It’s a slower episode this week for Psycho-Pass 3 but there is so much to unpack when it comes to details of the characters and how it relates to the latest case of the candidates for the governorship of Tokyo. There are family connections, hidden pasts and plot threads that point to something far bigger. The antagonist in previous seasons have always been a singular person surrounded by his minions but the entity of Bitforst isn’t monolithic at all as there are multiple players are betting on the outcomes of these financial schemes and political races. It even has its own ranking system of Inspectors that control underground fights or legitimate cafes. Having MWPSB be fighting off a similar organization to themselves would be enticing as Akane already killed someone tied to Bifrost.
If you thought Arata’s ability was OP and would allow him to waltz through any investigation, then Getting dunked on by Karina’s live broadcast is a good sign that the series intends to develop this aspect into a battle of the minds. It’s not as epic as Makishima Shogo being the mirror to Kogami but I’m to see their powers become focal point in the case as opposed to being a crutch. Similarly, Kei also gets his ass handed to him where the suspect got his head curb-stomped into the ground. It goes to show that in an age of high-tech holograms and scanners, physical power is still relevant when combined with speed and surprise. Just as I was asking why an abandoned zone would still exist when the Sybil System could just send in some minigun-wielding drones and flatten the entire place, the show literally gave me the answer. It does make sense that it saves money in the long-term, offers better surveillance of societies’ undesirables and is a valve for those who wish to evade the system’s graze. Perfect for someone like Irie to thrive in its seedy black market and this is the setting for their backstory. Aside from a single flashback, I really enjoyed the way the story unfolds with the two enforcers going through their origin stories as part of the case.
I don’t get the sentiment of anti-immigration in the world of Psycho-Pass. After all, the border is tightly controlled by armed military drones, the economy is thriving, the Sybil System is literally a surveillance state’s wet dream so any invading ideology cannot take root. It could be the fact that Japan has some deeply-rooted notions about foreigners coming into their country as evident by the low numbers of naturalization in real life. For those of you who view the topics that Psycho-Pass 3 decided to inject into their narrative as leftist cancer invading the medium, it doesn’t really take a side into saying that immigration is good or bad. Both candidates are perfectly happy to use foreign labor to bolster their production and Kei is more concerned about his wife’s well-being than pushing for something like open borders.
I almost missed the post-credit scene but the final enforcer from the old season of Yayoi Kunizukai finally made her debut in the third season. Seeing how she was able to break free of her latent criminal status and go back to being a civilian is a nice happy oddity for a series that gravitates towards inflicting horrible things to its characters. Things can still go very wrong but this episode does an excellent job of taking its time to develop its world, characters and plot. When there are a million derivative isekai being pumped out this year alone, I can’t ask for much more than what Psycho-Pass is doing.
