“A startlingly honest look into Japanese society through the intriguing story of brutal street assailant Shounen Bat”
If on first viewing one were to look for a purely psychological or detective reading of Paranoia Agent, they would find little to offer. Though Paranoia Agent is marketed, categorized as and presented in a way that would suggest the psychological, in my mind, this is far from the case. Instead I would argue unless you view it as the confused patch worked hybrid it is, you will never get a fulfilling interpretation. This writing will explain the importance of Paranoia Agent to today’s modern society and how this anime links to the harsh reality many of us face every day.
Paranoia Agent does not this present a dystopia in any episode, despite the way you may convince yourself that is does, instead it presents little more than harsh social realities. During ‘The Golden Shoes’ Case #2 Ichi becomes the victim of bullying, a social issue prevalent across the globe. The episode presents a brutally honest and psychologically heavy depiction of bullying as well as introducing the dangerous psychological concept of scapegoating, through Ichi’s willingness to blame his bullying on “fat ugly pig” child Ushiyama. This may seem at first to be unnecessarily cruel and sharp but this episode is merely a presentation of human nature at its ugliest and most primal form and an exploration of ones dream towards a better life.
The most startling aspect of Paranoia Agent, however, is its presentation of Japan. Throughout the series Japanese society comes under heavy criticism. The nation’s heavy consumerist nature comes under fire in the form of people’s intense obsession for Kawaii product ‘Maromi’, which leads to in store looting and riots. A partially satirical presentation yet one that is still critical of Kawaii and consumerist culture. Japan’s obsession with technology also comes under fire, something which is similarly made an object to satire. This satire comes from a Shounen Bat copycat who claims he was ‘saving humanity from the evil Gooma' and in one comic moment before his untimely suicide, declares himself to be “THE SACRED WARRIOR!!!” In reality he is little more than another delusional youth who are presented as violent and astray, unfortunate victims of an inhuman, technological society, with one stating “I would like to beat [Shounen Bat] myself!”
Where many animes shy away from presenting a brutally honest depiction of Japan,Satoshi Kon through his numerous works explored Japan’s history and culture with a sense of rare honesty. In ‘Millenium Actress’ he explores ,through the use of flawed romance, the reality behind POW camps in what would otherwise a light family friendly movie. In rich psychological thriller ‘Perfect Blue’ he explores the pressures J Pop stars face and the unhealthy obsession people have over idol culture. This is achieved through obsessed fan ‘Me Mania’ and his creation: the obtrusive site ‘Mima’s Room’.
The themes are not limited to Japan, cyber bullying is targeted as harmful and dangerous, the presentation of working life as an endless struggle to meet deadlines, more the case in Japan due to the intensive working hours, yet western audiences could well see relevance in their own lives. These themes leads to each victim’s desire for escapism, something greatly sought after in Japanese society. This escape comes in the form of the mysterious assailant, Shounen Bat.
Their troubles are all solved by Shounen Bat, work related stress, traumatic family memories, bullying and mental illness are all relieved through him, as he provides the victims of a technologically obsessed nation with an escape, and provides them to a happier state of being.
This depiction of modern society would not be complete without Paranoia Agent showing clear links to World War 2, the series links to the past can be deduced from the theme song which joyously proclaims:
“The children are a spectacular mushroom cloud in the sky!”
Throughout Paranoia Agent Kon reveals how the children of today are shaped by the events of yesterday.
PARANOIA AGENT (PART II): Maromi, Suicide, Techniques and Legacy
The Kawaii, a movement of escape, and cute, is explored, famous representatives of Kawaii movement include both ‘Hello Kitty’ and 'Pokemon' [for those wondering what it's about]. Maromi can be said to represent this movement in Paranoia Agent, as both Maromi and Kawaii are shown to have strong effects upon the youth of Japan. Maromi provides an opportunity to escape from the reality of everyday life,as Kawaii does to Japan and indeed the world...
The most disturbing episode presents a darkly comic take on Japan’s suicide culture with 3 suicidal friends reaching the revelation ‘You can’t kill yourself if you are dead inside’. As a nation with a high level of suicide, the rate of which has been increasing since the 90’s, we see 3 friends set off on a darkly comic quest, the objective: to commit suicide. These 3 people represent 3 different generations, 1 being an elderly man (the elderly), 1 being a middle aged adult (the present generation) and one a young child (the future). They arrange a trip to the woods, where they are to attempt a hanging that goes terribly wrong.
This darkly humorous episode is one of many diversions into other genres including documentary, through an exploration about how animes are created, RPG simulation, with crimes appearing in the form of a role playing game and comedy/slice of life, focusing on how the locals react to Shounen Bat through a series of comedic rumours.
Satoshi Kon explores these themes through a number of renowned techniques namely the mixture of the real and surreal (real world vs. fantasy world). Examples include:
- The old magician and copies of the same person vs. mental illness
- Ideal fantasy world vs. reality
- Giant morphing humans vs. reality of bullying
Use of the male gaze
- To reveal Akio Kawazu’s perverted desire for child designer Tsukiko
- To reveal Masami Hirukawa’s exploitation of his daughter Taeko
In many ways Masami Hirukawa typifies Satoshi Kon’s sardonic intention throughout Paranoia Agent. He is a corrupt cop who compares his life to a heroic manga character who saves a princess. Hirukawa, after turning to a life of thievery, interprets the ‘princess’ in his manga as money which he needs in order to pay off criminals he has crossed and eventually build his dream house.
“Paranoia Agent is Satoshi Kon’s most adventurous and creative work, providing a highly cynical yet honest interpretation of modern society that is so rare yet so valuable in the world of anime”
Epilogue (A Tribute)
Satoshi Kon’s only animated series soon proved to be his last. He left behind an incredible array of films, all beautifully shot and animated. Hollywood was left indebted to his works: his masterpiece Paprika spawned Academy Award winning Inception whilst Perfect Blue manifested itself as Oscar nominated film Black Swan. He also left a strong mark closer to home; before his death Kon became a leader of the Japanese Creators Association, a trade union of anime creators designed to help the underpaid and underappreciated gain more rights as well as helping educate desiring animators of the future.
He was an inspiration to many; one of the first animes I saw was the highly imaginative Paprika, which at the time I was fascinated by. As I watched back some years later I found myself in love with its creativity, the way the colourful surrealist parade plays out in dreamtime and how Paprika’s clients’ dreams appear as vibrant and colourful movie sequences.
In ‘Paprika’ and all his work, Satoshi Kon displayed imagination and creativity, the ability to confound, to twist plots on their head, a clear mastery of the art of surrealism, opposition of reality and fantasy, and to perfect shot after shot. All this and more made Satoshi Kon the celebrated anime genius he remains today.
