Anime Review: Paranoia Agent

Review Paranoia AgentWritten by WarpshadowRating Excellent

Tsukiko Sagi is the designer of the popular character Maromi but she is having trouble coming up with her next big character. When the pressure starts to get to her a mysterious stranger on inline skates attacks her with a baseball bat. She is unable to identify the assailant other than a few vague details so the police are unable to find the attack who is dubbed Lil' Slugger (Shonen Bat in the Japanese version). The mysterious boy starts attacking other people at what looks like random but there is some pattern behind it.

It is often said that a show is built on it's characters and that is especially true of Paranoia Agent. Incidentally character development is what this show excels at as it can immerse you in a character and their personal life in the space of one episode. Rather than following a concrete point a to point b plot Paranoia agent uses many of it's episodes to look at the concept of the show which is quite vast. Even with it's twists Paranoia Agent is a pretty dark show, even it's humor is black. Instead it winds through various points of view and red herrings which couldn't have been shown from one perpective. In this way there are no episodes that are wasted even though most of the show is episodic.

In terms of Aesthetics Paranoia agent is a winner as well. Animation is nicely used including some side trips into the world of imagination, a strong suit of the show's creator and director Satoshi Kon. Anyway this is a show that stands above it's animated brethren and should be watched by any serious fan at some point.