Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent – Volumes 1 – 3
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Episodes: B-
Most Animé TV series are formulaic and become tired after
you watch enough of them, unless you are a big fan or an actual artist. Paranoia Agent is a recent show in
which a roller-skating boy with a baseball bat suddenly hits people who have
problems! Yes, you read that
right. If you are in trouble, he has a
way of finding you and bopping you.
Most of the victims land up in the hospital, but this changes their
lives. Before you think someone might
be stupid enough to say “thanks, I needed that” or worse, know that this figure
calls himself Lil’ Slugger and thinks he is a “holy warrior”.
Though this should be a disaster, Satoshi Kon has created
a show that has a maturity that is unusual for Animé, on top of being
creative. Not that the show is
consistent and a narrative gap can be seen between the first and third volumes
of the DVD releases, but it at least makes some sense as to why there would be
buzz. It is an unusual show that works
more often than not. The episodes of
the first three volumes are, meant for half-hour time slots:
Volume 1/Enter Lil’ Slugger:
1) Enter
Lil’ Slugger
2) The
Golden Shoes
3) Double
Lips
4) A Man’s
Path
Volume 2/True Believers:
5) The Holy
Warrior
6) Fear Of
A Direct Hit
7) MHZ
Volume 3/Serial Psychosis:
8) Happy
Family Planning
9) Etc.
10) Mellow Maromi
The titles are sometimes a hoot, especially the more you
watch and the more you think about them.
Either way, Geneon issued the first volume in a deluxe edition that is
shown, while all three came out as single DVDs. All are also anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 x 1
presentations that are some of the best we have seen in TV Animé to date, with
nice color reproduction and moments of good detail. The show still feigns shifting of focus, but is not bad.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 on all episodes feature good Pro
Logic surrounds, while extras vary. The
first disc has an interview by the director, who offers his own storyboards as
a multi-angle piece, the second has the opening and closing credits without
text and tattoos in the initial release run, and the third has an art
gallery. The box of the first disc has
a Maromi Plush toy. Is he Picachu with
a brain? Possibly.
Sure, the show goes off track, but it is always
entertaining and of a higher quality than most of its competition, so we could
consider the series up there with Fighting Spirit, which I like even
better. Maybe sports and Animé should
mix it up more often. We’ll see.
- Nicholas Sheffo
