I began watching Paranoia Agent when it premiered on Adult Swim late night a couple of months ago. Needless to say, this show has freaky moments and it will leave you questioning the sanity of the characters, as well as your own.
The story begins with a doll maker named Tsukiko, who constantly feels pressure at her work place from her boss, her fellow co-workers, everyone. Then one night, Tsukiko is attacked by an evil-grinning kid with gold Rollerblades and a baseball bat. Tsukiko wakes up in a hospital and it seems the attack has changed her. But did it change her for better or for worse? As two Japanese detectives are brought in on the case, they discover a rash of other assaults from various other people who range from a snobbish elementary school kid, a nosy tabloid reporter, a crooked cop, a teacher with a double identity disorder and so on. Besides almost suffering from nervous breakdowns and strings of paranoia, they all have one other thing in common: their assailant is the same person who attacked Tsukiko, Lil' Slugger, the kid with golden Rollerblades and a golden bat. At first, the two detectives can't find any connection to the attacks, but as they dwell a little deeper, one of the cops starts to see a pattern of behavior between the victims and their assailant. As more and more clues start piling up, the cops begin to realize that the suspect could be anyone and it can be no one. The suspect is right in front of them or he could be somewhere down the street.
At first, I thought this show would be a waste of time, but I was wrong. It had me on the edge of my seat as I wondered who Lil' Slugger was and why he has a tendency to clonk people on the heads who are mentally and emotionally depressed. It seems that no matter how hard I tried to figure it out, I just couldn't get a possible answer behind the mystery of the show. Kind of like a detective trying to solve a murder. Paranoia Agent is more like a Japanese version of the Twilight Zone, where nothing is what it seems. This show is not to be missed and it will definitely have you on the edge of your seat, from start to finish. But remember, before you pop this movie into your DVD player, check your sanity at the door. The person that you would least likely expect to be the culprit is possibly the one you should be watching out for.
