They looked like slugs to me, though you are right: there's no way she'd have know that. Nor do I think she's ever seen a shotgun before so she really wouldn't know how to use it.

Poor Akane. Here's my theory for the rest of the season.



So, all in all, I expect a tragic story with maybe a positive twist at the end.

(emphasis mine)

actually it's more complex than that. you never know WHAT the payload is going to be in 12 guage (18mm) shot shell is going to be.

Common load outs include:

Several different sizes of 'birdshot' (TINY pellets, wide spread. used to take down... well Birds), sometimes refered to as 'duckshot', 'partridge shot' or by their pellet size.

Buckshot: about 6 .38 cal (9mm) pellets.

Rifled Slug/Deer Slug: a solid chunk of lead like a giant pistol bullet, only several times the mass.

it also depends on the shotgun itself. because they are designed to shoot pellets the bores are unique among long arms for often being 'Choked' (narrowing towards the muzzle) in order to tighten the spread. It would be unfortunate for Akane if those last two rounds were slugs but the barrel was anything other than the most 'open' (aka Modified cylinder) even a semi-choke let alone full choke would react like a muzzle blockage. And Akane would be doing a Wile E. Coyote impersonation.

Heck given it's a high tech future those last two rounds could have been White Phosphorus 'Dragon fire' or Silent 'Teleshot'
even .50 cal (12.7 mm) Discarding Sabot. with an 18mm plastic shoe around an Armour peircing Steel needle.

given the way she was handling it. I think she'd be lucky to realize it was a shotgun and not some other kind of 'gun'. From a firearms safety point of view, she'd be incredibly DUMB trying fire it. (hmm which she did, and which it was... come to think of it.)

I think you're right but I hope you're wrong about at least some of it. I actually kinda like Akane and hope for growth in her character not a pure tragic 'fall'

I also really like her. And I'd be very happy to be wrong in this case. :)

One of the biggest and most notable themes about Psycho-Pass is "free will." Makishima talks a lot about it during his speech to Akane this episode and I find it quite interesting; he notes that people have become Sibyl's puppets acting without control over themselves. I can see his reasoning behind it because the Sibyl system does, from my deductions, strip away individual's desires and teaches them to conform to the society thus becoming drones of society. This process removes the individual's will and they become sheep; Makishima is interested in observing these sheep and their actions.

Furthermore, in Episode 2, Kogami tells Akane to use her own judgment to shoot; I believe this will come into play later -- Akane has been presented as an individual who attempts to make a rational decision before shooting and the only time she did shoot was in the first episode to stop Kogami. Since Makishima has a huge interest in "free will," I believe this is foreshadowing on Akane's character. The OP seems to hint some things too but as of now, I'll take them as red herrings.

Regarding the Sibyl System, I found what Makishima said about intent to be very intriguing; he says that the Sibyl System fails to measure intent and can only judge individuals by their desire. This is an interesting case because, here in the U.S., intent is used as basis to judge the convicted.



Ugh, this was a sloppily written post -- I can't think straight after pulling an all-nighter.

Thank you papagolfwhiskey for your indepth knowledge of shotgun loads. lol I was trying to keep it simple for the sake of my comment though. xD

Also I hope Pandito is completely wrong for the rest of the season theories. It would be interesting I think if she tested as normal (like Makishima) even after seeing her best friend murdered.

Sorry

PGW <<< armchair gun nut.

Nah its fine, I'm a gun lover as well.

Just marathoned this show on Hulu and must say Episode 11 had to end that way to leave a profound impression upon the viewer. Actually, episode 11 changed my attitude from a Very Good show ANN poll rating to Excellent. Can't wait, but will have to, for Season 2 to begin whenever that happens. Wished CR could've picked this 1 up.

Every system, no matter how well designed, inherently will reveal some bug or flaw once application is initiated . This episode 11 illustrated 1 of the idiosyncracies about how structured or institutionalized systems' architecture design can disappoint. Had the Inspector popped off both rounds with a clear mind there was still no guarantee Makishima would have stood there like a propped up beached whale waiting to be sprayed with buckshot.

Sincerely hope this is a trend toward more future anime that's provocative and edgy rather than sublimely sappy and insipid.

I am loving this thread... woohoo!!

This is a sign of a excellent anime. It makes you think.

I do feel really bad for Akane chan, this is one experience you can not easily recover from . It will always be there in your head especialy for a person like Akane chan.
Indeed Makishima has said a lot of interesting things about free will to exercise your own and how people just follow like everyone else but isnt it funny that Urobochi san is writing about the Japanese culture wherein conformity is accepted and that your own will is not as important as the will of the group.

I belong to a church where free will is important but yet there is so much pressure to be one with as a group ...so somehow I understand in an certain level what he was talking about

Yeap ...if Akane really know how to use that double barrel shotgun then it aint going to be pretty up there.

I think at best if Akane had grabbed the shotgun with both hands and glared at him over the sighting bead with true 'murderous intent' (funny how anime characters can sense this in other characters but oh well) he would have used Yuki as a distraction probably by putting her in mortal peril and/or scarring her for life while laughing about how Akane had become what she beheld. wouldn't have been quite as powerful but still I can't see akane being allowed by the authors to make it to the third act unscathed.

I wondered how different the episode (11) would have progressed had the mechanical robocop not sidelined the survivng robodog moments before bringing down our man Kogumi (who looks a lot like Tatsumi Saiga in SpeedGrapher) with Akane's friend Yuki in tow. This scene tempered my excitement about the suspense this show was cultivating within while leading the viewer(s) up to the ultimate climax.

Aside from all the great discussions about Akane the Dominator and Sybil System here is a legit question.How did the Sybil system know the cyborg and his dogs were threats went not human?Valid point?Dont get me wrong I like this anime a lot and thought Kogami outsmarted them ans was a highlight too.

yeah, that happened in episode 3 first .

I thought about that too and i keep thinking what made the dominator respond to them. What would be the logical answer or thinking when Urobochi san wrote that part .And the only thing I can think of right now is coz I am sleepy ....is .....imrpinting lol

Makishima provided an explanation of how the Dominators work this episode; they scan people (and I guess by an extent everything else) and judge them base on what the scans pick up. I don't recall what Makishima exactly said but it was around the halfway point of the episode when he explains how the guns work.