The Happiness Patrol (Season 10)

The tenth and final season of the British-Japanese dystopic steampunk anime series *The Happiness Patrol* aired from October 27, 2021 to March 9, 2022 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, Suede, Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Alex G, R.E.M., Radiohead and Mitski. The tenth season's opening theme is "World's End" by FLOW, and its ending theme is "Pure" by The Lightning Seeds.

*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 final season of the series follows the Happiness Patrol as they put an end to the mass-genocide introduced by the previous government, hold a free and fair election to elect a new government, and begin stripping back the industrialisation of the planet to return Earth back to its natural self. The series finale sees the main setting of the show return to its pre-industrialised state and sees the protagonists reflecting on their successful journey, running through a field on a sunny day in the final scene of the show.

The season was announced in April 2021, after the airing of the ninth season, although production had begun in December of 2020. The series' voice cast reprise their roles, including Jason Bateman as Zell, Thandiwe Newton as Eleanor, Alison Brie as Jess and Nicole Kidman as Jara-Kan. The series aired on Wednesdays at 11 p.m. and consisted of 20 episodes.

The tenth season of *The Happiness Patrol* received positive reviews from critics, who deemed it as a satisfactory conclusion for the series and an improvement on its predecessors. After a trilogy of negatively received seasons, season 10 was seen by many as the series' best work since 2018. Critics praised how well the series handled its shift to a more light-hearted and positive atmosphere, stating it felt 'natural' despite following on from a violent and dark storyline. Reviewers also felt the characters had been somewhat redeemed after their actions in the previous seasons, believing the characters by the end of the show to be the best versions of themselves. The series' animation and art direction was praised, as was the soundtrack and the use of insert songs that had been found in previous seasons. The series finale received positive reviews from critics, who believed the series had cemented itself as a highly influential release, and one that can be looked back on fondly. The season was nominated for a variety of awards at the 2022 Anime Awards, including Anime of the Year.

The ratings for the ninth season averaged at 50 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.