16 December 2008

Review: Paranoia Agent


I recently watched Paranoia Agent (Moso Dairinin), one of the stranger anime series around.

Paranoia Agent was directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse.

Gist of the whole series:

A number of people are attacked. The assailant is always this creepy little boy on skates, toting a baseball bat. The story follows an interesting non-linear path and finally you end up with the truth.

That is the story without giving too much away. Just a heads up though; it does not have the carefree feel of Bleach that is preferable for younger audiences. Far from it, I would recommend this for older folks as some of the sub plots can be could disconcerting.

What I liked about the story:

The story telling methods and overall direction was impressive. Haunting, psychologically disturbing. Best bit is how the plot just keeps you guessing; that's right, no spoon feeding here.

On a side note, there was a side plot detailing the entire process of creating a cartoon series. That was rather informative, at leas for me.

What's not to like:

Alright, so maybe the artwork might be a tad ordinary. While it's actually quite decent, I was hoping for darker shades and bit less vexel style figures.

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