Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector

How to Ruin Someone Else’s Franchise A Guide, by SingleH Introduction In this step-by-step guide, I will be teaching you through a detailed representative case how to ruin someone else’s media franchise, and I will be doing it with the assistance of the animated series Psycho-Pass, a perfect exemplar with which writer Tow Ubukata has already proven in my stead the foolproof nature of the techniques I’m about to teach you. In this tutorial, you will be assuming the role of a replacement for the given series’ original creator in an effort to emulate the given model, and I will instruct you on the four key methods at your disposal with which you can lay complete and total waste to the series entrusted to your care with your writing alone, no matter how solid its concurrent standing and no matter how great the talent of its founding and present-day staff. Step 1. Invalidate their themes. Themes are the heart and soul of any artistic work, and in the case of Psycho-Pass, Tow Ubukata has proven himself to be a true master of this subtle craft even more so than the ones to follow, as he’s managed to execute the following with a series who’s primary enduring value is in said themes. Psycho-Pass was a series about political revolution set in a dystopia wherein human consciousness and lawful tendencies could be measured and predicted to an extent criminals could be identified by their thoughts, not actions, and the main villain, Shogo Makishima, was a man who could inexplicably commit criminal acts without catching the attention of the surveillance state. Now, this all sounds like the set-up for a choice Hollywood techno-thriller or some young adult video game, but being Criminally Asymptomatic wasn’t just some superpower, it was a societal statement via Makishima about the nature of free will vs determinism. Makishima wasn’t able to kill because of a mutation in the genome or a hack in the system, he was able to do it without raising his Crime Coefficient because he genuinely did not view those living with and operating under the Sybil System to be human—even subconsciously—because they had given up so much of their decision making abilities and personal command of life, he believed them to be little more than bags of meat devoid of agency, ego, or conscious. And the conversation the show had with itself managed to go even deeper by way of the fact Shinya Kogami was put into conflict with Makishima based on action, not conviction. He wanted revenge for the murder of his former partner, not because of some high-minded philosophical debate, and in pursuit of this vengeance, he abandoned the systematic determinism of the Sybil System having acknowledged the fact he himself truly wanted to kill Makishima, thereby supporting his own rival’s argument that individuals cannot confine themselves to someone else’s decision making whist retaining their own judgement and ability to act upon their motivations. Pretty meaningful, right? Well, by introducing a character such as Shindo Arata, a true-to-form Mary Sue who’s latest and greatest ability was such, Ubukata swiftly and expertly hollowed out that entire thematic core in one fell swoop. Having a character without a single ambitious conviction hold the label of Criminally Asymptomatic confirms, at least in this version of the story, it is indeed just a superpower you may or may not be born with as opposed to a mental state conditioned by your intensely personal, revolutionary beliefs, and it irrecoverably tanks the thematic maturity of the work in every facet of contemplation or study. Step 2. Underutilize or falsely utilize their concepts. Now, I could easily just echo the aforementioned example of trivializing the nature of being Criminal Asymptomatic in this case as well, but Tow Ubukata has yet again proven his well-rounded utility in this field by providing us with a wondrous wealth of further examples to cite and dissect. Firstly and most iconically is the legendary Dominators. The Dominators are quite possibly the most emblematic and publicly iconic concept to come out of Psycho-Pass, and Tow Ubukata used them—a characteristically cyberpunk symbol of the series’ grit and uniqueness—to not only make the series turn tensionless, but to also make it as run-of-the-mill as any other teenage edgefest you can find. In the first season of Psycho-Pass, Urobuchi Gen, staying true to his nickname, “Gen the Butcher,” utilized the Dominators to terrifyingly impactful effect, using them sparingly but brutally to maximize their presence and memorability, and the legendary animation staff of Production IG delivered these punches will all due gore with their lavishly animated visceral realism. To turn such expertly crafted thrill into a mere joke, Tow Ubukata took advantage of the comparatively pathetic animation quality of Tatsunoko Production to overuse and dilute the Dominators in season two, thereby making them and their now wackily drawn death scenes little more than memes in the public consciousness. In Psycho-Pass 3, however, the animation production was back in the hands of the godly studio which initially birthed it, so to make sure the Dominators didn’t make their comeback, he made the simplistically genius decision to just stop using them altogether. Of course, this is in direct contrast with the setting’s established protocols, but this is yet another reason such a decision so smartly ruined such a strong concept. Production IG animated the living hell out of the endless hand-to-hand combat sequences found in Psycho-Pass 3 and the downright militaristic urban warfare found in First Inspector, but thanks to Tow Ubukata’s heavy lifting behind the scenes, no viewer could shake the question, “Why not just scan and shoot?” Anything from his complete and total underestimation of the established ubiquitousness of the Street Scanners which monitor the populace at large to his utter lack of understanding with regard to the actual permeability of the nationstate overseen by Sibyl, Ubukata’s expert incompetence made sure every vital idea the original series had was thrown into the garbage with such exquisite technique, one almost doesn’t even want to stop him. Step 3. Break their characters and/or supplant them with bad ones. There is no better example on planet earth and no better professor to explain it than Psycho-Pass and Tow Ubukata in the art of wasting characters. In the first season of Psycho-Pass, Urobuchi Gen crafted downright electrifying character personas which had the viewer helplessly glued to the screen at all times, and he imbued each and every one of these badasses with the thematic substance he made himself famous with in shows like Magical Girl Madoka★Magica and Fate/Zero, wherein the characters are just walking, talking moral and philosophical theses respectively. Be it the most iconic anime rivalry of the 2010s, the most thought provoking moral debate of any modern dystopia, period, or the most cathartically complete character arcs in any action thriller I can think of, Butch Gen made Psycho-Pass a true masterpiece of screenwriting while IG made it a masterpiece of modern TV animation, and Tow Ubukata threw it all away effortlessly with a micron of the practice they expended in building it. Firstly, he didn’t try expanding on the characters when the story came to continuation with Psycho-Pass 2, and he also didn’t bother opening up the new characters he brought in. Psycho-Pass 2, for those of you who didn’t know, actually wasn’t even supposed to exist. Urobuchi Gen and Naoyoshi Shiotani, the series’ director, were literally in Southeast Asia doing location study and filming a production documentary for the Psycho-Pass Movie when the production committees behind the anime demanded a second season on TV within the year to capitalize on the series’ massive success. Being the monolith they are, Production IG has many subsidiary studios like Tatsunoko Production to outsource animation to, but seeing as …

Psycho Pass 3: First Inspector is a worthy conclusion to the third season. A lot of loose ends were resolved, although not all, and there was another development for the Sybil System. It isn't perfect and there was a lot more I wanted it to do but the movie focused on its own goals and accomplished them well. It focuses entirely on the Bifrost organisation attacking the Public Safety Bureau and taking over their headquarters to either kill the governor or forcing her to retire. They break in slightly too easily to be believable in my opinion, but nevertheless, the officers need to find a way to protect the governor and to regain control of their buildings systems. The movie is directed nicely although the third season and this movie both could have been scripted better. The music fits well and the fight choreography is stellar. Realistic movements combined with precise strikes makes for much better entertainment than loading up an energy beam for half an episode. There were a couple of missed opportunities though. The entire premise could have benefited with Akane being involved in taking down the terrorists. Also, a few characters motivations still aren't clear. Additionally, even after all this time, the new characters have almost no charm. The story shines in two areas. The first is in contrasting the ideologies of Arata and the antagonist Azusawa. The second is showing how the Sybil System is vulnerable and is ever adapting. Both of these plot points are handled very well in the film and cause the entire series to have a stabilized narrative. Overall, this movie was a lot better than I anticipated and elevated the third season by completing the narrative in a satisfactory way. Also, a certain character didn't die in the third season and is shown by the end of the movie to still be alive. It was obvious but overall a good decision. There were minor missteps and inconsistencies but these are overshadowed by the films strengths. It also opens up possibilities of another season. Apparently there was an after credit scene in the theatrical version where Akane tells the inspectors that she will tell them what happened two years ago (the thing that got her imprisoned). This definitely increases the chances of a fourth season. Score: 8 (would have been a 9 but the it loses a point from association to the third season. Its narrative is a much better stand alone movie than a sequel).

First Inspector is a strong performance for the Psycho Pass series as a whole, not just Season 3. The animation quality might possibly be the series' best yet. However, while the movie wrapped up most plotlines for the season and could easily work as the series' ending, there were quite a few mysteries left unresolved and a few introduced. Though, the main goal here was to wrap up Bifrost cleanly, and it accomplished that well. First Inspector breaks from normal Psycho-Pass tradition, though, with mixed results. As Director Shiotani noted, the movie gave less focus on the fight scenes. This worked well for Arata and Azusawa and flesh out the ideological rivalry between the two characters, making the final culmination of their fight very satisfying. While there were still an abundance of fight scenes, the pace of the story didn't keep you fixated on the fights like before. The movie was well written and high-octane, though Season 3 could've done a little better in the lead-up. There are two plotlines the movie excels at, though. The first is the passing of the torch between old Division 1 and new Division 1, which is developed quite nicely, save for Kogami hating Kei for some mysterious reason. Second is the Sibyl System and the gore of the series. Sibyl has become more of a human entity over the course of Season 3, and the cast is not at death's door, so you no longer have to feel guilty when things are going well. Akane's plotline is still left unresolved but appears to be merely a plot device for Season 3. Kei's defection to the dark side in the Season 3 opening ended up merely being a red herring. Homura ended up being a good guy as many anticipated, though there's still a lot of mystery to him. Though as he appears to be joining the main cast, he'll be the main source of excitement heading into season 4. There were a lot of pleasant callbacks to Season 1. Though, Kogami seemed out of character in First Inspector, and perhaps it's signaling he'll be sidelined (living happily with Akane maybe?) for a new flagship character as Psycho-Pass moves forward. Mostly importantly, though, Ubukata completely reestablished himself as a competent writer, so the series can move on with good standing regardless of whether Ubukata stays on or Urobuchi returns. Unfortunately, it doesn't erase Psycho-Pass 2 from existence.

So, Psycho-Pass 3 was alright. Not amazing, but could've been much worse. You could already kind of see the writing on the wall for turning this series into a bog-standard detective show that had dropped a lot of what made it compelling. I get it, studios need to sell Blu-rays. This follow-up, however, gives me little hope for whatever sequels they have planned. The ending set it up as an almost complete abandonment of the grit and moral quandaries of the first season in favor of shipping several couples together in that typical anime fashion where they never kiss or confess their feelings (except the lesbian couple from season 1). The stakes are low and audiences are instead treated to tons of superfluous battles with police robots and mechanized turrets. On the technical side of things: the art's good. The animation is good, though the quality has a bit of a drop near the end during the last major conflict that makes it more like Roddy Piper and Keith David's fight in They Live. The sound design is alright but sometimes the mixing is awkwardly loud or there are very clear stock sound effects that could have been implemented better. In short: if you loved the compelling questions Psycho-Pass posed about its fictional society in season 1, you'll probably hate this. If you want to enjoy this, turn your brain off and you'll be able to think the shotgun Dominator is super awesome.

It has become obvious that Psycho Pass will never rise out of the mediocrity that it has been in since the end of its first season. That original season breathed a breath of fresh air into a dead genre. Let's face it, there are not many good science fiction anime. Yet Psycho Pass gave us a likeable cast, an interesting narrative, and most importantly, a compelling ethical dilemna. Yet as the story of Psycho Pass has progressed through its sequels we have only gotten farther and farther from those original ideas. So here we are, standing with a cast twice removed from the originals, and facing a crisis that has nothing to do with the core conflict of the series. I know how we got here, but what I want to know is why? Why has Psycho Pass insisted on dancing away from the central conflict of the series? Why are we being forced to trudge through storylines we don't care about with characters we don't want? Why do I feel like the further we go, the less chance we have of getting closure? I just can't help but wonder why the story was chosen to go in this direction, when it could have gone in so many others. It is a testament to the strength of that first season that I'm even still here after all these years. I've stuck through the mediocrity in hopes of a trimphant return to greatness. All I've gotten is a profound feeling of unsatisfaction. I think it's time to say goodbye to Pscyho Pass. It has become clear that the series is not worth it anymore.

There are a whole lot of reasons as to why psycho-pass failed throughout the years. I could talk about the slow degradation of the show's animation and heavier usage of bad CGI. I could talk about how in later seasons the soundtracks tend to get worse with overutilization of staple themes basically throughout especially the third season to the point where it became annoying. I could talk about how in the third season the main character cast is all but abandoned for newly introduced characters that are more of a shadow of the characters and developments we saw in season 1. I could talk about how the sibyl system keeps being portrayed as some godlike entity yet quite clearly it is extremely subjective and constantly is changing itself. I could even talk about how after season 1, the majority of the plot points are legit just copy/pasted stories of "insert new reason why the sybil system isn't registering someone who is literally murdering other people as a criminal here" However, what I want to talk about most is in fact none of these things. Really, the reason why First Inspector is so awful, is the message it is telling viewers. The fundamental core of season 1 is how the main cast of characters react to finding out the truth about the dystopian surveillance police-state they live in. Fundamentally, Shinya's choices made in season 1 were clearly in rebellion of that system. The message that goes alongside that? Well, relatively obvious, his reaction to understanding the truth behind the system is indicative of how implementing such a society is not only morally abhorrent but ultimately inhumane. This is the message that this season gives us. It is a case study as to how someone living within this type of society and perceives it as some level of 'normal' would react once they find out the truth. But what does all the succeeding seasons do with this message? Well, toss it out the fucking window of course! Gone are the thoughtful criticisms of ethics within usage of technology. Gone are the interesting character developments when people find out what is really behind the crime co-efficient values. Instead replaced by unerring and unending obedience to the system, because the system must always be right. The system is God. And not only does First Inspector continue on with this awfulness, but it is by far the most prolific instigator of it. First Inspector finalized and removed any doubts that any character had with the system before, any questions they might have asked. They are shadows of their former selves, only existing to suit the whims of sibyl like the good puppets they are. And ultimately what does this leave the viewer with? Oh, yeah, that somehow this society which controls people with an abhorrently stupid fucking number is actually perfectly fine! Let's ignore entirely the issue with how throughout this series this number essentially is only visually depicted through someone's emotional response to an action they perform, which is why anyone who is 'criminally asymptomatic' is essentially just a psychopath who does not feel anything wrong about what they are doing, or someone who is incapable of feeling negative emotions based on their choices at all. At least in the first season some characters actually became aware of how fucked up everything was. This is probably the craziest Criticism of Authoritarianism to Authoritarian propaganda pipelines I've ever seen. Makes me incredibly upset because of how much I enjoyed the first season. This series didn't deserve this fate.

At this point I'm sorry that this is very tiresome to write a long review of this show. Please read my PP3 review for full depth on how bad this show has become since 3 barring the Sinners of System which Tow Ubukata didn't laid his hand on. Spoilers ahead, maybe mild but to be honest, this is really a time waster.. Story - The plot is cumbersome, there is no explanation of Bifrost or the other Inspectors given how Kei was 13th, was expecting more since this whole 3 episode part completely melts down PP series. Where to even start ? Kunizuka's scene at the PP3 season was already ruining for the fans of the series, moving that aside as it doesn't have any explanation or anything to even talk about. Then the congressmen, who are those ? how did they get selected ? nothing absolutely nothing is explained here. There is no way on how Kasei knew about bifrost at the ending of the 3 part series, nothing is explained at all. It just ends they filled all the Arata's stupid mental trace with zero explanation and pulled a deus ex machina from his past as Tow Ubukata doesn't know what to do with the PP3 and how to handle this season. Shame how the director for Sinners of System was also not able to do anything, as those were really good, esp the the second and third. Characters - I cannot fathom how absurd the characters are so under used in this 3 part series, all enforcers are just dumb plot pawns used for nothing just brute force into the plot and absolutely disrespect to the whole Psycho Pass franchise. It's a waste of time even to talk about the names but let me tell Karina, what is her character arc about ? Immigrants pandering ? please. Keep Japan out of this PC agenda. I suspect Amazon has a role in this, having the excl. rights to the series ruined this whole epic masterpiece and legendary Anime. She doesn't have any weight to pull off, AI, just watch some great anime like Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor to understand how Japanese Anime writes AI, even Appleseed has better and much richer approach, why explore unknown, they created this mcguffin AI where Azusawa entirely clamors for Sybil and tries for this place where we know absolutely nothing about his past nor his affiliation tot he Sybil system, there is no explanation whatsoever, same for Akane and how Homura Shizuka has nothing explored about his arc, there is no explanation for anyone. They just bought Kougami and Hanashiro for nothing after that brilliant EP 3 of Sinners of System, it's a shame to see them do nothing at all just hollow pieces of wood blocks in this chore. Shion is again some computer expert uses to blind the Obata who is a dumb punk inspector. Dang, my brain is hurting the more I think about the PP3. Just stop and think what did Teppei do, How degraded the performance of Kisaragi, Ginoza, Shimotsuki is. There is nothing at the end of the show. Pathfinders are just dumb as a rock hitmen who are super unskilled, just like all the characters who were used for pawns to carry this destruction of Psycho Pass series. Art - Psycho Pass always had some beautiful art of the post dystopian Japan and the cultural exploration in the beautiful world Urobuchi and IG made. This one has some fancy 3D CGI in a few scenes and drones, this movie lacks even art, the accuracy of how Shion looks all her beautiful charm is gone just like how her character has been murdered by making her guilty of what she did, it's very very bad, Kougami's sharp face cuts were and Kasei's look, Enforcers is just wrong, the Bifrost's art was something mechanical and organic a bit of Giger's slight look but it's dead and dissolved now just like all the wooden planks we have in this series. Sound - Everything is reused, there is no significant weight that the season had nor any moment which had gripping sound, all of them are from the prior achievements. The OP and ED are generic nothing great, same for the artistic approach of them. Conclusion - Please save your time fellow Psycho Pass fans, I'd suggest you guys to end the show at S2, it was much much better than this and had a great villian arc despite imitation of Makishima still it had elements, slight inputs from Urobuchi despite the destruction by Tow Ubukata (man who destroyed Ghost in the Shell and now Psycho Pass). Stop at the Sinners of System and never ever watch this and PP3, complete waste of time and new characters are nothing to even sneeze at from enforcers to the new antagonists. You do not miss anything. PP, PP-S2, PP - Movie & Sinners of System 3 part series, put a fullstop there and never watch PP3, and this abomination as a hardcore fan for the series and the characters and my respect to Japanese people. Please do not give rights to your franchises to these western companies they just want to mint money not tell the visceral and fantastic stories, art and the culture of Japan that we all love and respect. Thank you for your time. I hope my input helped.

Damn, it's almost like all the vague parts of the story that confused me in the third season were answered in this film. It's almost like I should've been patient and waited for this to come out. For real, though, this film filled in a lot of blanks that were left in the third season, which has left me very happy. Before getting into that, though, I wanna talk sound and art. So, with Psycho-Pass, I don't pay attention to the sound that much. However, I did notice during this film that there were quite a few areas that either the music or the sound effects were used really well to set the tone or imply intensity in a scene or whatever. The art style is something I've fallen more and more in love with since the day I discovered Psycho-Pass, and this specific film had a lot of brilliant shots in it from the characters to the environmental shots to the action sequences. I will say, as far as the animation goes for this film, I think I picked up on something I didn't pay attention to before which is that the fight scenes in Psycho-Pass simultaneously look badass but also just a bit weird. I think it has to do with the fact that the movement can be a touch choppy and, when characters make impact with each other, the animation seems to slow for a moment. To be honest, I just feel like it's a stylized way to portray fight scenes that's specific to Psycho-Pass, and I don't mind it at all-- actually, I like it-- but it's something to mention. The choreography of the fight scenes is stellar as well, like always. That's a lot on art and sound, I understand, but these things stand out to me, okay? So, by way of character development for this film (which was actually composed of three episodes, so I'm not sure why MAL doesn't say so?), in some ways it was done really well and in others it felt a bit lacking. There were areas in the third season that suggested things about the characters without ever explaining them, and this film did explain them, backstory and all, which was good. However, I don't feel like enough was said. Of course, that could come down to a plan for the future of Psycho-Pass, but I don't think that potential future plan would've been hindered at all if there was just a touch more development-- mostly for Kei and Arata, but Akane, I feel, should've gotten a bit more attention as well. Speaking of Akane, I would like to hope for a future season/installment of Psycho-Pass that doesn't ignore Akane's past, and especially her past with Gino, Ko, and the Sybil System? That was one thing I was hoping this film would touch on that it didn't: what the hell happened in between the last time we saw Akane before she went to prison and where the third season starts? That, truly, was the only gripe I had about the story of this film. The rest of it was spot on. It answered the questions it needed to answer, it delivered an interesting twist, and the pacing was done very nicely. Of course, even though most of the third season was wrapped up with this film, it did leave some room for more in the future, so don't expect all the questions to be answered. So, yeah, I think this film did a good job as a sequel to the third season; in a way, it was able to tie back to the first two seasons, at least partially, and we've got some hope for a future installment. It's just... Psycho-Pass, listen to me. Please stop ignoring the groundwork between Ko and Akane that you meticulously laid down for two full seasons and a movie, okay? Don't delay that branch of the world just because there's new characters now. Please, for the love of everything good about Psycho-Pass, figure out a way to make Ko, Akane, and Gino main characters again while also retaining Arata and Kei. Because, listen. That's the magic formula, alright? You gave us an amazing foundation and then revamped the entire series in a brilliant way. Combine those two things, and come back with a kick-ass installment. I'll be looking forward to it.

This Series Become Worst and Worst. Psycho pass 1 is Great. Psycho pass 2 is ok, not that bad. Psycho Pass 3, WTF? The main character is shit. the story is shit. i hate the governor the most. the worst character in this Franchise, why, because she only think about 1 man's life, she is governor, in the crisis she only think to save a man who she like, not the entire people in the building. I wait they to make akane know about what mika did to akane and her grandma, but they just forget that. akane and grandma suffer becuz mika in the season 2, but in season 3 or the sinner trilogy they forget about mika betray akane and tell sakuya anout akane grandma. How to Save this Franchise from Crisis? Bring Kougami and Akane, ginoza

Psycho Pass The First Inspector is the conclusion to the 3rd season. With this in mind my review is going to be a mix of the 3rd season as a series and this movie because I see no point of only rating The First Inspector since both are really linked to each other. First of all I don’t like the fact that they had to make a movie to complete the story of the third season. They could have made 3 episodes more instead of a movie which kinda ruined the feeling of the 3rd season at the end. The story of this movie was fine. It was not special, not outstanding in both ways. It was just enjoyable. The characters from the previous seasons are rather disappointing. But I personally enjoyed the new main characters Arata and Kei. And when you see it as a soft reboot it is not a bad season or should I rather say a new reentry to the franchise. As you have probably watched the 3rd season (otherwise it would be pointless to read this review) you’d have have an own opinion about the characters. In this movie there is little to no character development which is fine since it is just a conclusion. The sound was really good even with a 5.1 sound system at home (Amazon Prime provides it during the time I write this). I personally like the soundtrack which was good in this movie. I liked the songs for the opening and the endings even though I preferred Ling Tosite Sigure and Egoist to perform I think there was no mistake by choosing Who-ya Extended and Cö Shu Nie (again since it is a soft reboot the both bands are really fitting and good). The animation was as great as in the 3rd season. The fighting choreographies were good as during the entire 3rd season. So overall there is not much to say about the movie. If you enjoyed watching season 3 you will probably enjoy watching this movie. It resolves many mysteries and answers many questions but it also leaves possibilities open for a further prequel. I enjoyed the new characters and I’d like to explore the world further with this ending. This ending is rather surprising as I think, not the outcome of the Bifrost storyline but the potential future of some character which I am not going to spoil. So in my opinion this conclusion is as good as the 3rd season with a rather surprising end. I overall enjoyed watching it. I know many people try to compare it to the first season but for me Psycho Pass 3 (including First Inspector) is a fairly enjoyable sequel or soft reboot, however one should not compare it to season 1. Just look at it as a well made soft reboot.

The short of this is that I feel like episodes 1 and 2 were way too padded out. I feel like a far better edited version of this could exist as a 1 hour and some change film. Also treat this as a review for all of Season 3. The scores and final opinions put the whole season into consideration. If you want a score for just these last 3 episodes, I'd give it a 6/10. I think the results of these 3 episodes are pretty great. The series has, in my opinion, totally redeemed itself from the mess that the 2nd season and the movie brought upon itself. I'd even go as far to say that the Sinners of the System OVA episodes have contributed to Season 3 being as good as it was. However, while the end result is great, I'm having trouble with how these final 3 episodes tie in with the 3rd season all together. I'd like to think that we should think of Season 3 being all of the 8 episodes that aired with these 3 additional OVA episodes being a part of it. Whether or not that is the case, the 1st and 2nd episode in this OVA are, in my opinion, quite boring and are a huge slog. It's all just fighting fan service. As I stated in my opening paragraph, this should have just been a film with the majority of the 1st and 2nd episode being trimmed down. I say that because episode 3 has sooooooooo many meaty details that in the end get trimmed down quite a bit. All of the scenes leading up and consisting of the brain room should have been expanded upon. That whole episode should have been that internal and external struggle; not cuts between fight scenes and what not. Because of all this, I'm having trouble painting this whole 3 episode finale in a super good light. The final episode is definitely the standout bit of content especially the final minutes. However the rest of the content is very meh. As a whole, all of Season 3 including these final 3 episodes are, all in all, a very good package of content. A solid 8 out of 10. Just try to consume it all in one go and don't let the special 3 OVA episode treatment give you any idea of something special. Enjoyment: 7/10 Overall: 7.8/10

*No Spoilers* This review is for Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector, which is a three-episode conclusion to Psycho-Pass 3’s story. To distinguish them, I refer to Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector as “First Inspector.” Summary: Psycho-Pass is a psychological, detective-style series set in the future. Law enforcement is governed by the Sibyl System, which utilizes a person’s hue and Crime Coefficient to determine their mental state and likelihood of committing a crime. Psycho-Pass 3 and First Inspector set aside some past characters and motives like a reboot, and it introduces new characters. The story is guided more by human politics than its predecessors. First Inspector is a direct sequel to Psycho-Pass 3 and is the concluding portion of the storyline, so you must watch Psycho-Pass 3 first. Story: 6/10 Although the plot is intense and interesting, the conclusion has a variety of plot holes and unanswered questions which detract from the story as a whole. The characters are tested more in First Inspector, but despite the increased action, the ending is rather anticlimactic. If Season 3 and First inspector were separate from the original storyline, then it would have been more cohesive. Instead, the original cast from Season 1 is set aside with minimal screen time. At the very end, they finally provide Akane with some freedom, without explaining why she wasn’t free in the first place. The clarity of the plot is confusing and convoluted, which seems to be a trend for the Psycho-Pass series, excluding season 1. Nonetheless, the new take on crime and less reliance on Sibyl is far more thought-provoking than Season 2. Although the overall story is interesting, it is confusingly intricate and does not end with expected answers. Art: 8/10 The art is still a highlight of the series, though First Inspector seemed to have slightly jarring scenes and frames compared with Season 3. Sound: 5/10 The music is average. The voice acting (sub) is sufficient. There is nothing special about this soundtrack, and the opening and ending themes are also average. The soundtrack continues from Season 3 and is a step up from Season 2. Characters: 6/10 Season 3 and First Inspector’s characters are far more interesting and compelling than in Season 2. One flaw is that the series’ main protagonist is principally absent, and the story does not clearly indicate why, even in the very end. Sure, Akane gets freed, but why was she imprisoned in the first place? There are a variety of unanswered questions pertaining to the previous cast of characters, including how they ended up in the positions they did. Overall, Season 3 and First Inspector’s characters are a significant improvement from the previous season. Instead of one-dimensional plot devices for characters, Unit One has a dynamic cast of people who actually interact and work as a team while also making challenging decisions. Shindo and Ignatov make a convincing duo, and the side characters are all intriguing. The protagonists have some challenging decisions to make at the end of the story, and they grow as a result. Ultimately, the antagonists, in the form of a political system, are mystical and intricate. Nonetheless, they are a relative weakness and (no spoilers) the identity of a certain character is sudden and merely adds perplexity to the conclusion of an already confusing story. Enjoyment: 7/10 Although Season 3 and First Inspector are confusing and have flaws in plot and characters, they are an improvement from Season 2. Season 3 and First Inspector are entertaining, though they pale in comparison to Season 1. Overall: 6.4/10

TL;DR - This movie is basically the final episode of the third season, so if you've watched it then watch the movie too to see how it concludes. If you haven't watched the third season you really need to watch it first, otherwise you wouldn't understand anything. The movie follows Bifrost's final scheme. While govt. Karina Komiya is in the public safety bureau building, the entire building locks-up, all doors, both internal and external, are locked, all means of communications are shut-down and several people are taken hostage. It seems that Bifrost are going after Komiya's head. With surrender not being an option, the teams must find a way to take back control over the building and find Bifrost's first inspector, Kouichi Azusawa, who appears to run the scheme as though it were a game. I'm giving this movie a slightly higher score than the third season since it's a step up and climax, and also since it finally explains some of the mysteries of the third season. It's also a good thing that no new characters are unnecessarily introduced and that some veteran characters are given more screen time, namely Mika Shimotsuki and to some extent Shinya Kougami. Comparing to the previous movies (the first and the 3 "Sinners of the Case" movies) this is by far the best one, but it still not as good as the first season (at this point I'm not sure whether any future season or movie will). Art it same as always. Sound gets a perfect 10 for good use of 5.1 surround.

By this point in the Psycho Pass series it's a different feel. You don't get the masterful story telling and moral dilemma of Season 1. You get a better total story if you combine Season 3 with the First Inspector movie compared to Season 2. Season 3 Psycho Pass is more of the cat and mouse game type of story with a lot of different characters doing different things to advance the story. The reason for mixed reviews is that it doesn't have that masterpiece plot that Season 1 had. It is also difficult to match arguably one of the greatest villains in anime history with the villains in the later Seasons. So they went for action and detective work. I like Season 3 because this is what I always imagined what Season 2 would be. I actually liked Season 2 until they jammed everything into the messy ending. The artwork is amazing as usual. Characters from Seasons 1 and 2 have supporting roles and cameos. The end of Season 3 allows for a possible Season 4.

It was all dead silence for what seemed like forever, and then, suddenly, in the last 2 years, a surge in the Psycho-Pass fan service has been rising, 3 movies, a full-on the season, and now a sequel movie, one came after the other, it seemed like the treat the fandom wanted for forever. A moment of silence for those brethren that were big on the franchise, but didn't live long enough to witness its return. - Story (8.6/10): The third season was long, it was different, and very complex when it started, and very little was clear up by the time it ended, leaving us on a massive blood rushing cliffhanger, something making me question why this one was a standalone release, it can easily stand out as episodes 9, 10, and 11, and seeing how each episode is a massive 40 minutes screening, it can allude to a total of 22 normal episodes, taking after the first season. These 3 episodes or 2 hours movie (depending on how you saw it) do clear up all of most of the confusion left from the third season, it focuses on the infiltration of the Nona tower, an intense fast-paced tactical epic that had everyone we knew on the tip of their toes running against the clock. The plot really shows that there is more to the Sybil system than we thought we knew, it expanded the lore more and dropped gazes at possible plot points that can be exploited for more stories to come. The movie ends up on a peaceful open-ended note, a satisfying conclusion to everything from season 2, and that's a lot seeing how many releases we got, it tied up a lot of loose ends for once and for all, but also set up to a possible continuation that we hopefully get shortly. - Art (9/10): Fantastic, this series is one of the rare ones that get the treatment it deserves and more. Everything falls in at a normal perspective, aside from the minimal CGI that slips, everything is blent just perfectly. The fight scenes are given the proper time and effort, some of them even look like they've been rotoscoped. Definitely a product of a massive budget and a talented team of animators. - Sound (9/10): I was mesmerized, even more than the prequel third season. I would have been super fine if they reused the same opening song from the previous season, but man, I was both surprised and amazed at how good the new one is, I mean, I enjoyed all of the OPs that came from this project, but I never put anyone close to the first OP, but now, they are on equal footing if it weren't for the nostalgia that surrounds the first one. “Synthetic Sympathy” by “wyxt.”, google it, it's mesmerizing. Probably the only opening that comes close to the vibes of the first season. The ending theme song had some great emotions as well, very calming, and also saddening. The voice acting was superb as always, the Seiyuus clearly love and enjoy what they are doing, every character feels like a genuine living being if its role. Ginoza and Kougami, of course, are present, and so is their charming voice, Arata too had some great performances especially at his big moment in the end. - Character (8.2/10): Plot-wise, Kei and Arata, no, their whole unite was the star of the third season and this one, but deep inside, we all know the OG team from season 1 was and is always the protagonist, their presence was very hard felt during both entries. It's very well directed too seeing how they didn't halt or overtake the progress of the new team, we do see them involved yes, but Arata and Kei did also have their shining moments, they contributed to the plot and gained somewhat of a following from the fans. - Enjoyment (9/10): The third season while good, always felt like it lacked something import, the secret ingredient that makes Psycho-Pass what it was, we all thought, and for the longest time it was Kougami and folks, but hey, we did have them, even for a brief time before, but now, this violent action-driven arc made it clear, it was always the lore and the focus on the Sybil system, pulling on the threads and seeing the conflict rise up. It really gave literally everyone presents an opportunity to do something, even Shinon had a great moment with her character arc after so long. Definitely a promising comeback for the series. - Overall (8.76/10): If you have already made it through the third season, I don't see what's stopping you, this is a canon continuation and it clears up all the foggy mess that the previous season left unclear, if fact, I would encourage people to watch the third season just so they can experience this greatness.

I started watching this series without much expectation as I was not entirely impressed with the S2 and S3. Coming from someone that has watched all Psycho-Pass episodes and series, I felt that they wrapped any loose ends pretty nicely as most things were laid to bare for conclusion. We also came to understanding about the foundation of Bifrost and its relation to Sibyl system. Basically, everything ties back down to Sibyl system, one way or another. About the soundtrack, I still find that their usage was well-done in season 1 as compared to their recent sequels. This is because I felt that the recent ones are quite jarring to the mood of situation, especially the Psycho-Pass main theme that was always cut short during the fight scene. The use of CGI was not as fluid than the ones in Sinners of System. I wish that there are more character development and background extension for the characters shown, especially the enforcers and MOFA. In my opinion, S3 did not suffice in fleshing out all the characters' traits so I thought there will be more to them for this sequel. Overall, I am surprised myself that the sequel for S3 has exceeded my expectations. If you felt unsatisfied after the ending of S3, then you are highly recommended to watch this sequel as it would wrap up most of the loose ends.

This review is a bit shorter since most of my thoughts are already in my Psycho-Pass 3 review. First Inspector is mainly about wrapping up the story and driving its point home, and I argue it did its job pretty well. That's not to say there aren't some detractors; I've been seeing a lot of fours in the list of reviews and I think that's rather harsh, especially if they're from people who are fans of Psycho-Pass. To be clear, I didn't read any of those reviews, hence the "if" in the last sentence. Are some characters lacking or even devoid of personality? Most definitely, and that is by far Psycho-Pass 3's greatest issue. One character in particular does a complete... okay, not a 180, more like a 120, but it was still a plot development that needed more buildup. It would have been cool if that character had a whole episode (or half, since these are 45 minutes each) to really iron out all the mystery elements from that person's perspective and get a more firmly developed grasp on their motivations and ideology. We still somewhat know this person, but I feel that more could have been done. That said, the loose ends of the mystery are tied up and mostly explained, something for which I am quite glad. We find out the truths of the man in the mask, Bifrost, Koichi Azusawa, and Shizuka Homura, all of which are welcome. Do we get any mention of Kei's brother's fate? Yeah... the two times, and it's never brought up again, let alone properly answered. That was rather disappointing, but disappointment alone does not a four out of ten rating make. I want reviewers to remember that. While the plot does mostly wrap things up nicely, I will acknowledge that it takes some 20 minutes to really get going. When your main lead is literally sleeping under his desk at work wearing a goofy sleeping mask while his colleagues are being pursued, captured, and/or killed, that's kind of a problem. However, this leads me to one of the strongest aspects of this show: the setting. This story takes place almost entirely within the confines of the Public Safety Bureau's headquarters, giving a feeling more distinct from other Psycho-Pass franchise entries and closer to the films "Dredd", "Die Hard", or "The Raid: Redemption", all of which I highly recommend. "Claustrophobic" is not really the term that best describes the feeling, for neither this film nor those other ones; I think "controlled" is more apt. Furthermore, while certain areas (especially the hallway leading to the server room) have familiar elements to them and are reused, the locations never felt stale to me. Props should be given to the directing and background design for keeping the locations varied and fresh while still maintaining a careful sense of geographic location for all the characters, especially once they really start to move around inside the building. I do, however, believe that some characters are given remarkably little to do. Most have some moments to shine (e.g. Shion, Shimotsuki, and Todoroki to name most of them), but others (Sugou, Irie, and Kisaragi) are rather underutilized. Kisaragi in particular feels left out; she isn't heavily involved in any action scenes save for one (and all she does is throw a few grenades) and seems to be more of a spectator. When you factor in her history with the main villain, it's downright idiotic that she has so little to do with the plot. There's nobody to blame but the creative team for that. Moving on, voice acting, music, and sound design are all on par with their predecessor. I will say, though, that the music is not nearly as good as in season 1; the tracks themselves are fun to listen to, but how the music is used to showcase/accentuate conflict and/or character traits is far less interesting outside of a few key moments. Even so, it was nice to hear "Dominator", "Latent Criminal", and "PSYCHO-PASS Symphony" again in addition to the newer tracks (sorry; I don't know their names). Visually, this work looks great. Shading gradients are prevalent, I didn't notice anyone go off-model, animation is sometimes rather limited but mostly fluid, characters are drawn at often difficult-to-draw angles, and (of course) Mika Shimotsuki's expressions never fail to impress :D. Characters aren't quite as emotive as earlier on in Psycho-Pass 3, but Shion's little thumbs-up and wink was adorable and the great voice acting carries the rest. None of the action scenes look like the franchise's very best, but they are still a definite step above most of what Japanese animation has been offering as of late. There's still the chance that Production I.G. will be able to keep themselves afloat given the current animation industry crisis Japan has been suffering, especially in the wake of China's recent outsourcing to Japanese animators. That said, I will reserve my hope for that outcome until I know that Production I.G. treats their animators well and pays them more than a meager 20K in U.S. dollars annually (China is able to sustain nearly 60K, for those who are curious). [Source: "Nikkei Editorial Predicts Gloomy Times Ahead for Japanese Anime Industry as China Puts Focus on Domestic Animation" on AnimeNewsNetwork] Overall, Psycho-Pass 3 is something of a mixed bag, but still a definite positive in my book (especially after Id:Invaded was a bit of a letdown). It lacks quite a bit of the thematic richness of the first season (although it does retain some) and arguably has more characters than it can reasonably juggle. That said, it's an entertaining mystery that's welcome to both fans of the franchise and Production I.G.'s sci-fi style, and seeing as I fit into both categories, I had a lot of fun with it and would definitely watch more. Some improvements that I think could be made would be to slowly phase the more established characters like Kogami and Ginoza out of the television works and give them their own standalone movies (think Sinners of the System) so that the characters who still have a lot of room to grow can have the time allowed by a TV series to do so. I can't in good conscience say I was particularly impressed with Psycho-Pass 3, but it was most definitely more than just slightly above the mediocre average I have unfortunately accepted from Japanese anime. For that, and for all the creators' hard work, thank you. If you make more Psycho-Pass, I will be there to at least try it, if not watch it. Happy watching! - LC

This movie serves as the conclusion to the third season of Psycho Pass. Honestly this movie was very much needed for me as one of the biggest complaints was that the third season was not fleshed out enough and felt confusing. We follow Arata and Kei as they continue to face the assault on the PSB headquarters. In terms of plot and story it’s fine, it’s just following where we left off last, I think a strength of the story was that it did have a finished ending for season three. Mysteries surrounding the Bifrost organization and roundtable game were explained, two things that were very confusing in season three. An issue I do have with the plot though is how some things were STILL left unanswered. There saving this for the next installments for Psycho Pass, but it honestly just left me sitting there missing context to a story I couldn’t fully immerse myself in because of this. One of the things unanswered was Akane and her mystery on being imprisoned. Arata’s father’s death also felt a little lacking, in that there was still details missing. Now for the characters, they were very solid overall. Arata and Kei were the strengths here, my statements stand from season three, in terms of characters, they were the highlights. Same is said about Mika, going from an insufferable character to someone who feels very capable and became much more likable to me. The return of Kogami and Akane was also nice to see and felt well included, even if Akane still had some questions unresolved. Azusawa also felt better here, mainly because his motives felt more clear here, him wanting to become part of the Sybil System was ok, but I was missing the philosophical motives behind other antagonists of the series. Still, characters were good. The sound design was good. The dominator sounds in particular are still great. The score was good, keeping things intense a lot of the time. The animation was good was well, nothing that blew me away, but nothing that offended me either. Some of the landscape designs were neat too. All in all, I’d say this movie is good, mainly being carried by the sound design, animation, and solid characters. However the plot is pretty inconsistent because of too many unanswered questions and a weak villain. Overall Score: 70% on the moist meter 🔫🤖