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Paranoia Agent

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Paranoia Agent

<tr><td colspan="2" style="background: #fff; text-align: center;">Image:Paranoia Agent.png</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="background: #ccf; text-align: center;">妄想代理人
(Mōsō Dairinin)</td></tr>

Genre Mystery, Paranormal, Psychological, Seinen, Drama, Horror, Thriller, Black comedy,
TV anime
Directed by Satoshi Kon
Studio Madhouse
Network Image:Flag of Japan.svg WOWOW
Image:Flag of the United States.svg Cartoon Network (Adult Swim)
Original run 2 February 2004 – 18 May 2004
No. of episodes 13

Paranoia Agent (妄想代理人 Mōsō Dairinin?) is a Japanese anime television miniseries about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Shounen Bat (Bat Boy; called Lil' Slugger in the English dub). The plot relays between a large cast of people affected in some way by the phenomenon; usually Shounen Bat's victims or the detectives assigned to apprehend him. As each character becomes the focus of the story, disturbing details are often revealed about their secret lives.

It was created by Japanese director Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse.

The series first aired on Japan's WOWOW between February 2, 2004 and May 18, 2004. A series of four English dubbed and subtitled DVDs produced by New Generation Pictures were released in North America and Europe between October 26, 2004 and May 10, 2005. Also, a UMD version of Volume 1 was made available on October 10, 2005. The English dubbed version began airing in North America on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on May 28, 2005 followed by an encore airing that began on June 6, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Creation

During the makings of his previous three films (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers), Paranoia Agent creator Satoshi Kon was left with an abundance of unused ideas for stories and arrangements that he felt were good but did not fit into any of his projects. Not wanting to waste the material, he decided to recycle it into a dynamic TV series in which his experimental ideas could be utilized.

   
Paranoia Agent
 In the case of a film to be shown at theatres, I'm working for two years and a half, always in the same mood and with the same method. I wanted to do something that allows me to be more flexible, to realize instantly what flashes across my mind. I was also aiming at a sort of entertaining variation, so I decided to go for a TV series.<ref>Satoshi Kon-Winner's Interview (HTML). Japan Media Arts Festival Awardees' Profile. Japan Media Arts Plaza (2004). Retrieved on 2006-06-26.</ref>
   
Paranoia Agent

[edit] Characters

Image:Paranoia Agent title screen.jpg
Main article: Characters from Paranoia Agent

Although Paranoia Agent has an ensemble cast of characters, the following five are the main characters for the plot.

Tsukiko Sagi (鷺 月子 Sagi Tsukiko?) 
One of the central characters of the series, she is a famous, but timid, character designer best known for a cartoonish dog named Maromi. She carries a plush toy copy of Maromi everywhere. She is Shounen Bat's first apparent victim in the series, and the catalyst who jump-starts the plot.
Shounen Bat (少年バット Shōnen Batto?) (Lil' Slugger in the dubbed version) 
The enigmatic figure the series revolves around. He appears as a grinning, baseball cap-wearing juvenile who travels on golden inline skates and attacks people with a gold-colored metal baseball bat that is curiously bent.
Detective Keiichi Ikari (猪狩慶一 Ikari Kei'ichi?) 
One of two police detectives assigned to investigate the attacks by the Li'l Slugger. He is extremely old fashioned and often yearns for the simpler, less hurried times, but is often chastized for this by his young and idealistic partner Mitsuhiro Maniwa.
Detective Mitsuhiro Maniwa 
Young, idealistic, and a flexible thinker, Maniwa is the perfect complement as well as foil to the more rustic Keīchi Ikari. He is open-minded and often unconventional in his methods.
Maromi (マロミ?) 
Maromi is a popular Sanrio-esque mascot created by Tsukiko Sagi. A pink dog with big black eyes and droopy ears, Maromi is considered rather cute in appearance. The little plush toy tends to get up, walk around and talk to Tsukiko (In Ms. Sagi's mind).

[edit] Names

Many of the characters in Paranoia Agent are often referred to with animal names, especially in each "Prophetic Vision" (a segment at the end of each episode that previews the next) and the episode "The Holy Warrior," in which some characters are depicted as animal-like creatures. In many cases, their Japanese names translate directly to the type of animal they are referred to as: "sagi" means heron, "kawazu" is an archaic term for frog, "ushi" means cow, "tai" means sea bream or red snapper, "chō" means butterfly (chō-cho can also mean butterfly, possibly alluding to her split personality), and "hiru" means leech. Kamome means seagull. <ref> The following Japanese words were looked up in Jim Breen's JMDict. Alternative references are also listed here.

  • heron (鷺 sagi?)
  • frog (蛙 kawazu / kaeru?) [1]
  • cow (牛 ushi?) [2]
  • sea bream / (red) snapper (鯛 tai?)
  • butterfly (蝶 chō?) [3]
  • butterfly (蝶々 chōchō?) [4]
  • seagull (鴎 kamome?) [5]
  • leech (蛭 hiru?) [6]

</ref>

[edit] Episodes

  1. Enter Lil' Slugger: Shounen Bat attacks Tsukiko, whose curious description of the assailant is met with skepticism.
  2. The Golden Shoes: A popular schoolboy is teased in school for being suspected to be Shounen Bat.
  3. Double Lips: A woman with dissociative identity disorder attempts to defy her prostitute alter ego.
  4. A Man's Path: A corrupt police officer struggles to pay his debt to the yakuza.
  5. The Holy Warrior: A Shounen Bat suspect role plays with detectives during his interrogation.
  6. Fear of a Direct Hit: Detectives question a witness to one of Shounen Bat's attacks while a runaway teenager wanders through the stormy city.
  7. MHz: A detective explores the possibility of another Shounen Bat and investigates the connections between the victims in an attempt to pinpoint the next victim.
  8. Happy Family Planning: An Internet suicide pact comes together to negotiate their fate.
  9. ETC: A group of housewives share gossip about Shounen Bat.
  10. Mellow Maromi: The production staff for a show called Mellow Maromi struggles to overcome shortages and meet its deadline.
  11. Entry Forbidden: A sickly housewife confronts Shounen Bat and engages him in a conversation.
  12. Radar Man: A "superhero" called Radar Man battles Shounen Bat and investigates his past.
  13. Final Episode: The series comes to its chaotic conclusion.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

An elementary school boy on inline skates dubbed Lil' Slugger (Shōnen Bat in Japanese, meaning "Bat Boy") is said to be responsible for a series of mysterious street assaults in Tokyo. None of the victims can recall the boy's face and only two distinct details are left in their memories: golden inline skates and the weapon: a bent golden baseball bat.

Two police detectives, Keiichi Ikari and Mitsuhiro Maniwa, are assigned to the case to track down the perpetrator and put an end to his crimes. Starting with the first victim, Tsukiko Sagi, a shy character designer who created the immensely popular pink dog Maromi, the detectives follow what little clues they have and try to apprehend the mysterious boy. Just when they think they have solved the case, new evidence about the attacker leads them towards a frightening revelation.

[edit] Analysis

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Symbolism plays a vital part in the revelation of the plot, both on the episodic level and in the series overall, a better understanding of which provides more insight into the characters and the story for the original Japanese audience, but to a lesser exent for those unfamiliar with Japanese folklore and mythology.[citation needed] The series' ambiguous ending is a source of enthusiastic debate among fans.

The title of the show also plays heavily into the series. An example of this would be the paranoia that Yuichi feels towards Ushii in Episode 2. He believes that Ushii has been running a smear campaign against him.

Social commentary

Satoshi Kon is famous for his use of social commentary and Paranoia Agent is no exception (e.g., baseball bat related crimes in Japan). Commentary on his views of school peer pressure, loss of identity, prevalence of cultural icons (such as Maromi, often seen as a criticism of highly marketable anime mascots such as the poring from Ragnarok Online), ambiguity of morality, nature of social and personal growth, criticism of the harsh conditions of Japanese animators, and criticism of the otaku subculture is found throughout the show. Much of the commentary can be tied to Takashi Murakami's superflat manifesto, with the views of how reality and fantasy are being blurred in postwar Japan. Kon has been critically acclaimed for making social commentary a major and effective part of his work.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

  • In the episode "ETC" there are three women who always say "Of course not, of course not!" This is a nod to Tokyo Godfathers (Another of Kon's works.) of which the three women say the same thing in a crowd.
  • Lil' Slugger/ Makoto Kozuka resembles Uchiyama (Uchi) Haruhiko in the anime/manga versions of Gokusen.

[edit] DVD

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Paranoia Agent Original Soundtrack

The music in Paranoia Agent was composed by Japanese electronica pioneer Susumu Hirasawa.

[edit] Theme songs

Opening theme:

  • "Dream Island Obsessional Park" ("夢の島思念公園"?) by Susumu Hirasawa

Ending theme:

  • "White Hill - Maromi's Theme" ("白ケ丘-マロミのテーマ"?) by Susumu Hirasawa

[edit] References

<references />

[edit] External links

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Paranoia Agent
Characters
Shougo Ushiyama | Misae Ikari | Tsukiko Sagi | Maromi
Episodes
Enter Lil' Slugger | The Golden Shoes | Double Lips | A Man's Path | The Holy Warrior | Fear of a Direct Hit | MHz | Happy Family Planning | ETC | Mellow Maromi | Entry Forbidden | Radar Man | Final Episode
Other
Paranoia Agent Original Soundtrack | Satoshi Kon | Susumu Hirasawa
es:Paranoia Agent

fr:Paranoia Agent it:Paranoia Agent ja:妄想代理人 pt:Paranoia Agent

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