Mindless happiness: presentism, utopia and dystopian suspension of thought in <i>Psycho-Pass</i>

Cervelli, Filippo

doi:10.1080/09555803.2021.1942137

Japan Forum

2022

DOI: 10.1080/09555803.2021.1942137

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Mindless happiness: presentism, utopia and dystopian suspension of thought in Psycho-Pass

Filippo Cervelli¹

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Cited by 3 publications

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The Horror of Serenity

Holcombe

2023

JAMS

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The sublime is a common subject in European literary studies, particularly in Victorian and Romantic period literary scholarship. The Greek writer Longinus proposed the concept in the 1st century in On the Sublime (first printed in 1554), and Edward Burke later popularized it in his work A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757). The sublime is less discussed in anime studies due to its European origins, but it has a robust history in Japanese literature and philosophy. Recently, scholars have begun discussing its presence in anime. This paper examines European and Japanese definitions of the sublime and then applies the European Romantic definition to Psycho-Pass. Psycho-Pass’s focus on horror, self-knowledge, and European philosophy makes it an ideal subject for examining the sublime in anime. Rikako Oryo is a schoolgirl who murders her classmates and is hunted by the protagonists in one of the show’s side arcs. Her art emphasizes how the sublime's "horror" element can stimulate critical thought and concurs with the Kierkegaardian theory of the sublime. The primary antagonist, Shogo Makishima, represents the more transcendent aspects of the sublime and its role in self-knowledge and identity. After examining Rikako and Makishima, the paper takes a step back and apply the principles of the sublime to anime as a medium and Psycho-Pass as a whole. Psycho-Pass reminds viewers that violent media like horror anime and crime stories can use the sublime as a catalyst for critical thinking without endorsing violence.

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The Horror of Serenity

Holcombe

2023

JAMS

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Design of the Dystopian Universe Based on the Superpanoptic Surveillance Society in the “Face Recognition” Animation Film

UĞUZ

2024

Akdeniz Sanat

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Distopik anlatılar, yaşanmak istenmeyen toplumlara ve ülkelere dair anlatılar olup amaçları izleyicilere katarsis yaşatarak daha iyi hissetmelerini sağlamak değil, içinde yaşanan toplumlar hakkında eleştirel ve sorgulayıcı olmaya yöneltmektir. Gözetim toplumuna dayalı distopyaların ele alındığı sinema filmlerine ait akademik incelemelere sıkça rastlanmaktadır; fakat gözetim toplumuna dayalı distopik anlatı animasyonları konusunda yapılmış akademik inceleme yok denecek kadar azdır. Bu çalışma animasyonda gözetim toplumuna dayalı distopyanın nasıl resmedildiğini ve distopik eleştirelliğin nasıl kurgulandığını araştırmayı amaçlar. Çalışmada Sovyetler Birliği döneminde Estonya’da yaşamış olan animatör Martinus Klemet’in Face Recognition adlı distopik kısa animasyon filmi incelenmiştir. Öncelikle gözetim toplumu ile ilgili alanyazındaki sosyolojik kuramlar ve kavramlar ortaya konmuş, ardından gözetim toplumuna dayalı distopya filmleri hakkında yapılmış incelemeler ele alınmıştır. Face Recognition filminin analizi için görsel, işitsel ve tematik ögelerin analizine dayanan filmsel metin analizi kullanılmıştır. Analiz bulgularına bakıldığında Face Recognition filminin süperpanoptik*** evreninde özel ve kamusal alanlarda yer alan gözetleme kameraları, bireylerin kişisel bilgilerinin depolandığı veri tabanları, 2D animasyon ile pixel art gibi farklı animasyon tekniklerinin bir arada kullanılması, dijitalize edilmiş ses ve görüntüler, müstesna kadavra gibi sürreal bir teknik ile hem gözetleme toplumunun farklı yönleri ortaya konulmuş hem de seyircinin yabancılaştırılması ve uyarılması ile distopyanın eleştirelliği vurgulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak animasyonda gerek distopik anlatının tasarımı, gerekse distopik eleştirelliğin kurgulanması için görsel, işitsel, tematik ve yapısal olmak üzere faydalanılabilecek çok sayıda öge bulunduğu ifade edilebilir.

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"This is a disease called serenity: A form of death that people have wished for": Foucauldian themes in anime 'Psycho-Pass'

Stevanović

2024

Zb Akad umetnosti

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The aim of this paper is to use as an example the first season of the anime Psycho-Pass, based on a story written by Urobuchi GEN, and directed by Shiotani Naoyoshi and Motohiro Katsuyuki, and analyze it using Michel Foucault's studies regarding his themes of panopticism and resistance. The framework upon which the analysis is based consists of Michel Foucault's studies, primarily his study Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison originally published in 1975, as well as his essays on resistance and anti-authority struggles. The paper aims to show how the anime uses notions presented by Foucault in creating its concept of the Sybil System, an embodiment of the Panopticon, and how it maintains control over the people. The paper also aims to analyze characters from the anime, and how their actions can be perceived as ways of resisting against an oppressive, omnipresent system within the society. Hopefully, this paper will provide another way of using Foucault's well-known concepts, in this instance, for an analysis of a Japanese anime.

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Mindless happiness: presentism, utopia and dystopian suspension of thought in Psycho-Pass

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

The Horror of Serenity

The Horror of Serenity

Design of the Dystopian Universe Based on the Superpanoptic Surveillance Society in the “Face Recognition” Animation Film

"This is a disease called serenity: A form of death that people have wished for": Foucauldian themes in anime 'Psycho-Pass'

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