Paranoia Agent

God, I love Satoshi Kon. Enter Lil’ Slugger- 8/10 Pretty strong opener. Not sure that this is necessarily the strongest set of characters we’ll see, but the Kon surrealism is front and center and the setups are just crazy enough that they both hook my attention and don’t leave me confused or wanting for anything. The Golden Shoes- 8/10 Well, I hate this kid. Ushiyama is literally so adorable and nice! I liked some of those Perfect Blue moments, and the maximum surrealism sequence at the end was incredible. Liking how Shounen Bat is treated as a force of nature, almost like the Joker in his best incarnations. Really interested to see where this goes. Double Lips- 9/10 Perfect Blue 2: Perfect 2. This is fantastic. It’s easy enough to piece together that it makes for a popcorn-munchable half hour, but dense enough that Harumi and Maria feel fleshed out and at odds. The answering machine motif is fantastic, that end sequence is inCREDIBLY disturbing, and I like how it’s sort of a Perfect Blue- Fight Club fusion in some ways. A Man’s Path- 9/10 I love how this plays with the timeline of the last episode in order to confuse us, and it does motivic development in such a slick, concise manner that Hirukawa comes through loud and clear about 6 different ways. The manga scenes are awesome, and they’re used to great effect for some truly disturbing dialogue deliveries. The show’s coasting at this point, but it’s doing so in a Satoshi Kon way, so who am I to complain. The Holy Warrior- 7/10 Love seeing some more of the Millennium Actress-type narrative. Ultimately, this episode could feel a bit one-note but it also provided a really fun and interesting direct metaphor (which is bold to devote a whole episode to) that raised plenty of interesting questions. I am curious to finally be meeting that character we saw at the end, and I’m especially curious what Kon’s mad genius plan is for 8 more episodes. Fear of a Direct Hit- 8/10 It’s weird to say, but this episode has some of Kon’s most jarring editing ever. The interplay of Taeko is brutal, and while I ultimately saw the familial twist coming, some of the motifs really sold it to be even more awful. The themes of escapism and turning to unhealthy escapes (vice, immorality) to cope are coming through as strong as ever. Also, I’d like to note that Satoshi Kon’s use of the word “daddy” is, uh PRIMALLY uncomfortable. MHz- 9/10 Holy Christ, this is incredible. What a fascinating set of twists, turns, and new problems created for our characters. The perfect amount of new doors are opened, and some old ones are closed but in very haphazard, unsafe ways. The tension/release structure of MHz enables it to perfectly put the viewer into the shoes of this haggard detective in a very David Fincher sort of way. Man, does Paranoia Agent only get better and better. Happy Family Planning- ??? I don’t even know how to approach this one. It’s an excellent concept in a vacuum, and it deliver some really unique, disturbing imagery in a way that seems to both suit and not suit Paranoia Agent. I definitely think that the “anthology held together by a string” approach is something that suits the series. I’m just curious to see how these particular strings are tied together. ETC- 10/10 What this definitely does is pull off the “anthology side story” thing a lot better than “Happy Family Planning”. It feels like we get a thorough look at Shounen Bat that’s surprisingly relevant to our interpretation of him given the “he said she said” format of the episode. Mrs. Kamohara is also a really interesting character, and Kon certainly has something to say about the way her and the other housewives are wrapped up in hysteria, but in a way that’s strictly beneficial to them. Really, really interesting stuff. Mellow Maromi- 7/10 Gotta love Maromi. This one’s not hard to understand, and the themes of anxiety throughout are presented in maybe their most blatant way, but it’s certainly an enjoyable framing, and the editing is such that it feels like a classic Kon psychological thriller wrapped within the very simple social critique it’s going for. Straightforward, sure, but good stuff nonetheless. No Entry- 10/10 There’s something so special about the way Paranoia Agent beats up its characters. Mrs. Ikari’s philosophical musings into what seems to be complete emptiness juxtaposed against Keichi’s desperate clawing at a Japan he never experienced creates a heartbreaking set of characters compatible for one another but unable to fully experience life together. Not much more to say, this one’s perfect. Little worried about the ending, but I’m sure I’ll be surprised. Radar Man- 10/10 Okay, Jesus. Kon’s musings on escapism come to an explosive head right before the series’ finale with characters scattered, metaphors abound, an action figure of a Playboy bunny, and a key clarification as to the point of the entire series. He’s actually the connective tissue to the whole thing, and I can’t believe I didn’t think more about him during the rest of the series. This is incredible The Final Episode- 9/10 I’m just gonna skip straight into the full series review here. This is unlike anything I’ve seen pulled off in animation. Satoshi Kon’s mind is incredibly unique, and he creates with Paranoia Agent the fullest realization of that uniqueness. Elements from his other work are everywhere, and they somehow work even better than the sum of their parts. And the series is much more than the sum of its parts, too. What can seem on a first viewing to be slightly scattered is truly an anthology of epic proportions that capitalizes on an incredibly simple emotional concept in order to deliver a story of the lives of dozens of unique people. Paranoia Agent is unlike much else in the way it fuses cynicism and optimism as well, for a fundamentally cynical look at society that injects just as much optimism into that cynical predicament. Truly, although strange, Paranoia Agent is a flawlessly paced, flawlessly characterized examination of escapism and entertainment on a level that few TV shows even begin to capture. See it. See it if you like anime, see it if you like psychological thrillers, see it if you like mysteries. Because there’s damn sure not gonna be anything else like it.