Omega-Beta (Season 3)

The third season of the British-Japanese anime series *Omega-Beta*, sometimes referred to as ***Omega-Beta: Breaking News***, aired from July 11 to October 24, 2023 for a total of 16 episodes in a variety of regions, including TV Tokyo in Japan, BBC Two in the United Kingdom and Adult Swim in the US. The season was written and directed by Jay Stevenson, the series' creator, and produced by J-Animations. The season is a comedy, and features a soundtrack composed by Makoto Miyazaki. The season's opening ("Eazy Breezy") and ending ("Player") themes were performed by chelmico.

The series takes place in a near-future society where androids are common place. One major use for them is the ability to have files containing data of a human uploaded into them, which will give the android the appearance, personality and memories of said human. These files can also be fabricated, which allows the protagonist McCulloch to assume various original identities. In this season, McCulloch assumes the identity of Michael Loch, who successfully achieves the job of prime-time news anchor for the nation of Vendilla, whereby the entire series takes place. McCulloch becomes friends with his sound technician Samuel Kine, his makeup artist Thilda Thyne, and his manager Gareth Blake, and the four progressively derail news broadcasts to distract the country from the increasingly dark headlines that are covered by the Vendilla Broadcasting Company (VBC). McCulloch, in a position of power and privilege, becomes a chaotic thrill-seeker, spurred on by Samuel and Thilda, and this increases Gareth's concern for the trio as he tasks himself with the job of looking after them. As the news cycle becomes filled with anti-android stories, including the resurfacing of McCulloch's murder of the Sdarn's, McCulloch resigns as lead anchor for the VBC at the end of the season and learns from Gareth that throwing caution to the wind doesn't always lead to happiness in the long run.

Griffin Burns reprises his role as McCulloch, slightly altering his voice to become deeper in comparison to season 2. He is accompanied by a small supporting cast, including Derek Stephen Prince as Gareth Blake, Jason Liebrecht as Samuel Kine, and Stephanie Sheh as Thilda Thyne. Alex Organ and Natalie Van Sistine reprise their roles as Simon and Kate respectively in a guest appearance.

The third season of *Omega-Beta* received critical acclaim upon release. The concept of the show's changing protagonist and setting was praised as being effective and managing to "preserve McCulloch's core identity throughout". The characters and their dynamic was praised as being "natural" and "comedic", although some felt the characters' personalities were uninspired. Gareth Blake's character was highlighted as being "the parental figure McCulloch, and by extension Charlie Sdarn, never had" and praised the development of his relationship with McCulloch. McCulloch's character development was said to have "once again furthered the humanity of this android" and many appreciated how McCulloch's behaviour and emotions changed after two seasons of keeping to himself and still being outed as an android. Samuel and Thilda were praised as a comedic duo, and said to be "the pinnacle of a wholesome platonic relationship", although most felt the series did not do enough to further their character arcs. The season's humour was seen as a strong point for critics, who felt the jokes flowed naturally and arose from both dialogue and action, and appreciated the balance between comedy and emotion within the season. The narrative and worldbuilding were also attractors of praise, with reviewers stating that the "journalistic background" allowed for viewers to understand the societal attitudes across all of Vendilla, and appreciated the political commentary surrounding increasing coverage of acts of violence towards oppressed group within media. The season's animation and art direction was praised as being "fluid and expressive", with "unique" cinematography throughout. The season's soundtrack was also praised as reflecting the often exaggerated emotions within scenes.

The season was a commercial success internationally, achieving an average of 43 million viewers per episode, a 3 million increase on the previous season. The universal acclaim of the season saw it nominated for a variety of awards at the 2023 International Anime Awards, including Anime of the Year. Retrospectively, the season is regarded as one of of the best in the series' run. The cast of characters, especially Gareth Blake, have been immensely popular in both Japanese and Western media. Michael Loch was voted the best incarnation of McCulloch by fans in a 2034 poll run by J-Animations. The season was also ranked first in a poll run by the studio the year before. The series was collected into two blu-ray volumes, and began streaming on BBC iPlayer, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video the following year. It was succeeded by a fourth season in 2024.