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REVIEW: Paranoia Agent


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cookiemanstah



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 12:03 pm Reply with quote
you might think "cringe" for citing Watch Mojo for anything, but I recall this anime was featured on a video of infamous anime sales disasters. Kind of wondering why that is (if it's even true) for how revered it and Kon is.
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scowler



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 12:19 pm Reply with quote
Any review of this show just has to mention that stellar OP, with all the magnificent mushrooms in the sky and whatnot.
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 12:51 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
While it'll be some months yet before we can get our hands on the upcoming SteelBook Blu-Ray set

I figured Funimation would give it a physical release at some point, but where was there news that it would be a steelbook set?

Also, definitely second that kick-ass OP--I could never stop listening to the full song.
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James_Beckett
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 23 Nov 2015
Posts: 274
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 1:03 pm Reply with quote
pachy_boy wrote:
Quote:
While it'll be some months yet before we can get our hands on the upcoming SteelBook Blu-Ray set

I figured Funimation would give it a physical release at some point, but where was there news that it would be a steelbook set?


The steelbook is mentioned in Funi's original announcement here:

https://www.funimation.com/blog/2020/02/03/paranoia-agent-satoshi-kon-madhouse-to-stream-exclusively-on-funimation/

(No word on how COVID has affected any of these plans, though).
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animefan1238



Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 296
Location: Ma
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 1:40 pm Reply with quote
This show has been my white whale for so long and I've never seen it. At my local on a dealer had the complete series in its box unopened. I inspected it, looked for bootleg signs, had my wife look at it and we grilled the poor guy but he was cool about it. It was in my hands but I couldn't bring myself to pay for it. It was high. But then Funi came and announced a rescue license and release. When that set is in my hands, my Kon collection will be complete.

Miss you Kon. Gone too soon with so much left to give.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4558
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 1:51 pm Reply with quote
It's been an absolute treat rewatching this masterpiece on the current Toonami run, but it's tinged with a bit of regret in imagining just how many fantastic stories Kon still had left to tell.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 4:43 pm Reply with quote
I would have preferred to see this review until the physical release was available. It is great that Funimation has licensed this show, but to me a license rescue is complete until actual discs are available.
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Takkun4343



Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 1491
Location: Englewood, Ohio
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 5:31 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:
I would have preferred to see this review until the physical release was available. It is great that Funimation has licensed this show, but to me a license rescue is complete until actual discs are available.

She says in the age of legal streaming. Rolling Eyes
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6195
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 7:03 pm Reply with quote
Takkun4343 wrote:
angelmcazares wrote:
I would have preferred to see this review until the physical release was available. It is great that Funimation has licensed this show, but to me a license rescue is complete until actual discs are available.

She says in the age of legal streaming. Rolling Eyes


Can't put a stream on your shelf


Last edited by v1cious on Fri May 29, 2020 11:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5516
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2020 10:30 pm Reply with quote
Takkun4343 wrote:
angelmcazares wrote:
I would have preferred to see this review until the physical release was available. It is great that Funimation has licensed this show, but to me a license rescue is complete until actual discs are available.

She says in the age of legal streaming. Rolling Eyes


Some people want to OWN their anime, for any variety of reasons. One such reason being quality. Streaming anime tends to be only around 2-8Mbps. Blu-rays are up to 40Mbps. The compression artifacting is very obvious in streaming, especially in dark scenes (which this anime has a LOT of). We want to see things as close to the way the artists drew them as we can. To some of us this isn't disposable media - it's a passion
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Netero



Joined: 10 Jun 2018
Posts: 159
PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2020 10:55 am Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
Blu-rays are up to 40Mbps ... We want to see things as close to the way the artists drew them as we can.

You can't recreate information that has already been lost. With older anime that were mastered on film you can rescan at a much higher definition/bitrate for Blu-ray, but for something from 16 years ago that was mastered for DVD, you'll be lucky if it was even done in 720p.

And as for "owning" things, you may own the physical medium but you only ever license the content.
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1822
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2020 11:22 am Reply with quote
I picked up the Madman DVD release a few years ago, still yet to watch it.

Found and bought a copy of the OST in a second hand CD store in Japan more recently.
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NiPah
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Joined: 11 Feb 2011
Posts: 205
PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2020 6:38 pm Reply with quote
Netero wrote:

And as for "owning" things, you may own the physical medium but you only ever license the content.


Most people understand that when they say they own a physical copy of an anime, just because I own a copy of the old Paranoia Agent on DVD doesn’t mean I can make copies to sell and upload it to stream online.
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1006
PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2020 8:48 am Reply with quote
NiPah wrote:
Netero wrote:

And as for "owning" things, you may own the physical medium but you only ever license the content.


Most people understand that when they say they own a physical copy of an anime, just because I own a copy of the old Paranoia Agent on DVD doesn’t mean I can make copies to sell and upload it to stream online.


Indeed, but on the other hand, they also understand that the first sale doctrine applies and they can freely sell, loan, or rent that one physical copy to someone else even if the original seller or license holder disagrees.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4065
PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2020 12:18 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
What is the most important thing to remember about Paranoia Agent is that it is a mystery story where the answers to the mysteries are not as important as the questions they raise.
Minus: Anthology format makes for inconsistent storytelling


There's the caveat, isn't it? It's almost like calling it an anthology series is a backhanded way to ignore what happened to the show: Satoshi Kon got bored with his own premise.... otherwise it's an "anthology" series where 9 episodes are part of the same story.

I don't hate the series but I also wouldn't rate Paranoia Agent as high as any of Kon's movies, you know, works with plots, characters and actual endings that work start to finish.

And then there's that ending. I just love a review that comes out and says "Ignore the ending, it's a great series if you ignore the ending" without coming out and say there's a problem with an ending.

Paranoia Agent is an experimental anime with some really great moments but ultimately lives or dies on how much crap the viewer is willing to take. The ultimate fate of Lil Slugger... is that one of the things that doesn't matter?... was fine but the ultimate fate of Tokyo on the other hand and WHY is a little more obtuse.
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