The Happiness Patrol (Season 7)

The seventh season of the British-Japanese dystopic steampunk anime series *The Happiness Patrol* aired from October 24, 2018 to March 6, 2019 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, Shikao Suga, and Suede. The seventh season's opening theme is "Chase" by Batta, and its ending theme is "Nice Dream" by Radiohead.

*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 seventh season of the series directly follows on from Zack's death after his points were deleted. The Happiness Patrol attempt to avenge the death of Zack, and all others who have died, by overthrowing the government. They decide to take their fight to the streets, initially performing ignored protests. In an attempt to raise more awareness however, the group begin performing dangerous acts of terror in order to make their voices heard. By the end of the season, the uprising has caused social disruption and begins to gain traction.

The season was announced in December 2016, during the airing of the fifth season. The series' voice cast reprise their roles, including Jason Bateman as Zell, Thandiwe Newton as Eleanor, Alison Brie as Jess, Nicole Kidman as Jara-Kan and Keith Silverstein as Mister. The series aired on Wednesdays at 11 p.m. and consisted of 20 episodes.

The seventh season of the series received negative reviews from critics. Long-time viewers of the show felt that the terrorist acts the group had performed not only made them unlikeable to the viewer, but completely undid the development of the cast since the third season. One critic wrote, "Whilst we've followed [the protagonists] as they leave their desperate ways and become more morally driven, [season 7] regresses them back into their violent, exploitative selves." The choice to make the characters commit violent acts was called out by many as hypocritical: in the previous seasons, violent characters with unnecessarily violent actions had to pay consequences, but many argued that in season 7, the character's acts were deemed heroic and brave. The season's narrative was also heavily scrutinised as feeling under-developed and unnecessarily conflicted, as viewers felt the struggle to get people to side with The Happiness Patrol was "unrealistic". Many also didn't understand the actions the group took to rebel, feeling that terrorism would only have served to further the government's goal. Confusion towards narrative choices aside, the season's usage of insert songs was criticised as being unoriginal and sparse in their inclusion. The animation of the show was praised, although unlike previous seasons, critics felt that season 7 didn't have a signature art direction. The voice cast were also praised. The season was nominated for multiple awards at the 2019 International Anime Awards. Retrospectively, it is seen as the season that ended the 'Golden Era' for *The Happiness Patrol* that spanned seasons 3 to 6.

Commercially, *The Happiness Patrol*'s seventh season was a ratings success, although a decrease from the previous seasons, achieving an average of just under 60 million viewers per episode. 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. An eighth season aired in October 2019.

## Accolades

 Best Character Design
 Best Animation
 Best Main Character - Zell
 Best Art Direction
 Best Soundtrack
 Best Drama