Today I watched episodes 4 to 6 of Psycho Pass and things are finally starting to move. We get more of Kougami’s backstory and a proper introduction to characters who seem likely to remain antagonists for much longer than the usual one episode criminals.

The first two episodes focus on a virtual community where popular avatars are being murdered one after another, yet the victims appear to still be active inside the platform. The culprit had been impersonating them and continuing their online presence to hide the crimes.

The investigation team is called in to stop the situation before it spirals out of control and, after a first failed attempt that caused Akane to lose confidence in herself, Kougami manages to figure out the culprit’s motive (he was a deranged fan of these virtual avatars) and take him down.

At the same time we learn that this culprit was nothing more than a pawn. Everything he used had been supplied by a mysterious figure who seems interested in researching new methods of committing crimes. We still know very little about him, only that he is calm, calculating and clearly dangerous.

What makes it especially interesting is that this figure seems connected to Kougami’s past. As hinted by Ginoza, Kougami used to be an inspector just like Akane, but he was demoted to enforcer after witnessing the brutal murder of a close friend. 

The trauma sent his Crime Coefficient into the latent criminal range. The murderer was never caught and many believe he had outside help, which strongly hints that the mysterious mastermind behind the virtual murders was involved back then too. 

Episode 6 begins a new arc centered around a school murder case with a schoolgirl as the first victim. While the obvious suspect is presented fairly early (I suspect it is the girl shown in the first picture of this post as she emanates that "i'm evil" aura), it is already clear that someone else is pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The pattern matches the previous arc, suggesting the mastermind is testing even more scenarios.

By the way, Akane is still as cute as she was in the first three episodes. Sometimes I feel like she has the energy of a small animal, almost like a hamster that needs protecting. I am curious whether she will keep this personality throughout the series or slowly grow into a more hardened version of herself as things escalate.