Paranoia Agent



""He comes for those who are desperate.""

A grinning boy travels around Tokyo on golden rollerblades. He has a bent, golden baseball bat -- and he uses it to bash people's heads in.

The police are searching for the boy code-named "Shonen Bat" ("Lil' Slugger" in the English dub), but none of the victims are co-operating fully with the police; in fact, many seem relieved and thankful for the mild concussion the boy gives them via his golden bat. All of the victims have something to hide -- but then again, so do the police...and so does the frail old man who draws chalk equations in the hospital parking lot... and so does everybody who spreads rumors about Lil' Slugger. Who is this mysterious boy, who seems to attack people only when they are about to have an existential breakdown and has never been seen by anyone but his victims? Is he a gang member, a creature of the paranormal, or something else entirely?

Paranoia Agent is a thirteen-episode anime series directed by Satoshi Kon, who specializes in mind-bending animes with some social commentary thrown into the mix. At times, the series resembles an anthology, with each episode throwing its star character through a Twist Ending -- but everything later becomes connected in a way that rivals Serial Experiments Lain's levels of conspiracy and surrealism. Besides being perfectly creepy, this show is noteworthy for the (Studio Madhouse) animation alone: the characters all have distinct designs, and apart from some minor Filler, Stock Footage and other cost-cutting tricks were kept to a minimum.

Paranoia Agent contains examples of (spoiler warning!):
"Must not run away... Must not turn your back on him... He comes for people who've been driven into a corner and have nowhere to go. Must not talk about him... Must not think about him... Nowhere to go..."
 * The Ace: Ichi starts out as one.
 * Agent Mulder: Detective Maniwa.
 * Amnesia Danger
 * Anime Theme Song: A very, very weird one.
 * It's very consistent with Satoshi Kon, though.
 * More with his longtime collaborator Susumu Hirasawa, the song's author.
 * Art Shift: Usually a sign that things just got weird.
 * Bait and Switch Credits
 * Battle in The Center of The Mind: Occurs in the final episode.
 * Black Comedy: "Happy Family Planning" milks every bit of slapstick it can get from the characters' suicide attempts.
 * Blame Game: The entire anime boils down to Sagi . However, as if reflecting back on the core issue, Sagi's co-workers also place the blame on her repeatedly for whatever goes wrong, continuously talking about her behind her back. Ironically, although this comes from their own dissatisfaction, jealousy and ineptitude, because Sagi is constantly trying to avoid feeling guilty about the one thing that she can be blamed for,, she is unable to confront any kind of blame whatsoever, using Maromi is a shield.
 * Book Ends:
 * Break the Haughty: All of episode 2, for Ichi.
 * Cast of Snowflakes
 * City of Adventure
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Tsukiko is a deconstruction.
 * Companion Cube: Maromi.
 * Completely Missing the Point: See Irony.
 * Contemplate Our Navels : Interesting case with
 * Cruel Twist Ending
 * Cute Is Evil:, definitely.
 * Dead All Along:
 * Dead Line News
 * Deconstructed Trope: Tsukiko and Yuichi are rather dark deconstructions of the Cloudcuckoolander and The Ace respectively, for starters.
 * Mrs. Ikari is an unusual case- she is set up to be a Yamato Nadeshiko, but like almost everything in this anime it's soon deconstructed:  But then,   The point is, in the end she does display her "subtle touch of iron" in that she   while being calm and thoughtful, without raising a finger.
 * Also, that producer from the Mellow Maromi in-show cartoon is a deconstruction of the Plucky Comic Relief character, showing just how obnoxious and dangerous such a person would be when put in charge of anything.
 * Despair Event Horizon: Who Lil' Slugger comes to. His purpose, it seems, is to fix the situations that have driven them there by making their problems irrelevant in the face of an entirely new problem -- recovering from being beaten half to death.
 * Dirty Cop:
 * Did You Just Sit Down And Have A Chat With Cthulhu?: You might think this is meant to pothole into the tea variation. It isn't.
 * Disproportionate Retribution:
 * Doppelganger:
 * Dropped a Bridge On Him
 * Ear Worm: The OP is tremendously catchy, despite being very weird.
 * The Ending Changes Everything
 * Enter Eponymous: Episode One "Enter Lil' Slugger"
 * Episode Title Card: It's always worked into the episode somehow.
 * Essential Madness: Mirawa. Really, the only way to beat Lil' Slugger is to go entirely insane.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas:
 * Fan Service: Despite the disturbing atmosphere, the show manage to get some fanserivce in here and there.
 * Finagles Law
 * Foreshadowing
 * Freak Out: Every episode.
 * Freudian Excuse: Though she herself is not evil, Of course, this is "Radar Man's" interpretation, so he may be oversimplifying a lot.
 * More to the point, Tsukiko . It really is quite ridiculous when you compare it to all the far more vicious and elaborate lies and schemes that all the other characters create.
 * Gainax Ending: Adult Swim said in a blurb "we've got some new shows that are pretty f'ed up. And we know f'ed up- we saw the end of Paranoia Agent"
 * Gayngst: Zebra. What exactly brought it about, we never find out for sure.
 * It's impossible to be sure it even was that: it could have simply been generic angst over a lost love, judging by how happy he seems in the locket picture with his boyfriend.
 * His lover is later seen in bed with the Yakuza that bribed Hirukawa, he may have been dumped.
 * Generic Cuteness: Averted. Kon's fond of this.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: The first episode's airing on Adult Swim had the word "bullshit" uncensored. This was fixed for all future airings.
 * Gossipy Hens: "Etc." focuses on a group of them.
 * Goggles Do Something Unusual: "Radar Man"'s goggles are apparently connected to the police database, amongst other things, but considering how bat-shit insane the guy in the costume is at that point, it's kind of hard to tell.
 * Good Cop Bad Cop: Maniwa and Ikari both intentionally and unintentionally fall into these roles during interrogation.
 * The Heartless
 * Here We Go Again
 * The Idiot From Osaka: Subverted.
 * Ill Girl: Misae Ikari, an ill Middle-aged Housewife with traces of Plucky Girl-- unless she's too old for the trope.
 * The girl from the third story the housewives tell.
 * The Ingenue: Tsukiko is a variation. She has the innocence of a child... quite literally. She doesn't understand why the people around her blame her for what's happening.
 * Instant Fanclub
 * Irony: Because of the anime's success, you can buy Maromi merchandise in real life.
 * Jekyll and Hyde: Harumi Chono/Maria. Tutor by day,.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: In the DVD Commentary, Kon himself says that one of the challenges of working on the show was deciding how much of the story he should tell the viewers.
 * Karmic Twist Ending
 * Kawaisa: This anime is a critical view of this aspect of Japanese culture.
 * Killer Rabbit:
 * Lolicon: Played very darkly. Hirukawa (a police officer who was taking Yakuza bribes) was something of a pedophile and had a fetish for young girls calling him "Daddy." Later,
 * And there's more. Still later, it is revealed that Hirukawa And she finds out.
 * Lotus Eater Machine: Ikari's 2D cut-out world.
 * Lyrical Dissonance: The song accompanying the opening credits. In a sense, also applies to the superficially soothing song that plays over the end credits, although the dissonance is with the images rather than with the non-existent lyrics.
 * Both are intentional. Word of God gives the reason for the cheery opening music and the soothing ending music as being due to the late timeslot the show received in Japan.
 * MacGuffin: Shonen Bat is much less important than how the cast reacts to him.
 * Mad Dreamer: Tsukiko. The things she creates  Most of the time she's off in her own private world If those delusions are threatened expect her to turn into a Nervous Wreck.
 * Mad Oracle: The Old Man, whose equations reveal numbers that are important to the plot.
 * Magic Realism
 * Meaningful Background Event: Mellow Maromi combines this with Danger Takes a Backseat. The episode is told in flashbacks, with the present being Saruta (the production coordinator) driving frantically to deliver the taped episode for the new Maromi anime to the network to air while he frequently flashbacks to the past, which presents how the anime was made
 * Meaningful Name: The production manager in the episode "Mellow Maromi" is called Oda Nobunaga after the famous warlord.
 * Two more: Sagi can mean 'heron' or 'fraud' and the "cho" in Chono is one way of saying butterfly another; chocho.
 * Memetic Mutation: An in-universe example - In the episode "ETC", the housewives are talking about the attacks they heard about, trying to outdo each other, the stories becoming more surreal and outrageous than the last.
 * Arguably,
 * That is because  Maromi. Maromi's idea is everywhere in Japan: toys, drawings, clothes and an animated series.
 * Menstrual Menace:
 * Mind Screw: Boy, is it ever.
 * At this point, Satoshi Kon's name might as well be synonymous with Mind Screw.
 * Moving the Goalposts: In "A Man's Path," the Yakuza boss keeps raising the amount of money the corrupt cop owes him so he'll be forever in his debt.
 * Naughty By Night:
 * Noblewomans Laugh: "Princess Flyer" in Makoto's story.
 * Nostalgia Aint Like It Used to Be: Ikari's Lotus Eater Machine is powered by this trope; rejecting it is how he eventually breaks out.
 * Not So Imaginary Friend: Maromi. Sort of..
 * Nuclear Weapons Taboo (Inversions/subversions)
 * Offscreen Teleportation: One of the first signs that something about Shounen Bat is... A bit off. Most egregiously used in episode 10.
 * Old Cop Young Cop: Ikari and Maniwa
 * On the Next: The episode trailers are narrated by the Old Man, and are mini-Mind Screws in and of themselves.
 * One Degree of Separation
 * Otaku: One of the creepiest characters in the show, and that's saying something.
 * Paranoia Fuel: As you might guess, this show contains a good deal of in-universe Fuel. This may inspire you, however, to.
 * Paranoia Fuel: As you might guess, this show contains a good deal of in-universe Fuel. This may inspire you, however, to.

""...oh, its-! * crushed by giant foot*"
 * Parody: Maromi takes after the real world Tarepanda.
 * Pensieve Flashback
 * Perp Sweating
 * Pervert Dad: Hirukawa.
 * Pint Sized Powerhouse: Lil' Slugger.
 * Plague of Good Fortune: "Happy Family Planning".
 * Playing Sick
 * Post Modernism: The animation team must have had fun working on "Mellow Maromi", eh?...
 * Psychological Horror
 * The Rashomon
 * Reluctant Psycho: a couple, most notably Harumi Chrono.
 * RPG Episode: Episode 5 is this, told from the warped perspective of Makoto Kozuka who played on too many RPGs and saw the world and his victims as game characters.
 * Sanity Slippage: Most of the cast suffers it over an episode. Three suffer it over the series. One does not ever lose it. Two recover from it. Everyone is smiling by the end.
 * Shadow Archetype
 * Shout Out: Tsukiko Sagi looks like a grown-up version of Osaka from Azumanga Daioh, though given the context it could be more of a Take That.
 * Ikari's younger self also looks identical to young Genya in Millennium Actress both of whom are played by Shozo Iizuka so it could double as an an Actor Allusion
 * Radar Man hitches a ride on "Speedy Bat" delivery truck in a nod to Batman also a play on words since you know...Shonen Bat.
 * Of all things, Monty Python's Flying Circus. In episode 5, Kozuka seems to have defeated the monster. Then he looks up:
 * Of all things, Monty Python's Flying Circus. In episode 5, Kozuka seems to have defeated the monster. Then he looks up:


 * Also in episode 6 Taeko's last line in the episode is oddly reminiscent of another work by Satoshi Kon
 * Shower Scene
 * Show Within a Show: As Hirukawa falls farther and farther from grace, he begins modeling his mindset on the Determinator hero of a Rated Mfor Manly manga in a desperate, twisted attempt to justify his actions to himself.
 * And, of course, there's Mellow Maromi...
 * And Makoto Kozuka's video game. The series has quite a few of these.
 * Snowy Screen of Death: When the black blob invades the TV studio in the final episode.
 * Something Person: "Radar Man," whose powers include mastery of metaphor and non-linear thinking.
 * Sorry I Left the BGM On: The OP theme is already very creepy. Having it suddenly blare out of a radio is enough to scare anyone out of their wits.
 * Space Whale Aesop
 * Split Personality, followed by Split Personality Takeover.
 * Spoiler Opening: Subverted.
 * The Stinger: Borderline Gainax Ending.
 * Surreal Horror
 * Superhero: "Radar Man". Although, how much of his "powers" are made up and how much is actually happening is, as always, up for debate...
 * Talking the Monster To Death:
 * Theme Naming: Nearly all the major characters have animal names - Sagi (heron), Ikari (boar), Maniwa (horse, also his internet handle), Ushiyama (cow), Chouno (butterfly), Hirukawa (frog), the Otaku Kamei (turtle), the internet handles of Zebra, Fuyubachi (Winter Wasp) and Kamome (Seagull) in "Happy Family Planning", and so on. Note that some of them have character-related double meanings, as well - written with a different kanji, Tsukiko's last name, Sagi, means "fraud".
 * There Are No Therapists: Partially subverted in that Harumi Chono is seen talking to one (all those other loony characters, on the other hand....) He doesn't seem to help much at all though, so rather than There Are No Therapists one could say All Therapists Are Useless....
 * Perhaps not. The moment  The therapist may very well have been helpful to someone more willing to listen.
 * Debatable, but comes more under All Therapists Are Useless, considering that the very last thing you want to do with someone who has Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder or simply lapses into Dissociative Fugues is to let the primary personality deal with it completely alone, with no medication, psychotherapy, or support, particularly when at the point we meet Harumi, it's very clear that she is very very sick and should be institutionalised.
 * The Tokyo Fireball
 * Through the Eyes of Madness: In many episodes, you aren't sure what's supposed to be real. Tsukikho is the most notable example though, . Your first clue that there's something more substantially wrong with her than just being a Cloudcuckoolander is when you see Maromi talk.
 * This Loser Is You: The unnamed otaku.
 * Together Umbrella: One is seen drawn on a door in a school, in Ikari's dream world.
 * Tokyo Is the Center of The Universe
 * Tomato Surprise
 * Trick Twist
 * Twinkle Smile: Yuichi "Ichi" Taira starts out with one (along with Audible Gleam, natch) in the second episode but quickly loses it as things start going wrong for him.
 * In one of the series' early Crowning Moments of Funny, we see him practicing it in the mirror before he leaves for school.
 * Twist Ending
 * Twitchy Eye
 * Vicious Cycle:
 * We Could Have Avoided All This: Sagi Tsukiko  only to avoid her strict father's scolding for losing Maromi. but Maniwa revealed that.
 * Yakuza: In the episode, "A Man's Path".
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Misae Ikari.
 * Subverted. May be a Double Subversion though.
 * Your Mind Makes It Real:
 * Crosses into What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic territory when you realize that