Customer Reviews

Paranoia Agent - Serial Psychosis (Vol. 3)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The three episodes presented on this disc have very little to do with the characters we saw in volumes 1 and 2, but manage to be every bit as interesting, compelling, and sardonic as the first two volumes. This disc (but the second episode especially) shows how other people feel about Shonen Bat and how he's suddenly become a media phenomenon. Some people are trying to catch him, some want to be killed by him, and some just want to see him and have a good story to tell. The first episode is about three people (an old man, a middle-aged man, and a young girl) who meet in a chat room and enter a suicide pact. They attempt suicide in various ways but seem to be thwarted each time, but then decide to search for Shonen Bat to `save' them. This creepy and darkly humorous episode seems almost like a Takashi Miike film shot specifically to fit my taste. It never gets too over-the-top but manages to have some "Wow, you could never get away with this in America" moments. The second episode analyzes Shonen Bat as an urban legend/pop culture icon. Five women (including the young wife of a scriptwriter desperate to fit into the group) exchange increasingly improbable stories and rumors about Shonen Bat. To focus on characters we've never even seen for a one-shot episode in the middle of a series is one hell of a risk, but Satoshi Kon takes it and makes it a great episode for fans of urban legends and lore. The ending slaps you upside the head, but somehow doesn't feel forced. The third episode is about the animation process of your standard anime. A "Maromi" (that weird little plush dog) cartoon is being made for television by a small animation studio with an impatient staff. The staff is being picked off one by one by Shonen Bat, and the surviving animation team tries to meet the deadline at whatever cost. Maromi guides us as to who the staff members are and what their importance is, which gets us calm before everything goes very, very wrong. The animators must have loved doing this one, but must have been constantly looking over their shoulders. Imagine "The Player" as directed by David Lynch in an anime studio. Each episode is it's own story, which works shockingly well for this kind of show. My only fear now is that the final episodes won't be able to wrap everything up in time!

`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.

A dark and twisted tale of greed and, yes, paranoia. This serise is better than any of an avalanch of flims I could name. If you're buying all these together I sugest you get the box-set. I would also sugest you look at background details. metaphor is not uncoman. The finaly of this story is by no means standard issue, if you look beyond the chaos.

Paranoia agent is a series with an original concept and very different from anything you'll see out right now. My problem with it is that it seems people are holding back in not saying that there is case after case with people who have brutal encounters with Lil Slugger but when do you start to get closer to finding out why he is doing it and who he is. Maybe I missed an episode but from what I remember the detectives who are trying to figure this case out get close but never close this case and this is in almost every episode. It's a great series but they're not putting in the right elements to complete the series. You are given a little bit of a lead on Slugger but not enough.