‘Psycho-Pass’ Watch Order: Including ‘Providence’
‘Psycho-Pass’ is a Japanese cyberpunk anime series produced by Production I.G studio, co-directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro and Naoyoshi Shiotani, and written by Gen Urobuchi. The story is set in a totalitarian dystopian future, where the sanity of every citizen of Japanese society is quantified using ubiquitous computer devices to spot would-be criminals. The story revolves around Shinya Kōgami, Akane Tsunemori, and the other members of Unit 1 of the Public Security Bureau (PSB).
This article will give you a thorough insight into the ‘Psycho-Pass’ anime series. You’ll get all the necessary information and a complete guide to watching the whole series, including the four anime movies that are part of the franchise.
Editor’s Note: This watch order is regularly updated to bring you the latest updates on ‘Psycho-Pass’ anime franchise.
How many ‘Psycho-Pass’ seasons & movies are there?
There are three seasons of ‘Psycho-Pass’ anime and six movies in total. The ‘Psycho-Pass’ anime first aired on Fuji TV in the noitaminA time slot between October 2012 and March 2013. A second season of eleven episodes aired between October and December 2014, followed by an anime film in January 2015. A film trilogy titled ‘Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System’ was released between January and March 2019. A third season aired between October and December 2019, followed by the animated film ‘Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector’ in March 2020. A new animated film titled ‘Providence’ was released in May 2023.
‘Psycho-Pass’ watch order at a glance
The following is an overview of ‘Psycho-Pass’ anime in release date order
- ‘Psycho-Pass’ (anime, 2012–2013)
- ‘Psycho-Pass 2′ (anime, 2014)
- ‘Psycho-Pass: The Movie’ (movie, 2015)
- ‘Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System’ (movie trilogy, 2019)
- ‘Psycho-Pass 3′ (anime, 2019)
- ‘Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector’ (movie, 2020)
- ‘Psycho-Pass: PROVIDENCE’ (2023)
Do you need to watch ‘Psycho-Pass’ in a specific order?
All anime seasons and movies are ‘Psycho-Pass’ are connected and set in the same continuity and universe. They likewise follow the same themes and more or less the same group of characters; due to this, ‘Psycho-Pass’ should be watched in a specific order.
What is the best way to watch ‘Psycho-Pass’?
The best way to watch ‘Psycho-Pass’ is in chronological order, which is significantly different than the release date order. Your chronological watch order should begin with ‘Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System – First Guardian’ and end with ‘Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector.’ In the following sections, you can check out our detailed watch order for the ‘Psycho-Pass’ franchise.
‘Psycho-Pass’ chronological watch order
‘Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System – First Guardian’ (movie, 2019)
Enforcer Teppei Sugo is a distinguished former military officer. He acted as close air support for a Navy ground force alongside Itsuki Otomo, another pilot, and a communications officer. Together they formed a close-knit military family, including Rin, Itsuki’s wife, who was the squad’s ground commander.
The team was sent on a military strike outside of Japan, but Sugo lost Itsuki during the fight. Sugo is devastated and tortured by this loss because he was ordered to abandon his comrades. He is confronted by the MWPSB officers Aoyanagi and Masaoka, who tell him that he is a primary suspect in a terrorist attack apparently carried out by his MIA commander, Itsuki.
They find out that the army tested a biological weapon against the enemy, which also led to the deaths of the rest of the strike team. Itsuki had some knowledge about the attack beforehand and put his memories in an android for revenge, but FBI forces stop him. Rin tries to assassinate the military commander, but he kills her instead. However, the Presidium marks the Commander for a high Psychopass and ends it. After these events, Sugo’s stress level increases, and he ends up becoming an enforcer for the MWPSB.
‘Psycho-Pass’ (anime, 2012–2013)
The plot of the first season, consisting of 22 episodes, is divided into two parts – the first, which follows the work of Inspector Division 1 and gives an insight into the characters and their mutual relationships, and the second, which gives the final twist to the story and shows the fight against Shōgo Makishima.
Akane Tsunemori, the anime’s main character, arrives at her new job as the second inspector in the team led by Nobuchika Ginoza. After informing her about the case, Akane leaves with the Enforcers to find the suspect, where we learn about the importance of the Dominator and the relationship between the inspector and the Enforcers.
‘Psycho-Pass 2′ (anime, 2014)
Unlike the previous one, the anime’s second season has only 11 episodes and begins with the narration in medias res. An explosion in one of the city’s squares caught the attention of the PSB, even though it did not lead to human casualties. PSB investigators, inspectors Akane Tsunemori and Mika Shimotsuki, work with the Enforcers on the case and connect one of the witnesses to the explosion with the person who sent the threats in the video.
It’s Akira Kitazawa, an engineer who knows explosives. During the chase, Kitazawa seemingly takes a hostage, who is soon released. Akane’s team goes after Kitazawa, while Inspector Mizue Shisui and her Enforcer Yamatoya go after the woman. While Akane manages to calm Kitazawa down enough that she doesn’t have to kill him, Inspector Shisui reveals that the hostage is actually a hologram, or trap, just as Akane predicted.
‘Psycho-Pass: The Movie’ (movie, 2015)
In the year 2116, the Japanese government began exporting the drones of the “Sybil System” to countries in difficulty, and the system spread worldwide. A state in the middle of a civil war, SEAUn (the Union of South East Asia, pronounced “shian”), agrees to introduce the “Sybil System” as an experiment. Under the system, the coastal town of Shambala Float achieves internal security and temporary peace.
But then the SEAUn government sends a group of terrorists to Japan, who infiltrate the system to attack it from the inside. The shadow of a certain man falls on the accident. As police chief, Tsunemori decides to go to Shambala Float to investigate. The truth behind justice in this new country will soon become clear to her.
‘Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System – Crime and Punishment’ (movie, 2019)
Enforcer Nobuchika Ginoza and Inspector Mika Shimotsuki of Unit 1 find a traumatized woman, and it quickly becomes clear that a drug has altered her mental state. Akane Tsunemori’s team is ordered to take her back to a special trial prison, which is actually the location where the woman worked as a therapist. Akane sends her colleague, Inspector Shimotsuki, along with two of their Enforcers, Ginoza, and Kunizuka, to examine the prison while she and the rest of Unit One go to investigate the case in Tokyo.
Using a new combination of medicine, therapy, and work, the prison has produced a different type of society in which latent criminal inmates act in harmony with each other – keeping their delinquency coefficients below 90 in most cases and doing valuable work for society as a whole. Mika sees the woman as a criminal worth killing, but she and Ginoza realize that the woman has used herself as bait to seek sanctuary for a small child.
‘Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System – In the Realm Beyond/On the Other Side of Love and Hate’ (movie, 2019)
Shinya Kogami travels the region of Tibet and the Himalayas as a freelance mercenary. He saves a bus full of guerrilla fugitives, including a half-Japanese girl, Tenzing Wangchuk. She asks him to teach her martial arts so that she can take revenge on her parents’ murderer. Kogami agrees but warns him not to take the path of revenge as he has done in the past.
He meets Frederica Hanashiro of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is believed to be looking for Kimin, Japanese people stranded outside the country, with the goal of bringing them home if they are of good color. She helps Kogami protect the fugitives, but he is injured and saved by Garcia, a mercenary who worked for the peacekeeping mission of the UN peacekeepers.
‘Psycho-Pass PROVIDENCE’ (2023)
Japan is discussing the exportation of the Sybil System around the world.
The potential global impact of Sybil is outlined in a set of documents known as the Stronskaya Papers. However, the author of these papers is killed at the beginning of the story. Both the Japanese government and a rebel group called the Peacebreakers were interested in obtaining the papers for their own purposes.
Akane and her unit become involved in the situation. They face various challenges and setbacks, resulting in significant casualties. Eventually, they reach the rebel base located in the Kuril Islands, where Akane confronts the rebel leader, Tsugumasa Tonami. However, Tonami is killed by Kogami, revealing that he was merely a spokesperson for an enigmatic AI known as The General.
Although the Sybil System had allied with The General, Akane strongly opposed this merger. Tonami tries to persuade her, claiming it is the only viable solution, but Akane continues fighting and risks being labeled a traitor. She remains steadfast in her belief and fights for what she considers to be right.
‘Psycho-Pass 3′ (anime, 2019)
The Public Safety Bureau assigns newly appointed agents Arata Shindo and Kei Mikhail Ignatov to Unit 1, now headed by Mika Shimotsuki. The team of Enforcers, now consisting of Tenma Todoroki, Kazumichi Irie, Mao Kisaragi, and Sho Hinakawa, encounter them and are surprised at how Arata can examine people through his mental track.
During the season, Unit One investigates a case involving the idol Karina Komiya, elected as Tokyo’s new governor. While pursuing the criminals who attempt to kill them, Unit 1 encounters the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Directorate of Law Enforcement, a branch that oversees international crimes such as smuggling and terrorism.
‘Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector’ (movie, 2020)
Koichi Azusawa of the mysterious Bifrost crime group plans an attack on the Public Safety Bureau with Chiyo Obata, along with a couple of Pathfinders named Jackdaw and Vixen. At the same time, Shirogane returns to Bifrost, where he prepares to bet Shizuka Homura on the outcome of the heist.
Azusawa locks the office headquarters and uses Obata to free the criminals in the cells and arm them to attack the detectives as a diversion. After the first attack, unit one is left without its inspectors, the scouts destroy unit two, and unit three is trapped outside the building. Azusawa also takes Unit 1 Inspector Arata Shindō hostage.
Meanwhile, Inspector Kei Mikhail Ignatov is contacted by Shirogane, who promises to reveal to him the truth about his brother’s death in exchange for his loyalty. Shugo follows Ignatov to the rendezvous, where they are both ambushed by a sniper turret. Shinya Kogami and Nobuchika Ginoza of the State Department’s Law Enforcement Branch arrive and work with Ignatov to foil the ambush and ensure public safety.
Where to watch ‘Psycho-Pass’?
You can watch the first three seasons of ‘Psycho-Pass’ and the trilogy of movies on Amazon Prime Video with an active subscription. ‘Psycho-Pass: The Movie’ can be watched on Crunchyroll. ‘Psycho-Pass 3: First Inspector’ is unfortunately not available on any major streaming services. ‘Psycho-Pass: PROVIDENCE’ will be available on Crunchyroll sometime in the future.
Will there be more ‘Psycho-Pass’ anime or movies?
So far, no new announcements had been made regarding the fourth season of the anime, but it’s expected that the news will be made public after the full release of ‘Providence.’
