Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36417 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-10-09
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: Japanese, English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 325 minutes

Synopsis
A psychological thriller that strives for social commentary, PARANOIA AGENT is an anime series from director Satoshi Kon (PERFECT BLUE, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS). Kon makes the leap to the small screen with the same fluid professional images and mature plotline and themes that mark his films. Utilizing an episodic structure, PARANOIA AGENT focuses on the attacks made by the serial assaulter Shounen Bat, a mysterious adolescent who beats random victims with a baseball bat and quickly rollerskates away. As the detectives charged with investigating the Shounen Bat assaults find only confusion, the city itself threatens to explode with pent up rage, frustration, and paranoia. This release contains all 13 episodes of the enigmatic and dark series, in four volumes.

Customer Reviews

Beautiful, intelligent, surrealist masterpiece!
I have just finished watching this series over three nights and am stunned at the reviewer who gave it only one star - he seems to have failed to understand the genre in every way. This is simply the most beautiful and glorious anime series that I've seen to date. To give you some idea of what to expect, this is a surrealist psycho-thriller. The surrealism is limited in the first volume but increases as the series progresses and should not be read literally. The series quickly becomes a dark satyr on the human condition and modern life, in turns uncomfortable, charming, and funny. Above all, it is thought provoking and stays with you. I should also note that for all the darkness, there seems to me to be a real affection for the human being and even a kind of optimism.

Tokyo has become the haunt of a violent attacker, a child wearing in-line skates and wielding a crooked baseball bat to brutal effect. However, as the two police detectives investigate, they are forced to question the nature of the assailant: is he real or the creation of his victim's imagination? The first episodes focus on the stories of the early victims who are all somehow connected. Then we see episodes that show how the urban legend has gained momentum and a life of its own in the city, affecting disparate lives in indirect ways. The last three episodes reveal the nature of the attacker, tell us the origins, and provide a surreal - though coherent - resolution to the story.
The animation is top-notch, the music is perfect and the character design gives the character real character. This is nothing short of a masterpiece!

A Poor Series
This is one of the worse anime series I've seen in recent years. Having watched Japanese films\manga for the last 40 years, I cannot remember seeing anything as disappointing as Paranoia Agent. I really struggled to get myself to watch the whole series, I must have skipped a couple of episodes as nothing seemed to be happening. When I got to the end, I thought it's a complete joke. As my wife puts it: most of the characters are quite ugly, the story line is rubbish, lots of people die at the end for some completely stupid reason. The 1 star is for the decent animation.
My advice is don't waste your money, spend it on your partner will reap better reward.

Addictive watching
I have seen most of the series now and they are brilliant, i'm not so worried about the cut on this DVD, it's nice to know about, but it wouldn't deter me from buying this box set. (Like the other reviewer said - Check youtube ).