Psycho Pass: Sinners of the System-First Guardian

Before he became an Enforcer with the MWPSB, Teppei Sugo was one of the top drone pilots for the JSF, codename: First Guardian.  Not long after a military operation ends with the death of Sugo’s entire team, a series of Drone attacks rattles Tokyo.  Sugo becomes the prime suspect in aiding the true culprit, a ghost from his past.  As he works to clear his name, Sugo crosses paths with MWPSB Division 2 Inspector Risa Aoyanagi and Division 1 Enforce  Masaoka Tomomi, two individuals who will influence the course of his future.

In many ways, Sinners of the System seems to be acting more as an apology and a do over of Psycho Pass 2.  Seriously, you could just have Psycho Pass then Psycho Pass: The Movie, then name this trilogy Season 2.  Crime and Punishment already laid the groundwork for making Mika Tsumotsuki a better character and in First Guardian, the same is done for a another character I feel is kind of just in the background.  But really what makes First Guardian stand out more than the first part of this trilogy is the much welcome return of some familiar faces and with them, the same magic that made Psycho Pass’ First Season such a huge success.
 
Yeah for all the focus on Sugo, the real stars for First Guardian are the returning Season One cast.  This story takes place prior to the events of Season One, Akane isnt even around yet.  But who is there: Old Man Masaoka.  It’s not like Psycho Pass hasn’t gotten by just fine without him but losing his character in Season One was a huge blow for the cast and First Guardian reminds us why he was such an awesome character.  Masaoka is still the old school detective who you wouldn’t peg for being a Latent Criminal.  His deductions and logic are sound, his advice solid and he doesn’t have to do much to earn your respect.  While this is still the time when Ginoza is still ticked off with him, Masaoka is still beloved by not just his fellow Division 1 teammates but also Aoyanagi, who goes on to become Suga’s criminally underused superior in Psycho Pass 2.  Who wouldn’t want this wise old timer who can still kick serious ass around?  And for icing on the cake, the wise cracking psycho Kagari returns as well.  It’s one big reunion for what’s arguably the Golden Age of Psycho Pass and definitely makes me wanna revisit Season One again.
 
This is still Suga’s backstory and while the Season One reunion special is awesome, his much needed backstory is very much in line with Season One’s solid cases surrounding crimes under the Sybil System’s watch.  It’s interesting getting to look at Japanese Military use in the Age of Sybil.  Many of these soldiers are killing or performing high risk operations on a daily basis.  So how do none of them qualify as Latent Criminals in constant need of policing like Enforcers?  One particular revelation near the end rocks Suga so hard that it’s no wonder he’d end up on the path that eventually brought him to Akane’s team.  Suga himself is ok though maybe the case surrounding him and Masaoka being his mentor kind of overshadow him at times.  Still, it’s another good angle of the flawed perfect system for Psycho Pass to look at and does so well.
 
Rather than being told as a straight up prequel, First Guardian continues to lay the groundwork for Psycho Pass 3.  The bookending scenes feature the return of the immensely sexy Frederica Hanashiro, who is working on putting together a new kind of special unit for International Investigations.  This is actually her first appearance in the franchise and despite her short amount of screentime, damn does she make a good first impression.  The bookends admittedly don’t add much to the overall story and could be excised altogether if you wanted to make this trilogy a stand alone anthology collection.  It’s pretty harmless to leave it in.  Plus it sets up something that I’m sure will be covered in next weeks review
 
First Guardian is a strong second entry in the Sinners of the System Trilogy.  Sugo is a character in much need of relevance to the overall franchise and his backstory is as compelling and tragic as any Psycho Pass has covered.  The return of Masaoka, Ayonagi and the rest of the Season One crew brings back fond memories of Season One and practically begs for a Prequel Series all its own.  Even if this wasn’t laying more groundwork for Psycho Pass 3, this series of side tales has proven pretty good so far.  Like I said, it’s almost enough to make you think THIS should have been Psycho Pass 2 instead.
 
9/10
 
However, I think I should save that sentiment for Next Week as we check in with one the two main stars of Psycho Pass and maybe see how he finds his way onto this little team Frederica is putting together.  Psycho Pass: Sinners of the System concludes with On the Other Side of Love and Hate, Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.