Mousou Dairinin

Title:Mousou Dairinin
Paranoia Agent
妄想代理人 (Japanese)
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , , ,
Notables: KON Satoshi
R1 License - Pioneer (Defunct)
An elementary school kid who has worked hard to earn the title of "shounen bat" or "little slugger", but there is someone who is now going around attacking (apparent) strangers on the street at night with a golden baseball bat and has somehow been tagged with the same nickname. Are these two events related? Two police detectives who are tasked to investigate the attacks find themselves entangled with more strangeness that any normal person might expect to encounter.


13 episodes (each about 25 minutes)
Picked up by Geneon for R1 release
Aired on Adultswim TV in mid-2005

"妄想" ("mousou") = "delusion, wild idea"; "代理人" ("dairinin") = "proxy, agent"
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 7 8 7 8 8 Dreamer [series:1100#2279]
This is a type of anime that makes you use your brain and draw conclusions by the end of each episode or the series as a whole. It's both mildly disturbing and fascinating.

Art, Animation and Character Design
Artwork and animation was pretty good. Colors were rich but frame rate was pretty sloppy at times. Character designs were well done and were not your average "mold".

Music
The OP is very frantic and almost freaky in a "paranoid" way. It's actually not too bad of an upbeat piece. Fits the anime quite well. As for the rest of the music..... there were some "eerie" style "paranoid" type of pieces. The ending song was of a "sleepy" pursuation..... once you watch it you'll no what I mean.

Episode and Series Story
The story was pretty good. It wasn't your typical story for sure. What made this one really good was that things "weren't" exactly what it seemed. It's definitely a psychological piece and one that keeps you hanging onto the edge of your seat. At the same time, this story presents something that in reality is a truth in us as human beings. We tend to... well, I shouldn't get into that detail. Watch it for yourself and make your own judgment and interpretations.

Overall, it's a good anime. I recommend it if you are tired of the mindless same old story types and want something new and refreshing.

Last updated Sunday, February 22 2009. Created Sunday, February 22 2009.
Buy 10 9 10 8 9 8 Ggultra2764 [series:1100#1552]
Following in the footsteps of Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers, this TV series from Satoshi Kon features Kon's usual style of realism and the blurring between what is real and paranoia. Paranoia Agent mixes mystery with psychological study as many of the characters in this series feel trapped from issues in their lives or mental disorders. Such issues seem to attract the assults of the mysterious kid known only as Shounen Bat. While I won't spoil what Shounen Bat's purpose is, all I'll say is that things aren't as they seem as more facts become clear throughout the series. As the series progresses, things get more dark and twisted with the content of the series. Satoshi Kon does a great job at messing with the viewer's perceptions for Paranoia Agent much in the same way as his earlier work, Perfect Blue. The only major blemish in the approach were a couple filler episodes that detracted from the main plot of the series.

Paranoia Agent features Kon's usual unconventional style of realistic detail for scenery and character designs. The choices of opening and closing music flow well with the abstract and twisted themes present in the series.

Just as psychological as Perfect Blue with a touch of mystery and the supernatural, Paranoia Agent is an anime that will make you think of what is going on to the very end of the series.

Last updated Tuesday, September 16 2008. Created Tuesday, September 16 2008.
Unevaluated Jan-Chan [series:1100#967]
I have currently seen a few episodes on Saturday-night Adultswim presentation package, this series is very strange (but also very interesting) and I do want see more.

Geneon has announced that they will release a boxed set for this series in July 2005.

01 - Shounen Bat Has Arrived!!
02 - The Golden Shoes
03 – Double Lip
04 – A Manly Way of Life
05 – Holy Warrior
06 - Hesitation Over the Attack
07 – MHz
08 – A Bright Family Plan
09 – ETC
10 – Drowsing Maromi
11 – Entry Forbidden
12 – Radar Man
13 - Final Episode



Last updated Sunday, June 26 2005. Created Saturday, June 25 2005.

Other Sites
NameURL
Adult Swim's Paranoia Agent Webpage http://www.adultswim.com/shows/paranoia/index.html
Geneon's (R1 English) Paranoia Agent Site http://www.paranoiaagent.com/
Madman's Official Paranoia Agent Website http://www.madman.com.au/paranoiaagent/
Official Japanese Series Web Site http://www.mousou.tv/
Wowow's Japanese Series Web Site http://www.wowow.co.jp/wowani/news/douga/300k.asx

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