|
When a young, successful toy designer, suffering from creative
stress, claims she has been attacked by a baseball bat wielding
youth on rollerblades, her colleagues and the police suspect
it may just be a desperate plea for attention. However, subsequent
attacks on several more victims prove otherwise and soon Tokyo
is gripped by a form of collective hysteria. As the mystery
deepens, the police are forced to ask themselves if the so
called Lil' Slugger is real or just an imagined figment brought
on by the victims' paranoia...
Volume
1 of
Paranoia
Agent is
a bizarre collection of tales set in Tokyo. Each episode centres
on a different character and as the series progresses we see
how their very different lives are intertwined.
The
four episodes on this disc revolve around a toy designer who
is suffering from a creative block, a young and popular schoolboy
who suddenly sees his popularity take a dive over night, a
woman with a dual personality (she works in the local school
by day and is a high class prostitute by night) and a bent
police officer who becomes a masked mugger in order to pay
off his blackmailer.
Usually,
where Japanese animation is concerned, I very rarely listen
to the dubbed English soundtrack, preferring to listen to
the original Japanese actors and read the English subtitles.
This is usually because the English track has a reputation
for being poorly acted. Not so with Paranoia Agent.
In fact (and I hate to admit this) I found it much more enjoyable
to listen to the English soundtrack.
Paranoia
Agent is an extremely engaging collection of episodes
and I really did get swept up in the story line. The
opening titles and end credits are a little bizarre. The show
opens with different characters (who all play pivotal roles
in the show over time) laughing as a funky soundtrack (with
very odd lyrics that lose something in translation) blasts
out. The end credits see these same characters apparently
asleep in a field as a haunting tune (which you'll find yourself
humming for days afterwards) plays over the top.
Extras
include a brief interview with the show's director Satoshi
Kon, a multi-angle storyboard-to-screen comparison and some
trailers for other releases.
If
you're new to Japanese animation, then I can think of no better
release to get you started than this.
Darren
Rea
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£14.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£14.98
(Foxy.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£14.99
(Moviemail-online.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
