Paranoia Agent

A simply stunning anime, "Paranoia Agent" is a thoughtfully thought out trip into psychosis and the darker aspects of the human psyche. With a no holds barred approach to its philosophical and occasionally violent story telling, it highlights the very best that is achievable through the medium of anime with a plot line that is as dark as it is witty and as disturbing as it is intelligent. "Paranoia Agent" is one of those few serial creations that will have you hooked from the very first episode and have your mind salivating for more once it concludes, it is supremely assured from its style to its substance and will toy with your mind in the best possible ways.

Set over thirteen episodes of crisply created animation, "Paranoia Agent" is a paranormal, psychological thriller which charts two men in the Tokyo Police Force investigated the sudden spates of attacks of members of the public by an entity known as "lil slugger". With the first attack having taken place on the creator of popular creator of the sensationally cute dog "Mamori", we discover that "lil slugger" is a metal bat waving, rollerblading teenager. As the investigation progresses and the police become more attached to the case and more victims fall at the hands of this crazed child things take a decidedly more "surreal" turn as things become complicated.

Successfully fusing style, ideas, intrigue and compelling characters, Satoshi Kon has created not just one of the best anime's in recent times, but also one of the most sublime series in recent times. "Paranoia Agent" is a powerful tour de force that will veer from moments of you scratching your head to shocking your eyes, through to putting a knife through your heart. It is a study in humanity and the human psyche, handling characters in difficult positions that would in other programmes feel contrived and forced. It stretches the boundary of its environment and the sanity of your mind as you find yourself falling as deep as the characters into this surrealistically normal construct. Satoshi Kon has not merely created something that every fan of anime must surely possess in their collection, but something that certainly deserves wider recognition and broadcasting than that what is has achieved already. This is thought provoking entertainment that rivals recent animated hits like "Broken Saints" and leaves many others reeling in its wake, but "Paranoia Agent" must be seen to be believed and understood. Rollerblades have never been so scary.

This anime started out very interesting, the first few episodes will leave you wanting more to find out what's behind the mystery. Is there a little boy with the bat, is his story all made up, are we all crazy?

By the middle of the series you will start caring less, and the ending with the reveal has to be one of the more anti-climatic ones I have seen. In the 2nd half of Paranoia Agent it just felt like this show tried to be deeper than it really is. This seems a bit of a shallow criticism, but I think one might agree this is the feeling you get when watching it.

The good: the anime looks great. There are original characters with premises you don't see a lot in other shows. I personally really liked the episode with the 3 people who were trying to commit suicide.

The bad: the story and resolution. By the end of the series I didn't think a lot of it made sense. The whole reasoning behind everything which happened was just plain weird. And not the good kind.

Hello all! For those who like their anime a bit darker, and as intertwined as ivy that grows up the side of a college school building, then this is for you!

Just so you know, the American release of this series is called: PARANOIA AGENT. If you see it in the store, I'd get it, because once it gets out about how cool this series is, you might not be able to get it!

Having seen "Perfect Blue" and "Magnetic Rose", and trying to get a hold of "Millenium Actress", and "Tokyo Godfathers", I'm interested in any work produced by Satoshi Kon. I love how his work makes the story twist a bit more than the usual, and makes you think harder.

The story, which revolves around a character who only becomes known as "Shonen Bat". Shonen Bat is boy in what looks to be his early teens who wears golden in-line skates, and carries a golden metal baseball bat, that looks like it's tried to slug a wrecking ball. The characters, and their stories intertwine with Shonen Bat and with one another. I give it a 9/ 10, and I HIGHLY recommend seeing this anime.

I saw the Japanese audio version with English subtitles.

This is definitely a series for mature audiences. It's not afraid to go into unhappy situations and unpleasant characters, and show people battling with their various dysfunctions. Very psychological and surreal. If you've never seen Satoshi Kon's other works before, be prepared to initially go "What the...?". (Actually, I was still saying that more than halfway through this series, but that didn't stop me from watching it almost completely straight through.)

Satoshi Kon has a distinctive style of delving into people's heads and meshing reality with fantasy. After first viewings of his works, I always get the feeling I'm going to have to go back several times and figure out everything I didn't catch.

On the whole, this series is very deep and dark, but there are many humorous moments. Some of the episodes depart from the "main" characters and go off in really creative directions. It's not the best series I've ever seen, and it's certainly not for everyone, but it's good. If you are looking for something really different and are up for the mental stimulation, this is it.

The is so weird as well as amazing. It is rare to find this kind of psychological anime. It has every single thing to blow your mind and keep you wondering. It is hard to guess, is all those incidents are supernatural or delusion?

Though story seems bit complex at first, but all things become crystal clear at the end and put end to my curiosity. The story amazed me that much that I kept googling about it to know more.