Psycho Pass S3 Ep.03 - Yayoi is a journalist now? Wait, what?
Episode 3 of Psycho-Pass Season 3 picks up where we left off, with Arata Shindo and Kei Mikhail Ignatov continuing their investigation into idol-turned-politician Karina Komiya. She appears to be involved in a mysterious string of murders and the overarching Bifrost plot, which remains quite vague with only minor mentions here and there.
Most of the episode focuses on questioning various parties without making any major advancements in the investigation. There is frequent talk about the "First Inspector", but I am still not sure what that signifies. I know the movie bears that title, but since it was released after Season 3, I worry I might have missed something that should have been explained already.
The main thing that struck me about this episode was the discovery of an underground arena. I do not understand how this fits into the world established in the first two seasons, which showed the Sibyl System having nearly complete control over Japan, excluding a few criminally asymptomatic citizens. Is there suddenly an entire area that is completely lawless?
I am not sure how to feel about this third season so far because it feels much weaker than the first two. There is no tension or thriller effect to keep the audience on the edge of their seats with each passing episode. Much of the excitement in the earlier seasons came from seeing characters navigate the invisible eye of the Sibyl System, but here the story seems to have devolved into a standard police drama.
They even included a scene, which you can see in the attached video, where Kei punches someone for insulting his coworker. It was a classic cliché that made me roll my eyes. I will need to check if the writer or director changed between seasons, as I cannot explain this shift in tone otherwise.
The next episode appears to bring back a character from the previous seasons, though with a major change in her position and appearance. Yayoi Kunizuka, originally an Enforcer working for the Bureau, is now a freelance journalist providing external support to the team. She has also received a complete redesign, with her ponytail replaced by long, straight hair.
Again, I have many questions about what happened in the years between Season 2 and Season 3. Specifically, how did she manage to exit the "latent criminal" stage? We have never seen anyone else move out of that category before. However, this at least provides some hope that Akane, who is apparently a murderer now, might also be able to clear her hue.
