Genre: Psychological, Satire, Mystery.
Status: Complete
No. of Episodes: 13
Prequel/Sequel: None
Director: Satoshi Kon
Characters (10/10) :
Main element of any typical series is the story and how expertly it is told, but Paranoia Agent not being one of those typical series, was character centric rather than story centric. And that's why maybe, it was a notch above other series, as the story was made so that it can revolve around the characters and provide a satirical view on society, and boy was it carried out well. Each and every character had different and interesting personalities given to them, each of them were given proper time in screen and space in script so that they can develop well, and most importantly the characters were realistic, and believable, everyday life characters and IMO here is where Kon sensei excelled and made this anime legendary. Many a times series have very 'hi-fi' and cool characters which one can find impossible to relate with, many a times a series make characters so simple that they look shallow, the amazing depth of human mind is often sacrificed for panty shots, mindless comedy and hopeless fighting, but it's a Satoshi Kon anime, if he makes one, he nails it, and that's what he did with each and every character of the series, as they were simple, someone we can relate with, yet so different, complex and distant.
Story (9.5/10) :
As mentioned before, this series is a heavily character centric one, but this doesn't make the story of the anime a liability. No, no, no...the script is tightly and well written indeed with the sole purpose of giving you a mindfuck. But it isn't all serious, at least not all the time, induced with satire and comedy in the right places and the right time makes the story a treat to follow, specially the conclusion which neither gives you a clear cut answer nor does it left you confused, it sorts of weaves a path for you to find out answer thyself if you do a little thinking (at least it was for me ._.) . And combine that with Kon's amazing storytelling abilities and voilà you got a masterpiece. :D
Other Aspects (9/10):
The voice actors, BGM and OST are carefully chosen and wonderfully executed, specially the voice acting of the old man stands out.
The character anatomy is a job well done, as it is filled with well bodied characters and some comic ones, which some might find strange. But I think it was the part of the satirical theme of the anime.
As for animation, madhouse nails it again, will not go much into this since I am new to animated series, but at times object looked very realistic and the change of scenes was very lucid which added to the storytelling.
So all in all Paranoia Agent is a great and must watch for all psychological genre fans out there...
