Psycho-Pass 3

With Urobuchi gone, I didn't expect much of this season. It still failed my expectations.

I expected to, much like the second season, for it to try and explore the themes set out by the first season at the base of Psycho Pass' world. Instead, we have a plot centered around the introduction of a completely new entity, Bifrost, that contradicts the position Sybil appeared to have when Urobuchi.

I expected it to remain grounded in the world set out by the previous seasons, but, after 8 double-length episodes, Arata still appears to come up just short of clairvoyance, the perfect control of the Sybil System is ... contradicted by the existance of intentional gaps in it's control, and the politics of Sybil controlled Japan, which were previously stated to be a sham, are suddenly an institution with actual power and influence, and all changes going unadressed.

I expected the main characters from the previous season to be a constant presence in order to continue their stories. Instead, Shimotsuki appears to have undergone significant development almost entirely offscreen, and, for the longest time, Ginoza, Akane, and Kogami occasionally show up as barely a cameo, mostly to hint at further developments.

I also found the plot overall harder to follow than when Makishima discoursed at length on philosophy and Sci-fi references for several minutes at a time. That might have to do with having to wrap my head around the inconsistencies in world building. The characters of season 3 can spend several minutes discussing the implications of a political elections and just leave me scratching my head, wondering why, under the totalitarian control of Sybil, that would be important.

As a minor gripe, I wish we had seen the Dominators being used more often, but I guess that's a symptom of the smaller presence of the Sybil System in the world of Season 3. We did get some nice looking fist fights, but it's jarring for the inspectors, representatives and arbiters of Sybil's ultimate will, to have to engage in punch ups when any intent to beat an inspector to death should cloud one's hue enough for them to be justifiably used. I'm not sure we even saw the non-lethal paralyzer being used at all.

In short, I doubt I'll be back to this series. My expectations were low, but the contradictions in worldbuilding, the lack of a concrete continuation of anything set by the previous seasons, and a complete lack of any conclusion amount to a complete lack of justification for the existence of another entry to the series. Considering the way the last episode felt, the post-credits scene, and the name of the next movie indicating that it might be a prequel, everything just make me feel like the intent here is to slap the Psycho Pass name on an unrelated sci-fi detective series rather than continuing what made it interesting back in 2012.

-Note: English is not my native language, I apologize for possible mistakes. (This review does not contain spoilers)

After the enormous emptiness that excellent villain Makishima Shougo left us and that great first season of PP, we finally have an acceptable sequel that tries to bring new things, new characters and similar airs, but not the same. Although of course we will always miss our dear and handsome Kougami, right? Well, at least in my case if I love it too much.

I generally liked how it was carried out this season, without making the mistakes of the second, without using protagonists of the previous season for ... a long time and using new protagonists, it has allowed the story to develop acceptably, something that the second season failed to start with the villain that without offending was and felt like a cheap copy of the first villain or at least I felt that, and I think a good percentage too, without demeriting the good things that the second season has, that there are.

Also something to note is that each episode at the beginning has excellent fighting scenes and animated choreographies with incredible quality, and those scenes are in almost every episode. It's great and more considering that it lasts twice as much as the rest of the animes per week, 50 minutes per episode which was a surprise.

I can criticize things, such as the small participing of the old protagonists although I liked it, felt this somewhat forced, there are also many loose ends from the beginning, events that occurred off-screen that keep the viewer's doubt at all times, especially when dealing with Akane Tsunemori.

The series comes to feel somewhat episodic at certain times and very detective with various cases that do not stop feeling a bit like "Normal Cases" can be said that there are too many sub-plots developing in Psycho-Pass 3, remembering the anarchist Makishima in the entire first season of Psycho-Pass, this was touches more philosophical themes, not at all compared to the most detective theme the series has had since its second season.

Here we are presented to Bifrost a criminal and clandestine organization that operates through this indirect gambling game for elitists to gain and power in the shadow of Sybil and the change of social paradigms. Makishima instead wanted to demolish social foundations and "faced Sybil" head on. However, the plots of past characters converge with that of the new ones to reach a climax, I love these kinds of stories, they do not stagnate with only one protagonist throughout the story and they explore the rest of the characters in depth to create tangles and secluded frames that are focused at the end for one thing in common.

As a personal point, I want to write about Mika's character, I didn't like Mika much in Psycho-Pass 2 but she's quickly become such an amazing and funny character starting in the first Sinners of the System OVA & continuing strong throughout Psycho-Pass 3. Definitely one of more entertaining characters.

As for the animation and the OST are excellent, if there is something that stands out a lot in PP, it's this incredible soundtrack which is always at the top, and as I said before its animation and especially its fight scenes are very remarkable.

Finally, I think that Psycho-Pass 3 despite having twice as many minutes per episode, needed more chapters to be able to elaborate a story at 100% conditions.

Story
The strength of this show, in my opinion, lies in the webs weaved by the unseen higher powers,i.e Bifrost and Sibyl. Each episode expanded the world to an extent, with immigration being the main issue at hand. Because of immigration, of for the sake of the issue , commit crimes as per their beliefs, whether it be using religious organizations as a front, creating/mass producing weapons, etc. The long run time of each episode allows the viewer to understand the issue at hand and end with a somewhat satisfying conclusion. There rarely is a cliff hanger and that is a great strength of this show. ... The show attempts to show the connection of all the minor antagonist, however it doesn't really get through until the end (and by the end I mean the eighth episode). In someways the Bifrost and the congressmen are still as confusing as they were in the first episode( I still don't know what they mean by relation).

Character:
The introduction of new characters as the viewers perspective allowed new watchers a reprieve from the old. The inclusion of the foreign bureau while important seems little more than cameos at this point, if the show does not have another season, as Kogami and Akane do very little in the main plot other than fight a little, and reference the plot(somewhat) of previous seasons.The new characters are semi interesting but as they have yet to finish their character arcs, and the anime was wholly dedicated on writing an intricate plot, sometimes the characters fall short of likable(as in my favorite character that I remember more than a few traits about). My one complain in the story is the constant attempts to bring up Arata's father, when Arata does it fine, but every other side character...why? It's a bit annoying to be honest... My very last nitpick is in the final episode Arata's mentalist powers have transformed from being able to figure out anyone's thought process by listening to the sound of rain, to being able to manipulate anyone(Maybe I misheard/read that but Kei's sudden accusations made no sense to me).

Art:
The art was fairly good, the characters were distinct and in action scenes their features were not lost, alongside the movements being fluid. My favorite parts were watch Arata doing parkour, or Kei beating up goons. The art otherwise is standard and very clear. Overall the tone was dark, matching the show's setting and intentions.

Sound:
The opening and ending are quite catchy with the animations following it quite fluidly. Other than that the soundtracks within the anime matched the pacing and tone of every scene, so while it did it's job, but maybe it's nothing to write home about. Overall the opening and ending are better than most of the openings and ending of this anime season.

Enjoyment:
A story with an air of mystery up until the end, answering some questions and leaving many others unfulfilled. The core of this anime is different than many others and because of it's uniqueness , as well as it's different perspective , it's fairly easy to enjoy.Though, you may need to strap down when watching because if you aren't pay attention, everything will go right over your head.

Overall:
The anime is dark, mysterious, and explores interesting themes and plot threads. The characters have a certain level of appeal to them and luckily they don't require much investment on the viewer's part. It's hard to follow if you aren't paying attention, and skimming is almost nigh impossible. It's best to watch this when your'ready to bunker down for suspense and drama.Note that this anime rarely if ever has notes of comedy, but at the very least it isn't going to bawl your eyes out(or maybe tear up for that matter). The sole focus of the show is it's story, and I believe , at the very least, it delivers an intriguing story.

P.S if there was to be another season, this anime would overall only gain value, as of my writing this review I'm unaware if there is no following season as such , this is my grading without consideration of a following season.

I was hoping this would be a witty, interesting detective spin-off with new characters to love and enough removal from the original source material to maintain fresh writing in the futuristic world of the Sibyl System I was enthralled with watching first season.

So far, at episode 5/8 (with twice the time per episode to develop plot and characters), I find myself incredibly disappointed with the trajectory of the show. Each episode is supposed to be its own detective story with some subtle hints at an overarching “grand finale” plot. However, NONE of the characters aside from the two leads have any personality at ... all. The writer opts for one-liner clichés and trope-heavy indirect characterization. When it’s alluded that a “mole” might be present in the Public Safety Bureau, it’s hard to even care, because we know so little about the characters IN the Public Safety Bureau. Any intrigue that might become available to the viewer feels hollow, as we don’t get to know the characters interacting with story developments (and because a lot of story developments happen in “round table” discussion format that is monotonous and long-winded to watch.)

There are several things about the writing that are cumbersome--we learn early on that Arata has special powers, but the viewer doesn’t have the pleasure of discovering more about how they work or his background. Instead, we get to see him collapse a bunch of times in a bunch of ways, all while his partner picks up the pieces. It makes the “detective genius with an odd quirk” trope get old REALLY fast. Sometimes you get a taste of maybe learning something new and fresh, but then it’s dropped or left unexplored. Part of the issue is the show opts for adding new characters or pieces to the puzzle for intrigue instead of using the core pieces it already has efficiently. What’s left is a confusing jumble of forgotten characters and vague tangents that promise more info with no follow through.

Social and political issues such as immigration and economic evil are referenced, but the exploration of these themes remains shallow at best. It feels like the social issues that are discussed and the world building run parallel—when the writer tries to intersect the two, it feels clunky. I’m still holding out hope for developments towards the end, but as it is now, the show already has quite a few problems.

I will say that the animation and music, particularly during the fight scenes, are entertaining and well executed (though few and far between). If you’re a completionist or die-hard fan, this is bearable content. But if you’re looking to get into the series this way, or are satisfied with how the last two seasons played out, it’s safe to say you can skip this storyline.

Story(8): We are only 4 episodes in so the anime is currently at its early stages(will update soon after it finishes), hence the low rating. So far I think the buildup is going great, we are taken on a somewhat different path from other seasons(not all about sibyl being bad) and i think this is something new and fresh. I think there are many aspects to this story and we have seen the branching stories, like the gambling game and the stalker duo. Im looking forward to it all connecting but so far definitely not the letdown s2 was for me(villain was good tho XD).

Art(10): ... Psycho pass s3 is probably the best anime in 2019 production-wise. If you've watched do I even have to say anything? The CG is top-notch, the animation and art are all outstanding. In episode 2 the brawl out between kogami and the enforcers in that camcorder style fashion was breath-taking.

Sound(9): Why you may ask? Psycho pass ost has always been phenomenal and anytime they include ost 1 from the original its a 10/10 moment.

Character(9): Since we are 4 episodes in not much has been released. However, episode 3 gave us a closer look at the new faces. Honestly, I love these characters now, the family disgrace and the protector of the neighbourhood. The bond that Arata and ignatov share, as well as Ignatova's struggle in a foreign country, was all great character development. I now feel much more invested in these characters and am looking forward to seeing their character arc unfold.

Enjoyment(9): I love psycho pass, season 1 was a 10/10 for me no questions. S3 so far has been amazing the 2009 stock market crisis was really fun to see in chibi mode. The very concept of mystery, tech and dystopias is very enjoyable to watch. With the 1 hour episodes, I can enjoy a lot more content however an issue I found with the second episode was that they ended the first part halfway through the 2nd episode which was kinda weird.

Overall(9): S3 of psycho pass is shaping up to be a great season and I highly recommend you to watch if ur an avid fan of psycho pass. Its a culmination of dystopia, mystery, and futuristic gadgets. What's not to love?

If you've read any one of a third of my reviews, you will know that Psycho-Pass' first season is one of my favorite works of art/literature/entertainment/whatever of all time. It's a downright classic. That said, I was not particularly wowed by its second season (I read the manga and wrote a review on that) or the sequel film, which I found rather boring. Additionally, while I have yet to see the Sinners of the System films, I haven't heard the highest of praise for them. In short, I wasn't buying into the idea that the show's producers wanted this franchise to be as successful as ... Ghost in the Shell (and boy was THAT property ever milked...), and I grew to accept that season 1 was really the only entry worth watching (also rewatching twice, apparently!) and buying on Blu-ray; I settled into a state of quasi-indifference toward the franchise, especially when I learned that Tow Ubukata was back from season 2 to work on season 3.

That's not to say that Tow Ubukata is a bad writer; while it is true that Le Chevalier d'Eon did little to intrigue me and GitS Arise was (apparently) disappointingly bad, there is no denying that the man has ideas that are worth exploring. This even applies to Psycho-Pass 2, what may be considered the most hated project to which he was attached. Ubukata has gone on record in interviews detailing many of the problems he and the writing staff faced, most notably the atrociously tight deadlines (they would finalize the script DURING dubbing sessions), and it's clear that said deadlines (compounded by the show's insane brevity and need to copy season 1) was a main reason why it was unable to explore the few unique ideas that it could allow in a more nuanced and exciting way while telling a wholly new story, ideas like the Sibyl System having a direct opposer/rival that wishes to see it destroyed.

Well, thanks to Tow Ubukata, a similar idea is in season 3. But, really, that's the least superficial difference between seasons 1 and 3; let's take a look at something more broad, like the show's genre.

Season 1 was not a mystery series. It's got elements of neo-noir, dystopia, science fiction, police procedural, and thriller, but NOT MYSTERY. Season 3 is most definitely a mystery; we don't see how crimes are committed, characters' intentions are really only ever hinted at until the big reveal, etc. This show is more like GitS:SAC season 1 than other Psycho-Pass titles, and I think this was exactly the direction the producers' meetings took: "We need to stay true to the roots of why we wanted to make this franchise in the first place. What about its writing style made GitS:SAC so popular and how can we incorporate that style into Psycho-Pass?" "Well, it was more like a police drama you would typically see on TV, not anything revolutionary; just with cyberpunk."

Did they only then realize that there was a gaping bullet hole in their project's foot? Probably, but I also wouldn't think it beyond them to realize that it was Gen Urobuchi, the season 1 head writer, who pulled the trigger.

The problem with Psycho-Pass for so long has been that it simply wasn't sustainable. You can't take a fictional world so tightly constructed to be self-contained and revolutionary in just one season of television and make a franchise out of it, that's just not viable. They tried, but it was never going to work because a setting can only be geared toward a very specific set of themes, and season 1 covered that set very well already. Rather than attempt to recapture that same exact lightning in a different bottle, they finally started doing what I have been thinking they needed to do for a while now: change the setting. If the fictional world doesn't serve the purposes you need it to, change key details about that world so it does. Season 3 is the first entry in the franchise to do just that; the newly-incorporated anti-isolationist policies in Psycho-Pass' Japan has caused an influx of refugees from all around the heavily war-torn globe, and this adds a sense of tangible progression to the timeline as well as allowing for new stories with new themes to be told and the introduction of more problems that have been affecting us in the present, namely the rise of isolationist movements and more overt racism/bigotry and hate crime throughout the world. Also, Japan is absolutely notorious for their homogeneous society and staunch isolationism, so its sure to garner attention from at least some of the Japanese populace as well. On top of all of that, the writers also portray a solid understanding of why the Sibyl System is so well-received by the fictional world's populace and subsequently satirize the pursuit of convenience, comfort, and security over personal freedom. Episode 4 did that the best with the elevator scene.

Is this show perfect? Well, no, of course not; some characters stay rather underdeveloped relative to others, but as the show is progressing, more is learned about each of the new cast. Additionally, I enjoy how the plot and mystery further thickens as we learn more about each character, and this is especially true for episodes 4 and 5. That aside, I'm not a big fan of how one of the main characters basically has a pair of superpowers considering how more-or-less realistic the rest of the show is. I also think that the pace is a bit slow in some scenes; if this show were in a more anime-standard 23-minute format, I would definitely feel that some episodes (excluding episode 4) were less action-packed than others. Perhaps the 46-minute format, in addition to even further evoking the feel of live-action TV police dramas, was meant to counter this, but because the characters are consistently entertaining and develop while simultaneously making good progress in their investigations, I'm not really bothered by how there are often long stretches of time with nary an action scene in sight. This isn't new to Psycho-Pass, either, as season 1 had interesting philosophical discussion in addition to its stylized and entertaining characters. Season 3, I think, suffers from only having some philosophical discussion, but what is present, verbal and nonverbal alike, is well-received and make the show more worthwhile. I just wish there was more of it. Its biggest problem for me, however, is that it is FAR, FAR from complete. The final episode brings in a lot of new plot elements and, while I totally saw the post-credits scene coming, it still had me wanting to see what would come next. Too bad we have to wait God-knows-how-long to see a 4th season.

Getting back to more positive aspects, when we do see action scenes, they tend to look very, very good, although, to be fair, episode 4 was rife with action to the point where some of it looked good, but other parts were a bit rough. In spite of this, it was clear to me since first seeing that list of the key animators' names in the opening theme that this was a work that the staff were proud to present, because key animator names basically never appear in opening credits. They didn't even do that in Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Freaking... KABANERI didn't do that!

The music and sound design are also as good as ever in the franchise; Yugo Kanno is back on the soundtrack with an almost completely original composition. Don't worry, though; they aren't afraid to play season 1 music when it's right for the scene. Also, the voice acting is as solid as in previous entries; newcomers Yuki Kaji and Yuichi Nakamura feel right at home in this show, and even Junichi Suwabe and Mamoru Miyano join the cast! I was pleasantly surprised to find them here. I am, however, a bit disappointed that Funimation could not get the license to this show and dub it. I can only guess who they would cast in all the new roles. Oh well. Maybe someday. And before you raise your pitchforks and scream "dubs should die", remember that some people are dyslexic and have trouble reading, or are unable to read as quickly as the subtitles demand them to; please be considerate of these individuals.

All in all, in spite of its problems, Psycho-Pass 3 was a rather bright spot in a season that has left me rather disappointed for the most part. You don't NEED to have seen season 1 or the film to watch this show, but the juicy details and moments are present and fun to appreciate, even if they blatantly reskinned the famously climactic scene of "Saint's Supper" from season 1. This season did its job in engaging me and getting me to want more, but I can't help but feel a bit dissatisfied by how things didn't shake out at the end. Who is the man in the mask? What happened between the super-inspector's dad and the violent-inspector's brother? What proof does Sibyl have that Akane Tsunemori isn't criminally asymptomatic? All right, that last one is from me alone, but the point is none of these are answered. I don't know if there will be any kind of payoff in the future, and so I can't give this the original 8 out of 10 for which I had it pegged. A high 7 out of 10 (as opposed to a low 7) is in order: solidly entertaining, a slightly disappointing ending, but enough smarts to make it worth one's time, at least for one full watch.

Happy Watching!
- LC

Psycho-Pass 3 is the latest installment in a long-standing franchise that continues to explore interesting concepts surrounding a unique technology in a dystopian future. This is done in a manner that allows the viewer to act as "detective" along with the protagonists, Arata Shindo and Kei Mikhail Ignatov, as they pursue their mission. The anime's best feature lie in the dynamics of those Inspectors and their team of Enforcers, all of whom are interesting and well-voiced. Ignatov's wife is a non-police character who provides an interesting backdrop to the work the police do. There are shortcomings, of course, and condensing the series into eight episodes ... from the usual 10-13 is one as it forces the slower storytelling style of most anime, which fans appreciate, to lose cohesiveness. On the positive side, that choppiness creates tension, which investigative work engenders, pushing the characters forward. The up-side? Viewers are expected to play "detective" along with the characters instead of being spoon-fed and there is not a shred of shipper-y material anywhere to be found (without a huge stretch of the imagination). Instead, PP3 gives one a fly-on-the-wall point of view that, at times, is frustrating but also involves one emotionally without one realizing it until you are "one" with the protagonists. It is well worth your time.

No spoilers

Story- 3
It's really sad to have one of my favorite anime of all time (psycho pass season 1) end up like this. The first few episodes set up some interesting things but the series quickly goes to shit. Season 3 is convoluted and messy because it spreads itself out much too thin by constantly introducing new characters that have flimsy connections to the main story. It doesn't present the interesting themes that made the original so good nor does it bring any new themes to the table, except for touching on the treatment of immigrants and even that's weakly developed. The story is also ... very frustrating to watch at times because a system whose supposed goal is absolute utilitarianism is awfully bogged down in bureaucracy. In the first season, what's perceived as initial bureaucracy turns out to be just the Sibyl system protecting itself and trying to perfectly manipulate all the other characters, but in season 3, its just a plot device to hamper the main characters. Also crime coefficient at this point doesn't even need to exist because nothing in the story builds off that plot device. So other than some returning characters and existing in the same universe, it basically shares nothing with previous entries. And that's fine except its bad as a standalone piece as well.

Characters: 4
The two main characters are likable and have a mysterious backstory but the rest of characters are really quite boring. All the enforcers this time around have no standout or interesting personalities or backstories. The villains are comically bad and constantly say things that scream , "I'm evil" with no subtlety. It's just really lazy and a shortcut to making actually interesting and realistic antagonists.

Art/ Sound: 7 / 4
The Animation is not consistent but not bad either, the sound track is pretty meh and the background art is just the same as all the other psycho passes.

Enjoyment: 5
I think there's value in making spin off stories that don't add anything thematically or story wise, because its good fun for fans of the series (Sinners of the System movies), but when you're not building off of pieces that have been proven to work to appeal to fans, shouldn't you at least bring some new themes and ideas to the table? At least the movies showed what the world outside of Japan was like and that kept it interesting to some degree. But Season 3? It's just a poorly done detective story that happens to take place in the same universe as previous seasons. The story is more confusing than interesting and the characters are boring and unoriginal. It's less entertaining than the Sinners of the System movies so if you just wanna watch more psycho pass stuff just go watch that. Season 3 sorely disappointed me and if you're a fan of psycho pass it'll disappoint you too.

It's back, baby! Psycho-Pass is back in series format, and I couldn't be happier. I do think this is an appropriate time to tell you all that I messed up. I haven't seen the Sinners of the System movies, so some of what I say about this season may sound dumb because I missed 3 movies worth of background information (probably) that would've helped me understand this season better.

But we'll do what we can. Let's start with the art and sound. Now, objectively speaking, the art is Psycho-Pass is fairly average. I do think it does very well with the lighting effect and architecture, but ... most everything else is standard. However, this art style is very familiar to me, and I enjoy it a lot. The character designs this season were gorgeous. The animation as well is killer. The fight scenes are?? Like?? They're kick-ass. The movements of the characters as well as the choreography just blew me away. I could feel weight behind the punches, and watching it always felt really good (same goes for the parkour). As far as sound goes, I'd say this series excels in its BGM during high-paced scenes more than anything, but the music overall fit the tones of the series nicely. I feel the need to mention the amazing additions to the seiyuu cast this season because they did a hell of a job and brought the series new life that it hadn't had before.

Speaking of the cast, let's talk about characters. Quite a few new faces were added to the roster this season, and honestly, I think it was a really smart move. Not because the old cast was tired or anything like that, but these characters and their personalities felt so unique in this world of Sybil. That's especially true for the two main characters. Their stories, both individually and together, combined with their attitudes toward the events of this season kept me insanely interested. I think they've got a lot of depth to be explored, so I'm excited to see what's done with the characters moving forward.

The story is probably the main reason I've given this season a nine rather than a ten. It's kind of like it's *just* done, you know? It's got all it needs to have to get a decent grade, but a few things were done a little weird. First of all, to talk about the merits of the story, it was planned out extremely well. The pacing for each episode on its own as well as between episodes felt organic and sensible. As for the story itself, the twists as well as the attainment of new information was done beautifully. I enjoyed watching the characters further their investigation because it was written so well. The hitch comes when we talk about the abstract nature of the storytelling in some places. At times, the story could be super specific and explanatory, and at others, it led the viewer to the answer in a roundabout way... but sometimes things just didn't make a whole lot of sense. It may just be me-- and it didn't happen very often-- but the plot got lost a few times. Some things I thought would probably be explained in a future season, but others I wasn't so sure about. It wasn't that big of a deal overall, though, because most of the story was told very well.

All in all, I'm very excited for Psycho-Pass to get rolling again. This season didn't overlap the previous cast with the new one too much, but I have the feeling that's really gonna change in the future, and that prospect pumps me up. I'm just... really happy that this series is back, so I'm gonna enjoy it for as long as I can.

As I wrote in the first review of season 1; the intellectual level that contains the first work should have been maintained, this was of course the worst sequel of all.
Each chapter made visual remembrances to the first season, terrible.
The development was poor, the ridiculous bad comedy, the personality design of the characters was simply flat.
They close with scenes that we all expected to see at some point to get hooked, bad resource.
A disappointment.
To all this, they plan to make a sequel with the poor material that they left of that ridiculous end?
Undoubtedly, they ruined what began as an excellent original cyberpunk story (of course ... with most well-known elements of science fiction in the 50's literature but well executed).

Looks like you can sell anything with brand names today.

I've just wasted 6 hours of my life thanks to this average anime baiting me in with the Psycho-pass title. Maybe I could take it if it advertised itself as a spinoff - which it really is - but the fact that it dares to masquerade as a sequel is just downright shameful and ridiculous. This is an average crime story which doesn't even try to or fails miserably at continuing with the themes and good qualities of its predecessors, which is unacceptable from a supposed sequel.

It doesn't deal with questions of morality and society in ... any meaningful way, has no charismatic characters or emotional intensity. Instead we get an average detective story with cliché cyberpunk themes we've seen a hundred times thrown in like immigrants, politics, a huge behind the shadows conspiracy, and boring, cookie-cutter characters from the current crime story trends. Add to this the edgy, fanfiction quality writing that tries to pretend it deals with meaningful themes by throwing in random, unfitting monologues about them every once in a while. I won't even get started about the retarded mentalist abilities with 0 explanation, which also makes no sense at all in the Psycho-pass world btw.

And on top of this all, somehow they ended the season without doing anything meaningful with the setting or the character at all, they literally cut without anything interesting happening, and dared to end with a garbage cliffhanger after all this. I would probably give this a 5 if it weren't selling itself as a Psycho-pass sequel, but this is just unacceptable for me.

I'm not even gonna watch anything Psycho-pass related in the future, unless Urobuchi is writing it. Fooled once, never again.

PSYCHO-PASS 3's gambit is an initially promising one, a soft reboot with a cast of fresh faces and a new attitude with respect to its approach to thrills and stakes. Those who found previous seasons' penchant for cheap shock-value in the form of exploitative violence will probably find the slower and more politically-driven nature of this season to be refreshing, with maybe only two or three people meeting a messy demise at the end of a Dominator. Our inspectors seem to prefer ye olde fisticuffs in their dealings with the Sybil-defying underbelly of Tokyo instead, impractical as it is.

Despite all this, PSYCHO-PASS 3 has ... very little of interest going on. The new inspectors are likable enough but don't add much to the proceedings. Arata Shindo has a cliche eccentric personality, quasi-supernatural "mentalist" abilities, and improbable intuitions that spoil the procedural setups. Kei Ignatov is the more stern and serious of the two, a family man. You've seen this stuff before. The overarching villains are opaque in their goals and methods. You get the sense they are finger-tenting puppetmasters and not much else. The animation and direction are as perfunctory as ever. Be prepared for lots of conventional scenes of talking, interrogating, and investigating. This all has the veneer of an intelligent procedural, but it is hollow.

Worse, the story is hardly finished by the end of the eighth episode and comes with lots of additional story threads hanging here and there, a number of them involving what the old members of Unit One have been up to. This makes this season feel no more consequential than the SS movies or really anything we've gotten out of PSYCHO-PASS since the first season. It's just another piece of the franchise puzzle with no clear sense of purposeful evolution.

The third season of Psycho Pass did a solid job of getting somewhat back to its roots. After Season 2, which was a step down for the series in my opinion, they managed to get back on track with season three, with a few gripes here and there, of course.

The main inspectors of this season, are Kei and Arata, who make up a loveable tandem. The former being an immigrant in a time period, where immigrants are looked down on heavily, and the latter, being a mentalist, who is able to trace memories of people, and areas. Kei acts as Aratas keeper, as he generally ... needs help returning to his senses when he starts doing a mental trace.

Psycho Pass 3 does a solid job of introducing new characters that fit the bill, while keeping longtime viewers tied over on the occasional appearances of characters from the previous two seasons. Namely Kogami, Ginoza, and Tsunemori.

The plot was gripping, and kept me entertained throughout the 45 minute sessions, with a grand total of 8 episodes. With that being said, and the content withstanding, this season felt incomplete to me. Almost like they ran out of time, or budget, and didn't have enough content to wrap everything up neatly, or get to what I can only assume, was the target of 24 episodes. So, instead, they did 8 longer episodes.

Even still, the last episode didn't really resolve much of anything. Spoilers ahead, if you haven't fully watched this yet.


Sure, Kei managed to get his wife out of holding, what becomes of him now, that he's an inspector of Bifrost? How does this conflict with his friendship with Arata, or his position in the Public Safety Bureau?

Speaking of Bifrost, those lunatics are still out there causing mayhem... And to be honest, it didn't feel like they were even remotely close to solving the case concerning Bifrost.

I'm expecting another season of Psycho Pass, and I'm hoping it'll come sooner than later, because there are an awful lot of questions I'd like to get some answers to.


All in all, I give Psycho Pass 3 - an 8/10. Better than season two, but still not quiet up to par with the first season. Here's to hoping Season 4, whenever that comes, is a step forward, and not a step back.

SPOILER REVIEW :


' Too many cooks spoil the broth '
This proverb defines how things went by taking on too many concepts.
I'll be brutally honest and highly vocal since these guys made the 3rd sequel to my favourite franchise and messed it up .
They've drained the legacy carried out by Psycho pass down the gutter. I'm grossly enraged.
CRAP!
Season 3 was total crap, carrying the name of psycho pass it was utter rubbish.

... These guys did nothing but experimented on various topics starting from

Immigrants which proceeds to => Housing Bubble scam => Governor election and politics => Housing city for the immigrants and special zone => Religion => Justice .

I've never seen such crap in a long time.
Usually, I would drop this ASAP, but I wanted to watch out what these guys have offered.

Lame suspense carried out in the name of a supernatural power called mentalist, no brief reasoning, these guys have moved every episode from here to there with own speculations which were so unclear, the whole proceeding has been a mess.
The biggest missing has been the Sibyl system, for those who'll soon question my assessment :
1. Numerous Contradictions of the Sibyl system introduced to us in the 1st and 2nd season It would never allow the very crafts this show is based on .
Remember they control everything, so the very fact of everything shown in this season sure has sibyl's involvement but they've totally neglected it . Will the system remain quiet all throughout while waiting for the other in this case called Bifrost to grab a hand over them ? NEVER !
Remember they've killed every person who's tried to harm them or has known their secret except Tsunemori and Shimotsuki who's their puppet right now.

2. Character sketch, the new inspectors and enforcer have zero originality and character development as compared to the earlier season.
It's an utter disgrace to carry out the legacy of psycho pass.

3. And here comes the biggest bluff Criminally Asymptomatic people are those who are different and insane thinking as compared to the society, hence the system is unable to comprehend them and they showed that Arata is criminally asymptomatic.
What a joke! In what sense?
A highly empathetic character would be the last person ever to be shown as criminally asymptomatic.
He's a pathetic lousy empathetic character who can be judged easily and adding Yuki kaji's voice to it is a prime example of what type of characters psycho pass doesn't need.

4. Uncertainty , till the last episode the whole investigation is random and nothing else .
What is happening , why is it happening , it's so vague that makes it a snooze fest .
Zero explanation of the Sci-Fi used.

Episode 4 , 12:44 has a dialogue by yayoi san which says :
' The more I learn about journalism , the more I realize how easy it is for people to accept information(plot) without critical thought '

This dialogue is the reality of the whole season , if viewers don't have a critical thought , they won't find what I'm saying as true .

The writer do has invested a very mount of skills in writing this as the title for every episode portrays what the episode is about , but if you have gold in your hand , and lots of shit in the other hand.
Mixing them won't do any good .
In the end , gold looses the value and what's left is SHIT !
5. Highstake ideologies , season 1 was the master of it , season 2 was very good at it and season 3 is bullshit and totally abandoned the idea .

6 . Scouting potential criminals You see , the anime was itself about Crime in opposition to the system that's controlling the society by scouting potential criminals .
And when you abandon that concept , you've no right to proceed with a sequel that leaves the system , returns to old school detective style with combat skills , baseless violence with zero justified motive , mercenaries , ridiculous action , jumping around the buildings, forced heroism and a human system of assessment which gambles politically to go against the system .
Too many zones where sibyl couldn't reach , a public stage blast acompained by an idol politician .
Lol ! I don't even wanna write anymore . This whole season is a bad joke .

7. Collective Psycho theory of season 2 : The biggest loophole in season 3 plot has been this .
The sibyl system clearly said it has now adopted the collective psycho pass system and in future Tsunemori will be responsible if they judge a group psycho pass rather than an individual .
Now if they applied this in season 3 all those group attack in the fighting and abandoned area and the religious cult .
All of the would've been declared potential latent criminals .

8. Zero charm . The biggest deficit is lack of charm , not even a single episode made it convincing for me to look forward to the plot , the character has zero charm .
The bifrost organization did had a charm but nearly 1% of the screenplay .
In fact the most interesting character which I found in the entire series are the 1st inspector and the congressman who scouted Kei as 12th Inspector .
Ughhh ! I feel so frustrated to have waste my time and energy at watching it .

I would've accepted it , had it been an anime carrying someone else name or a name of it's own .
But carrying Psycho-pass's name is a taint which i'll never accept .

1/10 .
This anime shouldn't exist and it's a waste of time . And people who've accepted this story and moreover enjoyed it .You never really understood what psycho pass was all about . Pity you !

I am a big fan of the Psycho-pass series and manga.

I figued it would be best to clearly state this in the beginning instead of casually bringing it up at the end.

This series is not over, but I plan to come back to this review and add to it once it is over seeing as I am posting this now at a halfway point.

Psycho-pass three is much better than psycho-pass two in the sense that if you have not watched the first season you might not fully understand the vocabulary or specifics...but you'll be able to fully understand what is happening in ... the story.

Actually, it is almost as if PP3 tried to avoid some of the biggest issues people had with PP2. For example, some people had issues with the "constant point and shoot". This time...we have a character who likes "old school" detective work. Another issue was unnecessary dialouge. In the third season, instead of spending 10 minutes essentially giving viewers a tutorial on how to use a fictional weapon...we focus instead on the plot, character, and weapons when it relates to the plot.


The third season also brings together the characters. In the second season it seemed like everything fell apart without really explaining what would happen to the characters...let alone society itself. This is what i thought would bug me the most...however it fits very well with everyones specific personality..

Finally, for my halfway review...the new character is very interesting and adds something new to this fictional world. Maybe it isn't absolutely amazing but it is really entertaining and i wish more shows had this genre.

Awfully unbalanced, to say the least. This installment could have gone in so many better directions, yet we´ve ended up with a shallow follow-up that only echoes back the days of Psycho-Pass' greatness when the characters from the old set-up show up.
There is no suspense as it gets lost in the pile of dialogues that introduce loads of plots that don't get to be properly developed anyway. There's no emotional connection to the characters growing as they're given no importance, contrasted with background global affairs that are supposed to be the main plot. And then, when all the pieces of the puzzle come together (around ... 7th episode) we don't feel invested nor moved whatsoever, feeling that we didn't get to know them at all, neither do we care about the fate of the world depicted in the series. The only likable character here is Kei, who gets only slightly better treatment from the writer than the rest of the cast.
Other than that, it's just boring and long-winded. The only things that keep it all in place are, of course, Kanno's music and outstanding animation. But they won't make up for the mistreated textual layer. Well, unfortunately that's exactly what happens when you get caught up in the grandeur of politics, global affairs and masterminds. I suppose it was bound to happen at some point...

It's a supbar Psycho-Pass fanfic, but an awful Psycho-Pass continuation. Just like many fanfics this one creates a conflic out of nowhere and tries to fill plot holes with concepts and terms that never were a thing before. For some reason there are "blind zones" in Japan where Sibyl system doesn't work - and this shit alone is enough to make me scratch my head and question how in the world a plot of Psycho-Pass 1 and Psycho-Pass 2 could happen if territories like this existed. Also, the original premise of the setting is a total dictatorship of Sybil, but Psycho-Pass 3 throws all ... estabilished rules in garbage can. Enforcers can attack Inspectors. Politics is important. The hues of people don't mean a lot anymore because anyone can free their loved ones if they have right connections. Dominators are just fancy "vibe check" devices.

Honestly, I feel like Psycho-Pass 3 could be just an original show. Alas, even as original it's a mess. The plot is hard to follow and introduces so many characters at once without giving us any hints about they goals, personalities or anything. The main character Arata is basically a mary sue who wields so many unique abilities that once again I can't stop thinking about fanfiction quality of this season. Inspector Ignatov, on the other hand, is the only new character who has something going for him, this guy has a solid background, an inner conflict and he he is involved in the only interesting story line in the damn show. There was also a nice detail about him coloring his hair.

All the characters from the previos season are more or less walking fanservice. Can't say a lot of about them. Neither do the authors of Psycho-Pass 3 because there were a few mind-blowing relevations regarding to some of them that never were explained.

The quality of art was nice in the first episodes, but sunked near the end. The music is meh, I remember only a remix of the first season theme.

As much as I was dissapointed with S2, at least it was still Psycho-Pass. This new season is a hardly about the world of Sybil system anymore, it's just a standard political thriller with over complicated plot and cardboard characters.

I'll be very short about this, better than season 2, still not as good as season 1. I understand that not many people are as interested in Psycho-Pass as they were when it first came out. Almost an entirely new cast (which i was a bit wary about) except for a few old faces. Surprisingly, the main protagnists were replaced in this season. Hopefully in the next season we see a lot more of the OG cast. It was alright, not too special. I liked the OP.
At times the animation got super bad but im happy to say that the more intense action scenes were ... well animated in comparison. The new characters are nice but for some reason I just can't get myself to like Maiko, her eyes and features just creep me out.
If you're a fan of Psycho-pass i would implore you to watch this season, however if you just want to jump into the series through this season, try season 1 instead.

Three episodes in, I was ready to declare Pyscho-Pass 3 an excellent season of one of my favorite shows. The music was good, the animation was beautiful, fight scenes were complex and brutal, the new cast of characters were starting to grow on me and cameos from the old characters gave some of them more opportunities to shine than they had in the past two seasons (plus the movies). I was really digging it.

Then about halfway through, I noticed a slight dip in the animation quality. The fight scenes became more sporadic and rushed. The dominators only came out a handful of times. And while ... I appreciate getting a different perspective on the world of Psycho-Pass compared to the previous seasons, stories about real estate scams and election rigging just don't capture one's attention like stories of lunatics and serial killers. The first two seasons bordered on horror in some places, and there was legitimate tension that a main character could die at any moment.

For the most part, that tension is gone in the third season. By the final episode, the characters and situation may have certainly developed, but so many story threads are left dangling, teasing another season. I like a good cliffhanger as much as the next guy, but it feels like there's no meaningful denouement here at all, and that's unfortunate.

To me season 3 feels like a very interesting reboot more than a sequel. It's very similar to how the shift in Tokyo Ghoul RE felt from season 1. The world is quickly and heavily expanded on, things get fleshed out. For example, the beginning they address how politics work together with the Sibyl system. They go into how genetically engineering people is a thing in this world. The technology of he world is a step up here, as even in episode 1 we get to see a passenger drone, then in episode 2 we get to see how dominators can be ... activated outside the grid. It even shows us how people live outside the law in the slums. Overall a great improvement for me as a fan of the sci-fi setting.

Honestly, there are so many ways this show does a proper sequel, even though it changes so much. We get to see the old cast show up early episodes. We get to see references to the events in the movies. Even the season 1 soundtrack get's brought back at times. The show feels like a sequel because it continues from where the show left off in exploring how the Sibyl system is exploited. This time, by the top 1% of society. Naturally the detectives are upgraded to match the threat. If in season 1 we had junior detectives and more or less grounded every day police, in season 3 the main characters are elite operators who have more insane CQC, investigation and people skills. These guys don't mess around.

The reason it's more of a reboot than a sequel is because of how many new things are introduced compared to how many things are actually followed up from the old season. This is due to the new characters and concepts, and also due to how long ago the show had a season the last time.

As a fan I got what I wanted, I would recommend getting into this series for fans of dark noir, cop dramas. Psycho pass is everything anime can be if they stopped choosing virgin half brain man children as their target audience