Paranoia Agent is very difficult to explain, let alone review. The story itself blurs the line between reality and fantasy as we see many episodes from several different viewpoints. The main plot, if you can call it a plot, centers on the mysterious appearance of “Lil’ Slugger” (AKA Shonen Bat), a boy on rollerblades that’s been attacking people with a golden baseball bat. At first the attacks seem random, but as the lives of the victims are revealed we see a common thread connecting many of them.
As you continue in the 13-episode series, attention quickly shifts to Lil’ Slugger’s first victim, a young toy designer under extreme pressure to create a new design that’s just as popular as her first one, a pink dog named Maromi. Oddly enough, the two situations are inextricably connected in a way that becomes clear only in the last episode.
But the beauty of Paranoia Agent doesn’t come from the literal plot so much as the strong undercurrent of hidden social commentary blended within the dark, warped reality of the characters’ minds.
On the surface, the series seems to be just a mass compilation of unrelated vignettes thrown together with an ill-fitting plot device. But those who think this way miss what the director, Satoshi Kon, really intended for his show to be: a running account of the human psyche and how it relates to a media that plays on their own, well, paranoia. The characters look for an easy out to their complex problems, deluding themselves into thinking one exists when none can be found.
They refuse to see the truth until it literally overwhelms them. Kon brings these shadows of basic human fear to life, instilling them with all of society’s pretenses and obsessions. To create such a complete world rife with compelling characters and disturbing visions in only 13 half-hour episodes is nothing short of genius.
Kon also objectively discusses certain issues cropping up in a modern, westernized Japan, namely rampant commercialism and increased violence among the nation’s youth. The pink toy dog Maromi is a main feature in Paranoia Agent, and the city is thrown into panic mode when stores run out of Maromi-related merchandise to sell.
Maromi’s designer, Tsukiko, is besieged by demands from her boss to come up with the next new toy fad that he’s already guaranteed to his employers will surpass Maromi in popularity. Even Lil’ Slugger is based on similar incidents in Japan, where a boy in real life began attacking people with a baseball bat. Kon skillfully weaves real problems into a story that explores what goes on in peoples’ minds when mass paranoia takes over.
The animation is simply amazing. Tossing modern anime conventions aside, the animators decided that many of the main characters should have no “pretty” qualities about them, instead choosing to design more realistic faces. Thus the characters are remembered more for their realism than the usual method of making the protagonist eerily beautiful/handsome. This certainly fits in with Kon’s conflicting world of truth versus fantasies. Musically, the score could not have been created to fit the series any better; the opening theme especially captures the whole bizarre feeling of the show particularly well.
Paranoia Agent is not (I emphatically repeat, IS NOT) for children. Some of the graphics can be disturbing even to adults. Blending the darkest parts of human nature with the light-hearted feel of satire lends to a strange blend of surrealism and stark reality, which is truly Kon’s forte. This series will certainly force you to think, so it isn’t meant to provide a nice, easy evening of watching anime. But if you enjoy satirical observations presented with just the right mixture of brilliant animation and unsettling horror, Paranoia Agent will be a welcome addition to your collection.
