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.
Rating: 3/10
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