Forum - View topicThis Week in Anime - Why is Paranoia Agent Such a Big Deal?
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Jefcat
Posts: 107 Location: Palm Desert |
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Satoshi Kon was such a visionary filmmaker—transcending anime. Paranoia Agent is a masterpiece. But then so are Paprika and Millennium Actress. Glad to see Paranoia Agent getting reissued.
Last edited by Jefcat on Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7390 Location: Maine |
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Fantastic TWIA! The day PA went up on Funimation I watched the first half in one sitting and the rest the next day. Been wanting to by the DVDs for years, but the aftermarket prices had been prohibitive for years. Streaming quality is a bit rough so I look forward to seeing what kind of magic they work for the BD release.
One thing I got a kick out of and hadn't noticed back in the day was that the dub is basically a battle between real life best friends Liam O'Brien (Maniwa) and Sam Regal (Slugger). 
Emerje |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6217 Location: Houston, TX |
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Cowboy Bebop was what led to Adult Swim anime. At the time, there was literally nothing on besides Williams Street stuff and Canadian shows. |
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1546 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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Cowboy Bebop led to [adult swim] in general, more importantly. Sean Akins wanted to air it on Cartoon Network but it was way too much for Toonami, and that inspired Williams Street to officially establish the [adult swim] block so they could properly air it. The original stuff just happened to coincide with that objective.
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6208 |
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Which is interesting considering Bebop was aired exclusively on sundays whereas the Saturday Block was all anime (including holdovers from Toonami like the Tenchi OVAs and Outlaw Star......both edited). That aside doesn't really excuse them running the show over and over and over and over over and over and over. This was enough when Toonami did it with the Blue Ocean DBZ dub. Though at least in that case they had an excuse for that. |
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Great viewpoints in this recap! Paranoia agent was definitely one of the most groundbreaking shows for the medium.
To add to the discussion regarding how poorly this show did when it aired on adult swim. I think the biggest challenge this series has is that, in my opinion, it is not easily watched or enjoyed as an episodic show. You really need to follow it closely to become fully emerged in the narrative. Otherwise, you’ll likely miss the details and lose sight of the true plot. It’s really way too complex for most new-ish anime viewers and certainly did not jibe with the other shows that were airing at the time. Happy this was picked up again and eager to add it to my collection. I’ve waited for YEARS! |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1792 Location: South America |
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Kon was a good anime director but he was not as exceptional as English speaking anime fans tend to think he was. He is particularly popular among English speaking anime fans because his particular style resonates with people of British cultural heritage. For my perspective his stuff was good but the hype is much greater than the content, kinda like the anime version of Tarantino. Japanese animation critics also don't think he is comparable to the likes of Hideaki Anno or Isao Takahata. I couldn't finish paranoia agent since I found it to be too boring, his style works better in shorter movies rather than 12 episode TV series.
The expression "transcending anime" is symptomatic of the ethnocentric nature of his popularity: It is as if anime was something homogeneous and mediocre that could be "transcended". |
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El Hermano
 Posts: 450 Location: Texas |
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Certain people seem to have a particular fondness for 'anime that doesn't feel like anime', which I usually interpret as 'Japanese'. Especially in relation to getting their peers or other non-anime fans into anime. When something 'transcends' anime, it means it's something they can show their non-fan friend and it might catch their interest, or simply they wont feel embarrassed by. It's definitely a back-handed compliment towards the medium. |
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Never_Know_Best
Posts: 180 |
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Source? It seems strange to me that they’d pick a non-action series they weren’t super enthusiastic about, even with Gungrave unavailable.. I always assumed they were into Kon, and in a similar situation to the Toonami crew’s re: Yuasa, could only feasibly air one of his works. |
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Takkun4343
Posts: 1546 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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They do like Kon and Paranoia Agent and I imagine that's what inspired them to pick it as one of two potential series to be part of the package deal with Champloo. The message boards poll - which I learned about from a video about [as] anime's downfall, posted around the time of Toonami's first cancellation - was meant to be the deciding factor in whether they picked PA or Gungrave to air alongside Champloo; whichever between the former two got higher on the poll got to be part of the package deal. I forget if Gungrave came in second or won the whole thing, but PA came in below it. The poster of the video claimed that [as] ignoring the more action-focused Gungrave in favor of PA was proof that they didn't care about what their viewers thought, but considering Gungrave aired as part of Anime Unleashed in 2005, it stands to reason that G4/TechTV (I forget which one AU was on back then) grabbed the broadcast rights up while [as] had their back turned; something they had problems with a lot back then, if their statement that they wanted Samurai 7 in 2006 but got outbid by IFC was any indication. Hence, they had no choice but to pick PA as part of the package deal, the lesser choice as far as potential ratings went, but a worthy one overall. |
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Alestal
Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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That is so true. Great explanation! |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2266 |
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While there’s certainly something to be said about less “Japanese-feeling” anime appealing to non-anime fans, most people who use that term don’t seem to mean it in a back-handed way. Rather, I find the kind of anime they mean (Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, Monster, etc.) feel more inclusive to first-timers, in that they’re usually devoid of anime’s more problematic elements that us veterans are just accustomed to: playing up exaggerated physical violence as comedy, groping, panty shots, lolis/shotas, etc. Much as Japan and its culture are integral to anime as a medium (heck, Paranoia Agent is all about Japan’s societal ills), there are definitely elements of it that don’t jive well with newcomers for very valid reasons. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4738 |
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Or--and I know this is a crazy thought--the phrase means that something rises above the lowest-common-denominator mass-market entertainment and/or otaku-targeted fetish-pandering that represents the vast majority of the industry's output, and instead represents a creative vision trying to accomplish something noteworthy or remarkable. Kon was an auteur in every sense of the word, and he did things with the medium of animation that no one else, no matter their nationality, was capable of pulling off: stunningly imaginative visual storytelling, coupled with sharp, thought-provoking writing that frequently served as incisive social commentary. That's why his works are held in such high esteem, and that's why his untimely passing is seen as such a tragic loss. |
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