Psycho-Pass 3 | Midseason Review & Should You Watch Sinners of the System?

I remember how hype I was when I learned that there was going to be another season of Psycho-Pass. Unfortunately, they also announced 3 Psycho-Pass movies that came out before Season 3 started with no plans for them to come to the U.S. It was hard to tell if the three films were a prerequisite to watch season 3 or not so here I am to answer that question. I’ll also give you my thoughts on this season thus far.

Psycho-Pass Sinners of the System

Psycho-Pass Sinners of the System are three movies that are three separate character-driven cases. They are all pretty good and two of them are written by the man behind season 1 and the first movie, Makoto Fukami.  If someone were to ask me if you NEED to watch the movies before you watch season 3, you don’t. As much as you may be lost as to why Kogami, Ginoza, and Sugou are part of the foreign affairs team, they also don’t give you much insight into why Akane is locked up. I still don’t know what crime she committed. All we know is she is awaiting judgment. Since there are already so many unanswered questions, don’t let them stop you from picking up Season3.

Psycho-Pass Season 3

We are years in the future after the events of the first Psycho-Pass movie and we find that there is a new Division One of the Public Safety Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Department. Only one member from Season 2 is there and that’s Sho Hinakawa. With this whole new cast, you wonder how this story will continue?  Well, we got two new inspectors that bring a whole new spin to the detective work on Division One that we haven’t seen before. They believe in each other and what is just, not allowing Sibyl system to determine what is right and wrong. There’s more.

Shindo Arata, one of two of the main protagonists and investigators of Division One, is an A-class profiler with high empathic abilities. He can cross mental boundaries and identify himself with the subject of a case through empathy. The other main protag and investigator is Kei Mikhail Ignatov, a former military veteran who is a second-generation Russian immigrant. They have been friends since they were kids and have kept a strong bond all these years. They were victims in the same case which took the lives of both Shindo’s father and Ignatov’s brother.

With these new inspectors, some interesting enforcers and Shimotsuki as the chief, who knows what will happen this season?

My Thoughts On Season 3 So Far

One of my favorite things about this season is the episode length. It almost feels like one of those prime time tv crime shows now and that’s the vibe it kind of had since day 1. I know for some it, it must feel like we are getting less because it is only 8 episodes but with each of them being around 45 minutes, we are really getting like 16 episodes of content. Also, whenever Psycho-Pass SS comes to the U.S, you get three more hours of content. One day soon hopefully!

Division One has a very interesting dynamic that somehow surprises me with something new every episode. As bummed as I was that most of my favorite characters weren’t in episode 1, that quickly changed in the following episodes. So look forward to that if you haven’t watched any of it. I mentioned earlier that Shimotsuki is the new Chief and to be honest, I really like her in that role. She was very annoying in season 2 but she definitely became more enjoyable in the Psycho-Pass SS Case 1 movie and this season.

I’ll be honest, the OP didn’t quite hit me like a Ling Tosite Sigure OP would but this one has grown on me over the weeks. I’m a fan of the use of solid colors and what looks to be a pulp fiction reference when our boys are walking down the street? It’s a really nice visual.

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that Makoto Fukami returned to write the scripts for cases 2 and 3 of Sinners of the System but he also returned for Season 3. All the makings of a good continuation to the Sibyl System story and it feels like we aren’t that far from total closure of the series. I believe whatever Akane is planning behind bars is related to these new inspectors and I feel that the Foreign Affairs team is also going to play a huge role.

There’s so much more I can say but I really just wanted to help anyone that was wondering if they needed to watch the SS movies and hopefully get others interested in checking it out. I’ve been BEGGING my friends to watch and no one has so I guess I will just have to rely on talking through the interwebs about it. If you are watching, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the series in the comments below! Thanks for Reading!