The Happiness Patrol (Season 3)

The third season of the British-Japanese dystopic steampunk anime series *The Happiness Patrol* aired from October 22, 2014 to March 4, 2015 in a variety of regions, notably TV Tokyo in Japan, BBC One in the United Kingdom, and NBC in the United States. The season was written and directed by the series' creator, Jay Stevenson, and produced by J-Animations. The soundtrack was composed by Susumu Hirasawa, Shiro Sagisu, and Joe Hisaishi, and features insert songs from a variety of Japanese and Western artists, including L'Arc-en-Ciel, Spitz, The Pillows, Arctic Monkeys, Suede and Cocteau Twins. The third season's opening theme is "Haruka Mirai" by Kankaku Pierrot, and its ending theme is "Refugees" by The Tears.

*The Happiness Patrol* takes place in a dystopic society where industrialisation has turned planet Earth into an entirely man-made industrial site, wrought with pollution, overpopulation and crime. The government responsible for this are overthrown in a coup in the events leading up to the series, and the new government's solution to the issue is to reduce overpopulation. A social ranking system is introduced in which every citizen is given a card with their total social point score: the higher the score, the more access and therefore freedom one has. Every three months, the bottom 1 billion in the ranking system are executed. The third season of *The Happiness Patrol* follows on from the previous two series, following an initially episodic format where the focus point of the season changes every few episodes. The second half of the season takes on a serialised format, following the eponymous group as they accept a request from a grieving mother to find her missing daughter. The story arc lasts for nine episodes, and sees the group's members reflect on whether what they do is morally correct, and if they should continue on their path for points with no regards for others. Eventually, although the daughter is never found, the mother attempts to pay her points to the organization by stealing the card of her daughter's estranged father, but he kills her. The father attempts to ask the Happiness Patrol to help cover up her murder, but they instead kill him, choosing to preserve their morals.

The season was announced in December 2013, during the airing of the second season. The second season's voice cast all reprise their roles, including Yuri Lowenthal as Adam, Jason Bateman as Zell, Thandiwe Newton as Eleanor, Alison Brie as Jess and Nicole Kidman as Jara-Kan. Keith Silverstein is introduced as the President of the government, simply known as Mister. The series aired on Wednesdays at 11 p.m. and consisted of 20 episodes.

*The Happiness Patrol*'s third season received positive reviews from critics, especially during its second half. The initial episodic format was once again criticised, however the shift to a more serialised storyline was praised. The series' choice to distance itself from its gory and violent storylines to focus on more heartfelt and character driven narratives was a point of acclaim. Critics felt that the show was showing more promise with an overarching narrative, and that making the story focus on the characters was a clever choice, given that the show's main cast was so strong. Many also felt the show worked much better with a more emotional backdrop. Critics praised the identification and introduction of the in-universe government, and found it interesting that they were presented as innocent people. The season also received positive feedback for its animation, art direction, soundtrack and voice performances. Criticism was still drawn towards the show's lack of innovation, with one reviewer stating the show "hadn't seemed to change at all since [the first season]". The season's final episode, which saw Adam, the Happiness Patrol's leader, up for execution, received critical acclaim. Many enjoyed the twist that killing the child's father is what condemned Adam to death, and the final moments of Adam desperately breaking out of his faulty trap and escaping the warehouse he was in received praise for its cinematography, score and emotional impact. The show was nominated for a variety of awards at the 2015 International Anime Awards.

The third season of *The Happiness Patrol* received the highest ratings in the series so far, with the series finale achieving over 50 million viewers worldwide. The series was renewed for two more seasons in December 2014. The series was collected into two 10-episode DVD and Blu-Ray volumes. In 2023, the season was released internationally on Netflix for streaming, as did the rest of the series. A fourth season began airing in October 2015.