A round-table talk between the writers of the TV Anime 『PSYCHO-PASS 3』 Ubukata Tow, Fukami Makoto and Yoshigami Ryou was released. Behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the script right from the first episode of the series were revealed by the three main writers.

『PSYCHO-PASS 3』 is the latest addition to the original sci-fi anime series which depicts how the police force would question true justice in a near-future society where humanity's psychological states were digitized and overseen.

In this round-table discussion, three writers who had participated and worked on the script for the series were gathered. Ubukata Tow who was in charge of the series composition and screenplay of 『PSYCHO-PASS 2』, Fukami Makoto who made his debut as a screenwriter in the first season of the TV series and Yoshigami Ryou who wrote the books for the spin-off series 『PSYCHO-PASS ASYLUM』 and the past of the series 『PSYCHO-PASS GENESIS』 are now having cross-talks to look back on the creation of the series and new screenplays.

TV Anime 『PSYCHO-PASS 3』 is broadcast every Thursday on Fuji TV's "NoitaminA"

＜Below contains the full interview＞
【Ubukata Tow（Series composer/screenwriter）× Fukami Makoto（Screenwriter）× Yoshigami Ryou（Screenwriter）】

――The script for 『PSYCHO-PASS 3』 (hereinafter referred to as “PP3”) is said to be co-written by three writers, so how was the script written?

Ubukata: There were specific orders from the producer side and Director Shiotani (Naoyoshi), such as completely changing the main characters to new ones and setting a timeline (the timeline in the series is set in 2120, 6 years after the second season). I went on to compose the series based on the request while the two of them (Fukami and Yoshigami) write the script.

Fukami: The combination between Ubukata and Director Shiotani was great. First of all, there was a feeling of completeness between those two. The series composition that Ubukata composed was very precise. I had never seen such a precise composition! He was on another level. So, the first task I was told to do was to 「construct the foundation for the series composition（the theme of the episode）, and plot (gather specific elements from the scenes)」.

Ubukata: Fukami is really something else, to think he would return my thrown ball back to me (laughs). This resulted in several addition and removal of characters that were originally not included in the series composition. For example, Obata-chan (Obata Chiyo, an accomplice of Azusawa Kouichi, the first inspector) is a character that was born because of Fukami. Because of how interesting Fukami's curve ball is, I will also return the ball back to him as well.

Fukami: Looking at our scenario work, Ubukata wanted to rewrite the latter half of the series to make it more interesting.

Ubukata: Because of how the two of us kept throwing curve balls at each other. I believe it gave the script writing a sort of rhythm. Though It took a lot more time.

Fukami: I was surprised when I first read the series composition and plots he made. It is a new 『PSYCHO-PASS』 no matter how you look at it. Bifrost's appearance, the settings for the inspectors. The fact that everyone is gradually getting involved in the incident, and no one is even aware of a true culprit … I think it's interesting.

――Yoshigami-san was first involved in 『PSYCHO-PASS Sinners of the System Case.1 Sin and Judgement』 as a screenwriter and is now joining the TV series this time as a screenwriter as well.

Yoshigami： I was in charge of the amount of chapters for the mid section, but since everyone is gradually incorporating new ideas and elements during the plot stage, the word count in the script have become tremendously huge.

Ubukata： That's Yoshigami's bad habit. No matter what he writes, it'll end up with a huge volume.

Fukami：In other words, Yoshigami's scripts are like novels.

Ubukata：Yeah！　I was like that back when I first started writing scripts for anime.

Yoshigami：Ubukata's modifications on the details of the screenplay were really educational.

――What kind of characters are the main protagonists Shindou Arata and Kei Mikhail Ignatov? Please tell us about the character's personality and their charms.

Ubukata： At first, Director Shiotani and the production side talked about a 「complete character change」 and I was later tasked to think about what if 「the inspector were buddies」. I believe that it was also decided from the beginning that the setting for the 「inspector buddies」is 「one of the two was an immigrant and the two were childhood friends」 and 「there was a height difference」. From there, I thought of having a combination between psychology and combat, which I later then proposed the mentalist(Psychologist) and experienced military combatant buddies.

Fukami： When I first participated in the book-reading (meeting on the script), Ubukata suddenly said, 「I really want to see Fukami's Shindou Arata and Kei Mikhail Ignatov, so please write the first episode」 (Laughs) At first glance, Shindou is those blurry but smart type. It feels like he's fooling around but he will always find the right path and dashes straight towards it. It gave me a hard time at first.

Ubukata： Because if it was done poorly, he'll seem like an unpleasant guy.

Fukami： At first Ubukata also said 「It's fine even if he seems unpleasant」.

Ubukata： Unknowingly, he was slowly turned into the type of character that takes the lead in conversations and can always turn the tides around to his advantage without fail.

Yoshigami： Just like a con artist. But in a more cop-like sense。

Ubukata： The kind of cop that gets familiar with criminals through small chatter, only to arrest them afterwards.

――Tell us about the interesting aspects of being involved in the 『PSYCHO-PASS』 series

Fukami： I had previously read a few of Ubukata's novels such as the 『Mardock』 series, the 『Spiegel』 series, and other historical works… It makes me excited to be able to work together with someone like him. It sounds rude but, 「He's so smart」 (Laughs). During the first meeting with Ubukata, I had to spin my head around. Through that experience, the excitement was enough to change the way I look at screenwriting.

Ubukata： At the site of 『PSYCHO-PASS』, I thought 「All the creators are crazy」（Laughs）. It's a compliment of course, but the person who was in charge of the first season, Urobuchi(Gen), Fukami and Yoshigami all have a somewhat abnormal side. I believe that's why something exciting and fun can be created.

Yoshigami： I've loved and been reading the work of both Ubukata and Fukami ever since my teenage years. I was greatly influenced by the both of them. It was an amazing growth opportunity for myself, and as Fukami said, the way I look at screenwriting has changed as well. It was an excellent site where writers who are at the peak of Japanese SF entertainment gathered to make a really astonishing TV animation, to the point that I wanted to assert 「Everyone, look at this works！」.

TV Anime season 3 『PSYCHO-PASS ３』 is currently broadcasting on Fuji TV “NoitaminA” and others！！
Broadcasting every Thursday on Fuji TV “NoitaminA” from 24:55～25:55 on an expanded time frame （8 episodes in total）
Exclusive distribution for Japan and overseas on Amazon Prime Video
Every episode scheduled for broadcast 1 hour after the start of Fuji TV broadcasts

（C）PSYCHO-PASS Production Committee