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This Week in Anime - Why is Paranoia Agent Such a Big Deal?

It's weird to think about this show as a "gateway anime", but every single person I've ever met who only liked "anime that doesn't feel like anime" (whatever that means) has absolutely adored both Serial Experiments Lain and Paranoia Agent, so maybe?

My memories for better or for worse are not of the show. They’re of the former Adult Swim Action block trying to make the show a big deal, to show them as an artistic bastion for anime they viewed as worth merit (to the point this show was dead last in a poll of shows they were interested in, but they aired it anyway) that they were the tastemakers because streaming hadn’t become a major thing yet.

It was a disaster ratings wise, one their bumps publicly complained about. That they were dealing with ignorant weebs who didn’t appreciate this great favor that was being done for them, and that they would respond by adding in more comedy shows and less anime because comedy got the ratings, not the anime they wanted to air.

I think this is why streaming services piss Toonami executives off so much. Because that meant they couldn’t shove Paranoia Agent and Moribito down throats like an angry parent trying to get a kid to eat vegetables.

So that’s my memory of Paranoia Agent. Not a look at that sort of overly saccharine culture and emotional stunting, not the legacy of Satoshi Kon, but Adult Swim trying to establish the tastes of the audience and getting told that stuff was boring.

Not that they weren't also problems in 2004, but there's a lot more anime being made now than there was 15 years ago,

My memories for better or for worse are not of the show. They’re of the former Adult Swim Action block trying to make the show a big deal, to show them as an artistic bastion for anime they viewed as worth merit (to the point this show was dead last in a poll of shows they were interested in, but they aired it anyway) that they were the tastemakers because streaming hadn’t become a major thing yet.

It was a disaster ratings wise, one their bumps publicly complained about. That they were dealing with ignorant weebs who didn’t appreciate this great favor that was being done for them, and that they would respond by adding in more comedy shows and less anime because comedy got the ratings, not the anime they wanted to air.

I think this is why streaming services piss Toonami executives off so much. Because that meant they couldn’t shove Paranoia Agent and Moribito down throats like an angry parent trying to get a kid to eat vegetables.

So that’s my memory of Paranoia Agent. Not a look at that sort of overly saccharine culture and emotional stunting, not the legacy of Satoshi Kon, but Adult Swim trying to establish the tastes of the audience and getting told that stuff was boring.

[Please learn to enjoy things besides internet drama

I think this is why streaming services piss Toonami executives off so much. Because that meant they couldn’t shove Paranoia Agent and Moribito down throats like an angry parent trying to get a kid to eat vegetables.