Paranoia Agent
Publisher
Geneon / MVM
Director
Satoshi Kon
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
13 episodes / 25 minutes
Year
2004
Paranoia Agent Volume 2: True Believers
By otaku_kei
22nd Nov 05  At the close of the last volume Lil’Slugger had finally been apprehended, bringing to a close these random acts of terror that have gripped the collective unconscious of Tokyo. But there appears to be more to this than first meets the eye. Is it really Lil’Slugger in police custody? Why carry out such brutal acts on apparently unconnected people? And is this an ignoble end to a fascinating urban legend? Well this all coming from the creative mind of Satoshi Kon you can be assured that the answers are not what you expect, and that this is far from over! This volume centres around the two detectives attempts to expose Lil’Slugger, and draw out a confession from their suspect. But of course the twists and turns that are thrown in the path of the detectives makes any investigation less than clear. Many people have pointed to this show and made the lazy intellectual comparison of: “if David Lynch made anime this would be it”. Fine there may be similarities in the crazy characters and flashbacks/hallucinations, but this show is not Lynchian. Satoshi Kon has a very different type of beast here. Owing much more to the urban unconscious that gives birth to paranoia and urban legends, a fertile bed that’s hand can also be seen in films such as ‘The Ring’, this is where much of the source materiel for Paranoia Agent can be found. With each of the principal characters having a different personal relationship with Lil’Slugger, and investing the myth with there own hopes and fears, it is this tangle that the detectives must unravel and resolve! Just how much of what we have seen is truth or fantasy? These three episodes mainly focus on the interrogation of Lil’Slugger by the detectives. An interrogation in which the officers get dragged into a fantasy world of the suspect they are quizzing. Whilst peeling away the layers of delusion that conceal the core issue of the interrogation we get a further insight into just how conflicted and controversial a case this is, as well as the emotional and psychological damage it is bringing upon the detectives. With fears that this whole event is nothing more than a hoax followed up by some bored copycat thrill seekers the police are finding themselves hard-pressed to close the case quickly. And with the interrogation going round in circles will they ever wrap up this investigation? As usual though just when you think this show is going to give up some answers to the burning questions, it throws up some more questions which just leaves the viewer begging for more! This show continues to impress. Having been a fan of Satoshi Kon’s other works I was looking forward to this show, and so far have had little reason for disappointment. It is however increasingly clear that certain aspects of this show seem to be hacked away ideas from his previous offerings. But whilst they may be reminiscent of themes from his earlier work that is not much of a criticism when considering the calibre of his former work. As with the first volume the standard of this work is truly impressive. This show has a lot to offer those anime fans that want to engage their brains, and I highly recommend everyone around checking this out and feeling just a little bit paranoid.
R2 DVD Notes
Features: Japanese Language 2.0; English Language 2.0; English Language Subtitles; Creditless Opening; Creditless Closing; MVM Trailers
Release information: OUT NOW
Notes: I have been saying this for some time now, but MVM are releasing some of the best anime releases in the UK. In no small part of this would be the fantastic disc authoring from Madman. Paranoia Agent remains one of the better series currently on release benefitting from this classy treatment.
-- otaku_kei 22nd Nov 05
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