Paranoia Agent 妄想代理人 (Satoshi Kon 今敏, 2004)

Paranoia Agent 妄想代理人

2004 // Japan // Satoshi Kon 今敏

Letterboxd (LINK)

This animated TV series is one hell of a psychological ride. It’s ecstatic, thrilling, bewitching, delightful, piercing, satirical, and appalling. It’s the pinnacle of Satoshi Kon, the genius who died too young. I would herald it alongside Fassbinder’s BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ (1980) and Lynch’s TWIN PEAKS for both the ingenious integrity and unorthodox heterogeneity. Once again, Kon dives deep and penetratingly into the feeble minds of the contemporaries, the so-called paranoia. Connecting all the 13 episodes are a series of attacks committed by the mysterious Shonen Bat (literally means a boy with a bat) and the presence of the mascot-like puppy doll named Maromi, created by the introverted young character designer, with the central narrative thread being held by two detectives investigating the attacks.

From Ep. 1-6, new characters are introduced as some sort of the new victims of Shonen Bat, with their backstory as the centric storyline in their individual episodes. From the narcissistic primary school boy to the split-personality prostitute (a direct allusion to PERFECT BLUE), Kon never afraid to disclose the malaise of contemporary society. There’s even a gross, hypocritical, policeman who is the most despicable, corrupted human being I have ever seen. Ep. 7 seems like a mini wrap-up of the entire plot so far, which processes from attacks to the first death of a character. The subsequent three episodes, Ep. 8-10, each could be considered as an individual short story within the same universe of Shonen Bat but tangibly separated from the main storyline. Ep. 8 is the most ingenious and funny one in which we have three people, an old man, a homosexual guy, and a little girl (an allusion to TOKYO GODFATHERS), met from the internet chat room and decided to commit suicide together. It’s the black comedy in its purest form, with a twist at the end that echoed THE SIXTH SENSE.

Everything comes in a full circle near the end when the two detectives, fired from their job, each pursuit their fantasy wherein reality and dream (a TV role-play fantasy game, or a cardboard cut out nostalgic dreamland) becomes indiscernible. Shonen Bat is revealed to be a psychological projection, a failing coping mechanism that offers escapism and false resolution to those who are ‘cornered’ in their own lives. And the puppy doll Maromi embodies the notion of an entire country losing the grip of reality out of frustration and resentment. The finale is a PAPIKA-like battle and chasing sequence. PARANOIA AGENT is as enigmatic as the title implies, it defies being pigeonholed into a single category and eschews straightforward interpretation. If you’re unsure whether you want to spend hours watching this 13-episode animated series or not, just go and watch the eerily exhilarating opening first, I sincerely wish you would be intrigued, otherwise, you’re simply hopeless.

The Opening