Forum - View topicParanoia Agent -- Disapointing
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4622 |
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Even when watching this series for the first time, when I wasn't completely sure how everything was interconnected, I recognized the series as an amazing work of psychological suspense, and rewatching it (multiple times) completely reinforced that impression. The whole series acts as a wonderful expression of how mass escapism and hysteria can spread through a society to the point where they take on a life of their own. Paranoia Agent was the first of Kon's works I'd seen, and after seeing a few of his films since then, I've really come to appreciate how masterfully he's able to incorporate the utterly surreal and fantastic into everyday situations. The interrogation episode was a wonderful example of this, and of course, so was Li'l Slugger himself. I understand that the show isn't for everyone, but I think you at least have to recognize the fact that there is an overarching plot and theme over the entire series that ties itself together in the end. For anyone who had trouble summing up the series, I highly recommend reading this post (you might have to click on that twice, since Adult Swim's forums are somewhat wonky); it does a great job of providing one interpretation to the meaning of Li'l Slugger and Maromi and what they were meant to represent. (Obviously, the link contains series-ending spoilers.)
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Optix
 Posts: 33 Location: FIRIN' MAH LAZERS!!!1! |
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Thanks for the link but I still feel that this whole series was pretty pointless. It sounds to me like they could have just saved me the time and released it as an OVA or something.
I guess my problem with it is that it shows so many people being attacked and then they come around. How exactly does this get you off the hook from a deadline or exempt you from paying back creditors? I didn't really feel like coming in to work today but I'm not going to bonk myself on the head. That won't get me off the hook for good. Maybe I'm thinking too literally. It just wasn't my type of series I guess. |
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Top Gun
Posts: 4622 |
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That's kind of the whole point of the series--it doesn't get you off the hook.  The attacks by Li'l Slugger bring a temporary respite to the victims, but their underlying troubles are still there; by the end of the show, we see most of them having to deal with that fact (with Tsukiko obviously being the most prominent example). In the same way, Maromi acts as the sort of mindless escapism that allows all of us to put aside the cares of our day; when that escapism suddenly vanishes, and the masses are made aware of their problems in full force, chaos ensues.
To be honest, I could never see the show working properly as an OVA. It has a very deliberate pacing to it, and even the few episodes that don't seem to "do anything" with the central plot help expand on the central idea of Li'l Slugger as a growing social paranoia. I'm a fan of the 13-episode series format in general, I think; it gives a good director enough time to substantially expand upon a theme and characters without stretching the story too thin. |
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Veoryn87
 Posts: 808 |
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Man. There's really nothing I can say that Top Gun hasn't said. He seems to get it. I think the series is perfect the way it is. Doesn't need to be any shorter or longer.
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BunnyCupCakes
 Posts: 224 Location: The Sunshine State |
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I actually liked the series the way it is.
Sure is was confusing but I like confusion once in awhile So what if there were characters that were irrevalent to the story line or that not everything got answered...I thought that was the style to the story.To mess with your mind and wonder. But since this is the first show that introduced me into Satoshi Kon's works,I can't say his techniques were repetitive.That can only be toward experienced fans. Anime like Paranoia Agent isn't really my thing to watch but I thought it was pretty grapsing to continue watching. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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NEVER thought I'd say this: Boy, some of you people are a bunch of critics!
I dunno, say you wasted your time if you like. It's a better waste of time than 12 episodes of Naruto or Mahoromatic or something...or School Days TV. 
I haven't seen enough of Kon's work to elaborate on the whole "he's repeating himself" aspect of the argument, but I say, "Go with what works," and I believe the show worked just fine. I really enjoyed even the fillers, in fact, dare I say it, the episode with the gossips was so simplistically hilarious and true in the way that rumors affect small groups that I think it's one of my favorites. I mean, little moments like the dirty cop's slow delusion into superherodom, or, one of my faves, the very different way the two cops responded to fake Slugger Fox's story and got more or less sucked into it as it went, were so great that I think the story has to be appreciated on a psychological, metaphorical level more than a literal one. There are so many small, undercurrent themes that shift and bend in different directions depending on the perspective of the telling that there's no real way to look at the show and say, "This is the plot." If you do, you're missing the point. It's more, "This is this woman's story." "This is this man's problem." So on and so forth. Very few things can be seen concretely, except that, I must agree, the three people spoiler[trying to commit suicide were already dead. That's the whole point. Your big tipoff is the shadows, the pill, Lil' Slugger's reaction to them, the girls' reaction to them, and more than anything, seeing the dead man walk away from the subway accident. Think Sixth Sense for that episode. The whole point was that those three thought it would be nice to escape their problems through death, but didn't realize the only way they could be happy was to be at peace with themselves. They were dead and thinking there had to be something better than this, some afterlife, so they tried killing themselves. If you're not happy in one life, it doesn't matter what kind of ESCAPISM (cough, theme, coughcough) you use, you won't be happy in that, either.] I have to admit that one bump in the pavement for me was the young cop's interaction with the fat otaku's dolls. Yeah, I agreed that it didn't seem right for two fantasies to converge and randomly give the young cop classified info, deus ex machina style. Apart from that, though, this is one of those shows that you both have to watch while paying close attention, and letting your brain hang loose, too. Don't interpret everything literally, because every episode is seen through a different character's eyes, and half of those characters are certifiably nuts. Just look at what the story is trying to say, and if you feel like you've heard it before, move on to something else and admit that you just can't appreciate the show. But don't bash it and say that it's poorly-made, disappointing, or fans are pulling an Evangelion by taking too much away from it, because there is a lot of meat there. |
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Optix
Posts: 33 Location: FIRIN' MAH LAZERS!!!1! |
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Actually, having a bus park on my neck would be a better waste of time than that. I guess I should have said it was disappointing to me but then again, isn't that what all of these posts are? Someone's opinion? I didn't say it was poorly done. Just not my cup 'o tea. I like the idea behind it but I'm not a fan of the delivery and was expecting more based on the ANN reviews. Hopefully fans of the movie don't take this as just another person that didn't understand what was going on but instead take it as just another person that isn't into grandiose delivery methods of a simple idea. Maybe I'll check out more of Kon's work to see what the big deal is and who knows? I may just like some of it but I've prepared myself for more of the same even though that's a terrible attitude to take into just about anything. |
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Veoryn87
Posts: 808 |
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Well this is a discussion afterall, so people of differing opinions are going to explain the show and give reasons why they like or dislike it.
One of my favorite parts of the series is the dark humor. I love how an episode about spoiler[three people wanting to commit suicide] can be so humerous. I like that kind of stuff. Terrific production values definitely helped. |
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sogekihei-neko
 Posts: 128 |
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Of all of the episodes I saw (and I will admit I didn't catch all of them) that one was my favorite too. When I saw spoiler[the three of them jumping behind the living people having a picture taken, and then after they walk you hear screaming, I couldn't stop laughing ]. |
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