7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Promise and premise fulfilled, May 16, 2005
This review is from: Paranoia Agent - Sayonara Maromi (Vol. 4) (DVD)
Satoshi Kon's 13 episode series comes to a satisfactory conclusion, weaving the final story from several characters introduced in the first few episodes. Along the way, Kon gives at least a passing node to most of the major characters.
How you view the series overall will depend on your taste and point of view. What appears to some as meandering and unfocussed can appear to others as a real tour de force. The series comprises a variety of animation styles and even narrative styles. It was always a bit of a hodge-podge: Kon said at the start that he wanted to use a number of ideas that had come up during his feature films but that did not fit into the narratives. The series form gave him a great opportunity, as some episodes seem to digress, illustrating a point rather than moving the overall narrative forward. Nevertheless all the stories carry the common thread, and in the final analysis the work stands as a unified whole. The overall form becomes one of a themed anthology.
That being said, the end of the series on this volume is strong. Once I started watching, it was hard to stop. The storytelling is compelling, and the animation was well done in a variety of styles, the two-dimensional world being particularly enjoyable. There's intelligently-written action along with moments of fear, humor and pathos. The commentary track by creator-director Kon, along with the screenwriter and producer, is frosting on the cake. Overall, this disk and this series demonstrate again why Kon is one of the greatest animators out there.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
40 dollars for 1 dvd really?, August 30, 2011
This review is from: Paranoia Agent - Sayonara Maromi (Vol. 4) (DVD)
WHY?!!! i honestly just want to know why it's so necessary for this one dvd of the 4 disc collection to be so freaking expensive... i could get the entire boxed set for cheaper than this. i'll never seen the ending of the series because of this... it's sad.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Opening Credits Do It All, August 22, 2005
This review is from: Paranoia Agent - Sayonara Maromi (Vol. 4) (DVD)
`Paranoia Agent' defies most of conventional anime. No giant robots, big guns, or girls with blue hair. It takes place in present day Tokyo and revolves around the lives of everyday workers. It is also unique for being an anthology.
`Paranoia Agent' is not based around the conflict of heroes and villains. It depends mostly on style. The opening credits are arguably the most memorable in anime history. We see our many characters standing in the midst of a disaster, flood, fire, earthquake, nuclear bombing. However they are all laughing uncontrollably in an insane manner, as to make us think that these characters may have come to except the horror of their lives.
The plot: Unlike most anime series `Paranoia Agent' is an anthology, each episode seems to exist on its own, in that we are introduced to new characters whose stories begin and end with that episode, an anthology. The stories are all related in the sense that each of our characters lives in modern day Tokyo and is having trouble in life, generally work related. They all end up being attacked by boy in roller blades, Little Slugger.
The stories are very entertaining in a dark comedy way, from a sleazy reporter who owes money to the mob, a school girl by day and prostitute by night, an anime production team that's behind schedule, friends that keep failing in their many attempts to commit suicide. Little Slugger attacks them all.
As the show progresses, so does Little Slugger. It becomes quite obvious that he is super natural. It also becomes quite obvious that `Paranoia Agent' has absolutely no intention of wrapping things up or ever explaining the truth about Little Slugger or any of the bizarre events. And it doesn't.
I couldn't see this series going on any longer and it's nice they ended it after 13 episodes allowing us to remember it fondly.
`Paranoia Agent' works mostly because of its style. The animation and directing are great. It also works because of its very entertaining stories, as short as they might be.
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