanomori says Hayama played with multiple IP's. Kogami suggests checking the access routes, but they're using proxy servers. Ginoza then proposes they contact Talisman directly, but carefully.
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Tsunemori and Ginoza's avatars.
Ginoza and Tsunemori enter Talisman's CommuField as avatars: Ginoza as a talking dime and Tsunemori as her "Lemonade Candy" avatar. They see Talisman who leaves his own CommuField to enter another avatar's ‒ that of Spooky Boogie, who emerges to cheers from her fans. The detectives follow, wondering aloud if the avatars know one another. Tsunemori is then whisked into Spookie Boogie's private chat room where Spooky Boogie suggests that Lemonade Candy and she know one another from school. They then discuss Talisman.
Spooky Boogie reveals that Talisman's behavior was very odd two months ago, even self-sabotaging; but he made a miraculous come-back. Tsunemori says she thinks Talisman's operator is a poser and Spooky Boogie offers to help with the investigation as an old school friend of Tsunemori's. Spooky Boogie returns Tsunemori to the CommuField and invites everyone to attend a real life cosplay event where she and Talisman will compete for top kudos. Talisman accepts. The crowded event takes place at Club Exoset where Kogami expresses disdain for people's stupidity at being up close and personal with perfect strangers while Tsunemori says anonymity is social media's lure. Kogami reminds her that in real life, people can actually die.
Choe warns Mido that the party is actually a trap.
Meanwhile, in a private room, the club owner speaks with a Mr. Mido about the presence of a Dominator in the club. Mr. Mido, it turns out, is Talisman. As Tsunemori dons her avatar to approach him, a shrill noise blasts the club and everyone is decked out as "Talisman". Masaoka tells the team to use their Dominators to check Crime Coefficients and as they do so, many attendees are identified and subdued while others flee.
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Makishima appears at the end of the episode.
Back at Spooky Boogie's CommuField an angry mob gathers, blaming her for the police raid. Suddenly, Talisman appears among the crowd. He accuses Spooky Boogie of being a faux anarchist and threatens to expose her ways. She logs out and her human form is seen for the first time operating from within Club Exoset. She is strangled there by a bespectacled man who prepares to cut up and decompose her body, revealing himself to be Hayama's murderer, as well. Outside the room, Makishima and the club owner are waiting. Mido tells Makishima that he will take over Spooky Boogie's avatar and Makishima agrees that he will do an even better job than Shoko Sugawara, just as he has done over Hayama.
Characters
List of characters in order of appearance:
Trivia
- The event at Club Exoset (in Roppongi) takes place on the 4th of the month (likely December 2112).[1]
- The book Makishima reads is 1984, a dystopian novel by George Orwell that tells a tale about a futuristic society whose every move is watched by the ever-present Big Brother, a clear reference to the Sibyl System. The cover is the actual appearance of the first edition of the book.
Quotes
"Face his true character, huh?"
— Akane Tsunemori to herself-(about Kogami)
"Do you wanna ask me about Kogami? [...] You two have this strange connection. Almost like fate. [...] To understand Kogami means to think the way he does. To see the world through his eyes... And if you do that, your Crime Coefficient will become as his as well. "When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes into you." Kogami stared into the darkness for too long. And he's still staring into it even now. Maybe for him, the only true justice in the world exists solely in the depths of that darkness. If you wanna go search for something like that with him, there's nothing more I can say. I can't stop you. I couldn't stop Ko, either."
— Tomomi Masaoka to Akane Tsunemori
"Unemployed? Do people like that exists in this day and age?"
— Akane Tsunemori to Nobuchika Ginoza, Shinya Kogami and Shusei Kagari- (about Kimihiko Hayama)
"If old Masaoka was here, he'd have sniffed out something like this the moment he stepped into the room, Gino. Don't underestimate a hunting dog's sense of smell."
— Shinya Kogami to Nobuchika Ginoza
"Shall I give you a bit assistance? [...] It wouldn't be a bad idea to get one of the PSB's rising stars in my debt, right? [...] We were in the same class, after all."
— Shoko Sugawara (as Spooky Boogie) to Akane Tsunemori (as Lemonade Candy)
"This isn't virtual. If someone gets hit, they'll bleed. A single knife can take a life away. This is the real world. And yet, they don't even know who's right next to them. They must be out of their minds."
— Shinya Kogami to Akane Tsunemori
"That kind of thinking is why your Psycho-Pass is so cloudy. U-Um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." (Tsunemori)
- "Well, it's hard to argue with that."
— Shinya Kogami's reply
"Damn. They got us."
— Nobuchika Ginoza to himself
"You've preached anarchism all this time and been admired for it. And yet, you've acted as an agent for the government. Such a thing is impermissible. [...] You have betrayed your own character. You are no longer Spooky Boogie. You are no longer qualified to be an avatar admired by the public. [...] I know more about you than you yourself do."
— Masatake Mido (as Talisman) to Shoko Sugawara (as Spooky Boogie)
"That woman was ill-suited to the role of Spooky Boogie. But Spooky Boogie should not disappear. She must continue to bring smiles to everyone's faces. Spooky Boogie shall remain in this world, but the woman behind her will disappear without a trace."
— Masatake Mido to Shogo Makishima
References