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MOVIE AdventureTokyo Godfathers

REVIEWS

• 

  Xelrog

  100/100
  Forever a masterpiece. Paranoia Agent needs to be on the list of every person claiming to be a fan of the art form.

  Paranoia Agent is a cult classic series that is primarily known about thanks to its short run on [adult swim] in the early 2000's. Unfortunately, its low episode count, difficult-to-digest nature, and less-than-stellar dub prevent it from attaining the superstar status that other shows like Dragon Ball and One Piece enjoy. 'Tis a sad reflection of the fact that, as the two animated incarnations of Fullmetal Alchemist proved, the audience at large is more interested in arbitrary face-punching than in food for thought. But if I started on that, I'd be at this all day. The point is that Paranoia Agent, as with anything touched by the late and great Satoshi Kon, is anime not only as entertainment, but as an art form.

  ...

  Writing: Those who are familiar with my other reviews already know that writing is by an extremely wide margin the most significant (some might say the only) factor in my judgement of a series. It should come as no surprise, then, that Paranoia Agent boasts damn near the best in the industry. Death Note trembles, Baccano! bows, even Ghost in the Shell must pay respect to the concrete-but-interpretive, grave-but-whimsical, layered-upon-layered-upon-layered narrative of Paranoia Agent. As a series that originated from a series of unused ideas too short to be adapted into films, it's an incredible achievement that Kon is able to work the seemingly-episodic narrative together into a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. Not only this, but such that there's an awesome amount of depth to the delivery such that--on an anecdotal note--I pick up on something new each and every time I re-watch the series, like the significance of the title Happy Family Planning being placed as a brand on a package of condoms as an allegory for the plight of that episode's trio, or the subtle foreshadowing of Tsukiko's secret as early as the first episode.

  A good writer knows how to make his plot, setting, and circumstance work for him, and Satoshi Kon does this in spades. As the mysterious Lil' Slugger/Shonen Bat begins to feed on the rumors and paranoia of the cityfolk, suddenly all of their seemingly-disconnected experiences, and even a series of completely fabricated tales of the inline menace, begin to show great significance. Paranoia Agent illustrates flawlessly how even the smallest choices in life are still choices, and choices have consequences. The contribution of humans, as individuals, to a far greater whole affects all of us in ways we rarely think about, and (this is especially apparent in the introductory montage of various people avoiding their responsibilities) we are all individually responsible for the whole that results from our contribution. The series is an anthole: The further down you dig, the more intricacies you find, and the more complex you learn the whole to be.

  Animation: True to Satoshi Kon's style, the visual production values on the series are extremely high for its era, and remain well above average today. A generally very realistic, true-to-life art style beautifully animated to mimic the human form, Paranoia Agent is symbolic of what has always been to me the selling point of animation: the ability to portray any world you want to, even the real world, without being limited by the confines of real world physics. Satoshi Kon is historically a master of this, as he employs some incredibly creative and experimental animation and composition techniques that have influenced the entire film industry, taking place in a very realistic animated world not unlike our own, but injected with just a little bit of the supernatural. Movement is fluid and seamless, and the characters all breathe personality without having to be identified by wacky getups.

  Sound: As may or may not be common knowledge, I've always been partial to dubs. And like anyone who was introduced to the series through [adult swim], the dub was the first version I saw. My immense respect for the series extended to the dub until my last watchthrough, where I took a step back and realized that the dub is very mixed in terms of talent. The veterans like Michael McConnohie, Michelle Ruff, and Liam O'Brien all bring it home beautifully with stellar performances on all fronts, but much of the show's other talent, and especially the newer folks, leaves much to be desired. There's a big difference in quality between main characters and bit characters, whose voice lines are at times abysmally performed. And of course, because Satoshi Kon's work is so thorough with its animation, going beyond the typical anime technique of nondescript three-frame mouth flaps, the detailed lip movements conflict with the English dialogue at times, creating a Gojira effect. The subbed version is, of course, absent all these issues. There are still some terrific deliveries from McConnohie and O'Brien in the dub, though, so go with your preference.

  The music comes from Kon's standby composer, Susumu Hirasawa, and while not the best listening music (I own the soundtrack), fits the show to a T. From the wonky brass to the abstract synth, the strange and unsettling nature of the show's events is captured flawlessly, and with plenty of theme variation, as well. Speaking of, the somewhat infamous theme song is a disturbing earworm if ever one existed, with an opening sequence to match.

  ...

  Satoshi Kon is a legend among anime directors for a reason, right alongside the likes of Hayao Miyazaki and Katsuhiro Otomo. Paranoia Agent is a triumph of animation celebrating all that he represented in his work, and this 13-episode series is required watching for anyone claiming to be an anime connoisseur. It's a psychological thriller like you've never seen before.

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• 

  Lokyaziis

  100/100
  Without a doubt, this is Satoshi Kon's best work!! (French Review)

  Comment décrire cette oeuvre d'art remarquable de Satoshi Kon ?! Paranoïa Agent est une série qui mêle harmonieusement beauté formelle, richesse thématique et complexité narrative pour donner forme à une œuvre entrant aussi bien en résonance avec l’intellect que les émotions!
  Souvent classé en simple thriller policier, nous avons clairement affaire ici à un thriller psychologique ou ce multiplie les signes de démence dans un Tokyo à la raison vacillante, et qui vit sous le marasme d’une population étranglée par le stress d'une existence dévouée à un travail acharné, et qui va alors basculer dans la paranoïa la plus destructrice apparaissant sous forme d’un "garçon à la batte" !

  Paranoïa Agent c'est l'histoire du bruit qui court et qui enfle :

  _"Sagi Tsukiko, dessinatrice et designer de l'illustre Maromi, petite peluche Kawaii au succès important, doit se renouveler. Elle doit trouver fissa une nouvelle idée pour remplir à nouveau les poches de ses patrons. Et, alors que la pression augmente sur ses fines épaules de petite japonaise, un soir, elle se fait agresser par un étrange garçon avec des patins à roulettes et une batte de base-ball tordue en or !"_

  Fascinante et dotée d'un humour étrange, la construction de cet anime semble être complètement décousue, elle semble partir dans toutes les directions, avec un schéma narratif focalisé sur un personnage par épisode. Mais progressivement ce dévoile une maîtrise dans le scénario, qui inévitablement lie ses personnages et rend le tout d'une cohérence presque cruelle.
  Parce qu'entre l'humour acéré et décalé de l'anime, il faut bien comprendre que rien n'est réellement drôle ici bas !
  Les personnages se succèdent et ont tous l'air particulièrement gratiné... La force du récit est alors de ne jamais se fondre dans un jugement. Personne ne vous fera la morale, c'est l'aspect le plus intéressant de l'esprit qui traverse toute l'œuvre : le délire n'est pas gratuit, il est là pour disséquer le plus précisément possible la peur, l'obsession, les phobies qui habitent la société japonaise très sclérosée. Et où être victime d’une agression semble désormais le seul moyen d’échapper à la pression sociale, professionnelle ou morale.

  L’enjeu principal est de faire prendre conscience à ses personnages de la nécessité d’affronter ses problèmes, ses difficultés, autrement dit de prendre ses responsabilités, si l’on veut recouvrer l’intégrité d’une psyché alors divisée par une perpétuelle fuite en avant.
  Cette dichotomie se retrouve vraiment à tous les niveaux de Paranoïa Agent et cela commence par les génériques ouvrant et concluant chaque épisode, offrant un fabuleux contraste avec d’une part une entrée en matière tonitruante et liée à la figure du garçon à la batte venant clore cette introduction en assénant un grand coup de batte en direction de la caméra et d’autre part un générique final où retentit cette musique si douce ressemblant à une berceuse sur laquelle défile les images des corps endormis des personnages. Ces corps formant un énigmatique point d’interrogation autour de l'apaisante Maromi.

  Enfin, et comme une cerise sur un déjà plutôt bon gâteau, le tout fleure bon l'esprit Dickens mâchonné, digéré et restitué sans lourdeur ni emprunt trop facile. On sent le Phil Dick de la grande époque, la peur de la réalité, la fuite vers l'imaginaire, la perte progressive des repères et la petite force revendicatrice qui s'ignore peut-être.
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• 

  Lenlo

  67/100
  As flawed as it is, Paranoia Agent is the closest to Lovecraftian horror you will find short of Junji Ito.

  

  In an era of the mundane, where every series is the same moe blob, the weird sticks out. Even the most mediocre series can get attention just by being weird. Paranoia Agent is not mediocre, and it is far beyond simply "weird". Written and Directed by Satoshi Kon, Paranoia Agent is one of his last works before his untimely death. With only Paprika and Good Morning coming after it. Known for a radical style and a penchant for the odd, Satoshi Kon was an extraordinary director, unique to any other. Paranoia Agent lives up to this reputation, being unlike any other series I have ever seen. Its horror is Lovecraftian, its style chilling though as interesting as it is, this isn't always in it's favor. For the most part, the series is a joy, but when you try something new, it doesn't all stick.

  Welcome to Paranoia Agent, one of the hardest reviews I have ever written. I am still not quite happy with it, but let's jump in!

  Quick Warning: This review contains spoilers for Paranoia Agent! If you have not seen the full series, turn back now. You can find individual episode write ups on my home blog here

  

  Art/Animation

  Starting off, let's talk production. Paranoia Agent is incredibly inconsistent on this front. Sometimes you will get an episode with fantastic, fluid animation in Kon's style. Very fluid faces and muscles, where the cheeks, tongue and chin all move and the skin stretches as they do. It's a style I love, and it looks fantastic when it's shown. There are also the occasional experimental animation, where they go off the book and do something... weird. However other times there is barely any movement at all. Lots of stills, pans and zooms. The direction, which we will get to soon, usually makes these visually interesting. But when talking animation, a still is a still. On their own, for its age, this wouldn't be a big deal. It's only in comparison to the high's that these start to disappoint.

  As far as Art Style goes, I mentioned it a bit just now, but Kon has a very distinctive style. You could recognize it purely based on his characters faces in any of his works. If I had to pick out why, it would probably be the mouth, and the focus he puts on it. The shadows of the lower lip, the cheekbones and jaw. It's all very distinctive, and since I watch Tokyo Godfathers almost yearly at this point, I find it easy to identify. Outside the characters however Paranoia Agent is very... not generic, but metropolitan. It most likely used a lot of actual streets, buildings and angels as references for its backgrounds. It's all generally rather bland. This only changes when Paranoia Agent goes off the rails, completely inventing its own environments, where the style changes completely. These are always a treat, standing out in the episode.

  

  Direction

  Personally, I find Paranoia Agent's direction to be much stronger and augments its animation well. Kon goes for a lot of interesting or informative angles. Telling the viewer how to feel based on these angles. One might call this, "good film making". For instance, take the screenshot above. The downward angle and direction of the eyes conveys a very oppressive atmosphere. Making it appear these balloons are watching you, marking your every move. These kinds of tricks are found throughout Paranoia Agent. Informing the viewer how to feel about scenes long before any dialogue. It manages to make what would otherwise be a dull, still shot, captivating, at least until it needs to change scenes. All in all, I found the Direction and Cinematography to be the most interesting part of Paranoia Agent's production, as it has a distinctly Kon flavor.

  

  Story/Setting

  Now though, let's get into perhaps Paranoia Agent's most ambitious segment, its Story and Setting. The setting is, for the most part, just Tokyo. A large, metropolitan city with plenty of conveniences and people. The story though is... its weird. It is simultaneously the best Eldritch Horror, most inane mystery and expert social commentary I have ever seen. It starts off telling a singular story, slowly splitting off to multiple characters that tie into the lead story. Then it splits of completely separately, before somehow wrapping it all up in a single episode, retroactively granting context to many of the more questionable episodes. Even now, I have yet to decide whether or not that was intended, or if its complete bullshit. But what I can say is this: I have never been more confused, yet wholly satisfied, than when Paranoia Agent's credits roll.

  For the actual story content itself, and why I was satisfied, I felt Kon presented it well. Each of Paranoia Agent's characters hits on another aspect of society, effectively taking pot-shots on it. Whether it be gossiping moms, machismo in Japanese society, the stress of a workaholic culture or the power of rumors, Kon hits it all. All the while using it to build a greater narrative about accepting one's own mistakes, the suddenness of life, and moving on. Using Shounen Bat to turn all of our characters into victims, so their problems are no longer their fault. The only major issue I have with Paranoia Agent is the effective filler episodes. After the fact, they fit a little better. But in the moment, they don't really fit the narrative leading up to that point. They feel out of place, and really drain away the stories momentum.

  

  Characters

  Speaking of the characters, Paranoia Agent is rather hit or miss here. In the first half, many of them are well established. They get entire episodes dedicated to them. Only connecting them to the greater story as a whole by the end. Each of them then return in future episodes, to sort of check in on where they are. To make it known that their stories are still ongoing. However, in the latter half its almost as if Paranoia Agent wasn't meant to be 13 episodes long. As there are 2 episodes worth of characters that aren't really relevant to the overall story. Such as the ghosts, who exist almost solely to comment on society's treatment of children or Homosexuals. I think these stories are worth appearing the Paranoia Agent, but not in this very fillery way.

  

  Weirdness 

  Finally, I want to talk about the sheer... weirdness, of Paranoia Agent, as this is where it excels. More than any other series, Paranoia Agent is unique. Unlike anime I have ever watched before. Its story is cyclical, without being a complete loop. Pushing the nature of the world as one that inevitably repeats, what its events have happened even before now. That humanity needs a continuous reminder as to its own screw-ups. Yet, it doesn't feel cheap or unearned. It progresses each character through the story such that their ending fills the hole left by another. On top of that, it also doesn't pop this out of nowhere. Paranoia Agent has suffused Eldritch Horror into its story from the very beginning. With an unknowable, unstoppable, inhuman monster beyond human comprehension. Basically, Paranoia Agent is the closest thing to a Lovecraftian anime I have ever seen.

  The only other place I have seen this from Japan come from Junji Ito. With his works such as "Spiral" and "The Enigma of Amigara Fault". It's something that, even if it can't happen, resonates with the very core of what it means to be human. Junji Ito does that with the unknown, and human curiosity. Our inability to stop ourselves when confronted with terrible knowledge. Paranoia Agent does it here with our refusal to accept reality, to fool ourselves into believing our own lies. Creating gods and monsters where there are none, and having them strike at us just so our faults can be blamed on them. If nothing else, I think this makes Paranoia Agent worth the watch.

  

  Conclusion

  So, all in all, how was Paranoia Agent? In my mind, it is a flawed masterpiece. A one of a kind series that, for all its faults, is wholly unique in anime. Is it objectively the best thing ever because of this uniqueness? No, it has plenty of flaws and for those who aren't into Lovecraftian Horror, I imagine it would be very boring. But for those like me, who love that kind of stuff, the flaws are easily looked past for the themes and style of the series. Yet even then, as much as I love Kon, I can't just waive away its problems. The series drags heavily in the middle, the production varies greatly and it just feels stretched thin for a 13 episode run. I feel that, had Kon made this a movie like his other works, it would have been better served.

  But hey, it's not his fault. Shounen Bat probably wrecked his production team is all.

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