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Paranoia Agent
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Animation - 8.7 |
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Sound - 8.5 |
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Story - 8.3 |
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Character - 8.5 |
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Value - 8.2 |
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Enjoyment - 8.4 |
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Average - 8.5 |
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Tidusora: you must be a genious, because even though I partly understood what had been going on after watching the last episode of the show, it left so many questions unanswered. Who is lil' slugger? is he a person? is he a dellusion created by people who are somehow cornered in life? After seeing what happens in the last few episodes, he can't be merely a dellusion. Are everyone in the show paranoid? The main questions were never fully revealed to me.
The story revolves around different people who are having a hard time in their lives, being pressured by people around them in different situations. One of the main characters, Sukiko Sagi, the producer of an extremely popular toy is under a lot of pressure to create a new toy-character within the deadline. One night, on her way home from work, she stumbles and loses her drawings on the ground. One of the drawings slides down beneath a car. She tries to lie down and fetch it, but her arm doesn't reach the drawing and she cuts herself on a sharp edge.
While she's sitting on the ground and tending her wound, she starts to think about how unlucky she is and how she's supposed to make a new popular toy within the deadline of a few days. Suddenly, a guy on rollerblades, wielding a bat appears and hits her leg. This is where the story starts.
Edit: Apparently, Tidusora read my review and decided to change his past statement about having seen through all the unanswered questions in Paranoia Agent.
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Summoner |
(2008-05-05 10:09:57) 2008-05-05 10:08:46 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Paranoia Agent is a great anime that shows how far can sometimes imagination go. And how people can totally screw themselves up because of some petty troubles. Yeah, I know it sucks to be stressed out because of work, but after you get hit in a head by a metal bat and barely make out of it alive stress certainly vanishes somewhere.
This show belongs to my favourite genre - allegorical mishmash of sometimes crazy philosophical or psychological ideas. And while it pales in comparison to shows like Serial Experiments Lain, Neon Genesis Evangelion or Boogiepop Phantom, it still packs quite a punch, being, while not groundbreaking, but one of the most original and thought provoking animes out here. Both the start and end of Paranoia Agent are completely satisfying. Though there are some unnecessary hiccups along in the middle of the plot, this anime never stops being full of suspense and interest from the beginning to the end. Yeah... I could barely walk away from my computer screen. Just what in the name of hell could that Shounen Bat be anyway?
Looking for something original, philosophical and full of suspense? You found it, Paranoia Agent is amongst the best animes I have ever seen, and I encourage anyone mature enough to give it a shot.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
3.0 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
1 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
| At first I thought this anime had a lot of potential just waiting to pull you in completely with the next episode. Sadly, I was wrong. This anime tries way too hard to be vexing. The idea is actually quite dumb, and with the added complications to the theme it gets worse. Animation is decent, but so overly used in other animes, nothing new to put a stamp of creativity in the anime. The music I didn't favor, and the voice acting was actually quite boring.
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1 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Elrinda |
(2007-10-31 15:40:53) 2007-10-31 09:33:13 |
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| If you say that You like story's 'bout " Mind Blowing Anime's " than I can tell you only one thing and that is that you should watch this anime. The story takes you in and won't let you out until it's over. Until the sixth episode you only smash your head to the wall thinking " How The Fu** is This Going To End " because the story looses the thin line between the realistic and unrealistic world of the characters . So ... Enjoy it and try to have fun ;)
P.s. : If you like David Lynch movies you're going to love it
P.s.2 : The beginning of the episodes is the same but don't forget to watch the endings of the episodes because it's importand
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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KYON |
(2007-04-03 12:03:01) 2007-04-03 11:59:22 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Paranoia agent is the genre of anime i prefer. though i also watch all the other stuff like naruto or bleach i like those series where your head has to work more. how much someone enjoys paranoia agent depends on how intelligent you are or a general dislike to mystery anime. you can see it as nonsenes where a little boy hits people with a bat and where people play an adventure game when solving a case. but this all has some meaning and if you consider what they try to say with that it becomes a masterpiece. i really thought it was a masterpiece when it would have neded after eps 11. i didnt want to know who shounen bat really is or why he hits people. i think they made the interpretable area smaller.
overall i have to say that i enjoyed watching paranoia agent and that that it ranks among my top 10. the similarities to our current society makes it an intelligent anime that isnt flawless but has a good message to tell.
the animation is pretty good and can not really expected from this genre. the scenery is beautiful especially when the suicide group rides the train. the op might not be everyones taste but due to the unusual music and the funny picturing it becomes remind-worth.
there are many characters and the style they are drawn is accustom-worth. but every single one of them is well introduced and has unique characteristics.
paranoia agent is great in every way you look at it but i cant doom someone who says it bores him to death because it has just a small group of viewers.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I like this anime alot simply because I laugh at when lil slugger knocks the crap outta people. Actually the reason I like it is that he is like a force who take care of those who are fucking idiot heads who are deeply destressed by their own fucking lives. It would be scary to live one of the peoples lives....and the friggin opening theme is retarded
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| i thought that at the begining of the anime it was decent but that changed in later episodes that aused me to really disl;ike this anime.i think this anime trys to be confusing complecated and a work of suspense at the same time and fails in all catagorys except in entertaoinment.the animation for the anime is quite ugly and resembles the same ugly art style in samurai champloo.the oppening must have been one of the worst ive ever heard it sounded like the singer was on crack just like everything else in this show.the story was actually good and had potential but didnt work out in the end.the story of a kid on blades with a gold bat who hits paranoid people was good.the characters were all horible sorry and pathetic except for lil slugger who had very little development as far as he goes.enjoyment i thought it was funny when all these crazy pyschos get smacked on the head i laughed and thats all.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Animation: Wow, I have to say that this is a greatly animated anime. It's a bit simple on the facial details, but, it's just amazing, like many of the animated works from Satoshi Kon.
Sound: The sound was great, and the opening was exquisite. It's hypnotic rhythmn is just powerful. The ending is what lowered the score down from a 9 to an 8.
Story: Wow, the most confusing storyline I had ever seen. Overall, this had such a great story to it. People give up because of the science fiction element to it, but for me, this mystery, horror really made sense after the first few episodes.
Character: It's amazing how Satoshi Kon manages to lay a foundation for character development throughout each episode, as each episode revolves around one being, yet, their fate is certain. The detectives were the detectives who thought out of the box and it really delievered.
Value: Well, I'd say buy this anime, due to the fact that it's just incredible. This is one of the better of Geneon's dubs, as Satoshi Kon was the person who put Geneon up into Shape.
Enjoyment: I enjoyed every episode. Fourth or Fifth episode has some alter ego humor in it. The horror/mystery element is there, which I found to like. Last episode was really incredible, and makes you understand the whole series. Last episode cleared the confusion for me.
I really recommend this anime, and it deserves better.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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petran79 |
(2007-11-27 14:14:20) 2006-04-03 05:31:23 |
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| (Anime-Kraze fansub, good work overall)
I've watched some of the producer's previous works prior to Paranoia Agent, starting with Tokyo Godfathers (I consider it still his best work), Perfect Blue (a dissapointment) and Millenium Actress (good yet totally unexpected plot evolvement).
With Paranoia Agent I knew already from the title what to expect. A totally absurd, insane, paranormal, ludicrous world where logic and coherence is the last thing the viewer could expect. But this isnt necessarily something negative. Some Chaos theory elements make the series even better.
Sometimes the most surreal and funny moments emerge out of this mess.
I would recommend this title only for the crazy humour. But be aware. Not the kind of mainstream humour found in many silly comedies of today, but the other kind the subversive and subtle one. I wonder where else would it be possible to see 3 persons (including a child!) trying hopelessly to commit suicide in various ways. Or murders occuring in an anime company for the most incongruous reasons. Or what would drive the whole of Japan into buying a stuffed pet-dog called Maromi. All these elements are in a way connected that one has to watch all episodes in a row to understand this connection. The ending (as opposed to Perfect Blue) is totally unexpected but far from concluding.
After watching the series I felt this one of the stangest Japanese animated titles I've seen. Though there are some French and East-European titles that are even wackier.
Another anime for patient viewers. Not much makes sense there, but again what does make sense today?
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sarquee |
(2006-09-09 20:27:44) 2006-02-03 15:29:09 |
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| Average |
7.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This series has some very solid parts and episodes, but if you are looking at the overall picture, it's really quite thin.
Technically: animation and sound wise: it's very well done, and the opening theme has probably one of the most interesting visuals I've seen (and a very catchy and exotic song to boot). Animation is good; it doesn't seem as if this show had any money problems. Some of the better episodes include good hot stuff like mutiple personality disorder, narcissm, darkly comical group suicide attempts, and obsessive and creepy housewives (but NOTE that this is all done on a rather...really funny edge and so should not creep you out in a bad way). But sadly, the ending and episodes such as "The Holy Warrior" (a silly RPG like episode), "Mellow Maromi" and the last few episodes run thin and watery and often have material which just absolutely ruins the mysterious mood of the show. The ending is simply dissapointing. Unlike other shows, which, often to their own flaw, try to pretend to be as ridiculously complex and tangled as possible, Paranoia agent goes for the most obvious, simplest, and thus the most boring and yawn-inducing conclusion ever.
Still, Paranoia agent is easily one of the better animes, and I'd recommend it for a rent. Not a buy though.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Avalanche |
(2006-01-17 02:31:43) 2006-01-16 13:15:12 |
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| Average |
4.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
2 |
| After watching this I just wanted to say -"What the f*** were they thinking???" The anime by story as well all characteristics not only wierd but incomprensible as well. Jumping from metaphysical to the real world and delusional things happening in a big jumble left a very very bad taste in my mouth.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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CoachZ |
(2005-12-14 14:54:38) 2005-12-14 14:51:36 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Sometimes when watching these horror type anime, you can’t help think wonder what were the creators thinking. Whether it was a positive outlook to this or mind-boggling to others, the ideas that it portrayed were forging an uncanny statement, and yet I seemed to like and dislike this one for the reasons I try to make some good notions about the way this was planned and be mindful with these “one time” characterizations. The total criterion that I didn’t like about this was the way that it tends to be hastier with the wholesome character development that it will not have a lot of time to sympathize with each of their own mellow dramatic situation that gives a struggling conflict from their misleading, or misguiding, personal traits. I did had some good impressions of this one, but not on how it was making itself quite meaningless on the objective for the reason why the girl who created the whole fad with that anime character and was less reliant on when it later on these got less cunning and cycled with the suspense and cause of the “shounen bat”. If you want a more of Satoshi Kon’s thrillers, then I guess would be alright for the time being. I know his stories can be less ambiguous, if you can clearly see what he was truly going for in the first place.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This is an anime that i ve wanted to watch for a while and its until this week that i got the chance to get it.
I ve seen Perfect Blue and Millenium Actress, and I honestly have become a fan of Satoshi Kon´s works, I totally love them... so i had to watch this tv series.
Overall the plot remind me of the Perfect Blue fantasy vs reality... the way that Kon mix them, makes it hard for some people to understand what is going on.
This anime, like others like Lain or .Hack//Sign is a puzzle anime... in order to understand the story you most pick the pieces and try to come out with the whole picture.
If you like the typical anime stuff (school girls with big boobs, fights, explosions, pure heart heros...) skip this anime.
If you like fresh stories, complex characters and you want to think a little bit about what you are watching... give this anime a chance... you won´t regret it.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| By far Paranoia Agent is one of the best mystery shows you'll ever watch. Not even X-Files can compare! It starts off with a girl named Tsukiko, the designer to the popular dog like character Maromi, who had been attacked by a boy using a bended bat as a weapon, while wearing roller blades. Everyone referred to this attacker as Shounen bat. Soon, more and more cases like these start springing up, and the two detectives handling them notice a distinct connection between the victims. Though when they think everything is under control, chaos once again brooms, and an even greater mystery arises...
Paranoia Agent is one of the most complexed stories you'll ever experienced. In some ways, it'll remind you a lot of Evangelion because of how both series delves into the psychological minds of the troubled characters. Though Paranoia Agent goes beyond the complexity of EVA by adding a bunch of diverse stuff in different episodes, and making them sense at the very end. The early episode follows the same formula; a victim who had a bright life, has a sour life thanks to the Shounen bat. But then, somewhere in the middle of the series, everything changes and even more questions are brought up which only makes you excited to watching the rest of the series. Sometimes you wish you could just fast forward it, but at the same time you're enjoying every minute of it and wish it wouldn't reach the end so quickly.
I don't know how to really describe this show. The name itself hints you this will be a mystery, but who would have ever thought a single show could pull off so many twists and themes, yet be so awesome. At times it feels like a psychological thriller, other times a philosophical lecture, action based due to a victim unable to distinguish between reality and his own imagination, drama because of all the situations the people get in, and so on. I really doubted Paranoia Agent because it geared the same way another mystery anime started Saint Luminous Mission High School. Though unlike Luminious, which started with a nice mystery that explored many reasons and ended with the absolute worst reason, Paranoia Agent makes everything that didn't make sense, sense by connecting them all together. Without a doubt, there will be many awe-inspiring moments to cherish.
Though the unpredictable story isn't the only thing making this anime praiseworthy. The situations each victim face is extremely realistic and can be related to reality. A boy, who is loved by his school, is quickly presumed to be Shounen bat, and as a result leads a ruined and delusional life. A women who wants to fit in with her own friends conversations prefers her social life over her husband. A wife, who wishes to rid a piece of herself for the better of her husband's relationship, starts battling her past and inner self. How this show executes all of these scenarios is just so extraordinary. It shows how much the things you take granted for can be lost forever due to your pride, selfishness, self-centerness, ignorance, and carelessness.
Paranoia Agent's essence is accompanied by fitting tunes to make the environment feel appropriate, along with an opening sequence that does a good job of portraying what the following episode might be like. The animation as is as well pretty fluid and gloomy, which was done by the same studio responsible for another familiar work, Perfect Blue. What I liked most about the atmosphere in the show is that it isn't always the same. At first the mood is set onto a physchological feel, then an action feel like a video game, then a loosely feel, etc. It makes the show that much better.
Those who were disappointed with Saint Luminous, or are fans of either Perfect Blue or Neon Genesis should definitely check this series out. It steers into a direction, then decides to make another turn, then another until everything comes to an end. Whether it's a complexed story you want that will match Final Fantasy VII's, or depressing situations to even with Evangelion, Paranoia Agent will surely not disappoint at all.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| The thing I have to say about this series, in one sentence, is "What a trip." Paranoia Agent is indeed one of those diamonds in the rough if you can understand the premise and the story behind it. In other words, it's not for the common anime viewer looking to be entertained, it has several levels on it that you can't always pick up unless you watch it multiple times. It's trippy, engaging and terribly eerie at the same time. I have to say it startled me and made me think on several levels, but it didn't trip me up as much as Le Portrait de Petit Cossette in terms of blatant violence, it was more of it's subtle aspects that made it, on some levels, scary. But I enjoyed it for the short ride it took me on.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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DazeD |
2005-08-14 01:34:30 |
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| Average |
6.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| This anime was how I put it..."Confusing!!" No I am not discouraging anyone else from watching it.I just for one did not understand the story too well from the beginning to the end.Sometimes during the transitions from episode to episode i get lost trying to fit together the pieces of what is going on.Only thing i really understand is there is a Pink dog thing and a Kid with a Bat.
The characters each seems to have an alter-ego which they deal with but eventually lose in and goes insane.
The animations are not like casual animes where everything is all slick is shiny. This meaning, they are detailed like the real world. Old people will be old(unlike some anime where old and young look almost identical).Environment animations are casually dark and eerie which matches the mood.
Story...I was lost..no matter how many times I rewatch. I'm guessing either my head is too dense or the story is too complex. Either way it hurts my head to even try to fit together the pieces.
This review is of my personal opinions. I do not mean to offend nor conflict with anyone else's opinions.This anime is way too complex and involves too much psychological understandings for me to comprehend. I am not discouraging anyone from watching this anime so please keep that in mind.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Usually, I don't like these so-called "deep" animes. They put alot of psychological metaphors and stuff into it and people read alot into it all and rate it high because it deep. I dare to say that Paranoia Agent is like that. This should not suggest however that it is a bad anime. It was still pretty enjoyable most of the time.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
| Average |
5.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| Don't Waste Your Time - although this statement isn't geared for a select few, at least 90% of the anime viewing audience will NOT enjoy this show.
don't get me wrong, the animation in this series is very well done. and i actually really enjoyed the op along with the voice acting. but you can't get around the fact that to try and finish this series after starting it is grueling. then if you actually do finish it, you are left with confusion and regret that you actually wasted your time with it.
there is very little, or nothing, to read into this anime as far as symbolism and metaphors in psychology despite the statements of other reviewers. after painfully watching this entire series, it boils down to a whole lot of nonsensical wasted time.
the select few who will actually enjoy this anime are the people who like reading into crazy-wierd events as something significant and symbolic. everyone else, like myself, just see it as crazy and weird and are left with nothing but confusion and questions.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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doto |
(2005-07-21 02:27:43) 2005-07-10 18:20:02 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This anime is original. Everything in this anime is original. From the animation, to the story and to pretty much everything else.
Ok, so enough of my annoying originality blabble. Let me start off by saying that this anime is excelent. So excelent that in my opinion, this could easily be considered a classic. But, there is a small down fall to this anime. It only appeals to certain people. So, if you enjoy mysteries, thrillers and mind twisting plots, then yes. I can almost guarentee you will like this anime.
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|
Eve |
(2005-07-07 18:41:19) 2005-07-07 18:35:59 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| What makes Paranoia Agent a great piece of work is the varied reactions it incites from viewers. This is an anime that you want to watch with a group of people just to see how they reacted to it.
As always, there are people who go into the first episode scratching their heads and get up from the last episode scratching their butts. These are the people you hear muttering throughout the anime, their comments are liberally peppered by WTF, huh and did I miss something? Quite frankly, they just didn’t get it.
There will also be a bunch of know-it-alls in the group. Usually, these are the anime fanatics and in this case either diehard fans of Satoshi Kon or the genre or both. They’ve watched hundreds of series or have memorized each word in each of Kon’s works. These people go into the story knowing what, why and how things happen, and they’re not afraid to tell you what every single scene, symbol and word means.
The third set, are the people who go in with no expectations. There are two subsets in this group; those who finish feeling like this anime was a “brilliant masterpiece”, and those who feel that the anime was “too creepy and disturbing” for them.
Paranoia agent is one of the few anime in which opinions are so split. Its plot is confusing and convoluted. People will walk away from this anime with a firm impression in their minds. Many people will say that they “got” the deeper meaning of the anime, but very few will walk out with the same opinion. From what I’ve observed, the deeper meaning (if you found a deeper meaning) will differ depending on the type of person you are. I know my interpretation was highly influenced by existential philosophy and world religion; others will be similarly influenced by the dominating aspects of their lives. So whether you walk away feeling hope, despair or total cluelessness, you know you’ll be walking away from something that made you think.
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