Paranoia Agent (Review)

Few Anime Are as Mind-Bending as Paranoia Agent

I was ecstatic when I saw that Funimation had added Paranoia Agent to their streaming library. Like so many other modern anime geeks, I grew up when Paranoia Agent was first shown on Toonami and was looking forward to a nostalgic rewatching of the 13 episode series. Settling in, I was surprised to remember just how grown up the series is. Not just with the situations that arise, but in the themes that show up throughout it. There’s a lot crammed into the 13 episodes and it’s as cerebral as I remember it from the good old days. 

Paranoia Agent features a large cast of characters who have one thing in common: the serial assailant Lil Slugger. The series follows both his victims and the detectives assigned as it rotates between protagonists. Each episode dives deep into the psyche and secrets of each of them, revealing that nothing is quite as it seems. Even the best and noblest of the characters in Paranoia Agent have something to hide, and many of them are teetering on the edge of a full-on mental breakdown as stress builds in their lives. In a way, it’s an oddly appropriate series that reflects the invisible struggles that all of us deal with while pretending that everything is “fine.” 

There’s nothing I love more than anime that doesn’t shy away from philosophy. Series like Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass, and Serial Experiment Lain aren’t afraid to force their fans to think. They raise real questions about the meaning of existence and human nature, indirectly stimulating plenty of things to think about with each episode. Paranoia Agent focuses mostly on the fragility of humans in the modern world. There’s so much happening and so many responsibilities for that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. On top of that, it seems never-ending as the only way to succeed these days is to encumber yourself with responsibilities like a beast of burden. With so much on our shoulders, sometimes all it takes is a straw to break us. This is where Paranoia Agent comes in as it not only shows us the inevitable collapse of the individual, but the knee jerk reaction to always blame someone or something else for problems in a refusal to admit that sometimes we just can’t handle everything life throws at us.

Madhouse teamed with Satoshi Kon to create Paranoia Agent, which was apparently compiled from a number of ideas the director had floating around in his head. If this is the case, the series came together shockingly well. The animation style is a far cry from what anime fans might be typically used to. The characters are all designed in a way that makes many of them seem like subtle caricatures with oversized features. While a few of them might be strange, there’s nothing funny about any of them, especially as each of them has to face the darkness within. The backgrounds are also incredibly detailed to the point where you can almost see every individual blade of grass in some shots. This creates a sense of claustrophobia in certain stories because the clutter feels suffocating. Kon is able to combine character designs and settings to create shifting tones that always manage to perfectly compliment the stories that are unfolding. It might not be flashy, but Paranoia Agent is breathtaking.

Let me be clear that this is not a series for kids. Themes like prostitution, incest, and pedophilia are ever-present but never gratuitous. This is meant to show that there is some darkness that can’t be escaped and some parts of the past that will stay with you until the day you die. While Paranoia Agent is uncomfortable at times, it’s never flat out disturbing. I found myself grimacing at a few scenes, but all of them had a purpose when it came to developing the characters. It’s certainly not all serious either. One of my favorite episodes (Happy Family Planning) features a trio that enters into a suicide pact online but fail over and over to actually kill themselves. Of course, now that I say that out loud, I realize just how dark that is. Then again, a little dark comedy never hurt anyone, and Paranoia Agent is nothing if not dark.

Paranoia Agent is one of the few anime out there that is perfectly balanced. Typically 13 episode series always feel a little too short to me and leave me wanting more. The ending is certainly open-ended with plenty of questions left unanswered. However, the story feels finished in the end. Be warned that Paranoia Agent is a very dark and cerebral series that will challenge you and push you to the limits of your comfort zone. It’s a rewarding experience though, and when I was younger, it opened my eyes to everything that anime could be. After seeing it, I knew that anime wasn’t just cartoons for kids, but a medium used to tell intricate and fascinating stories. It’s definitely a series that shaped me into the geek I am today.