Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 13 The Final Episode Grade: A Little lies grow into big lies. Viral things spread. Madness spreads. Released in the era of the flip phone, Paranoia Agents continues to have trenchant things to say about … Continue reading “The Final Episode” Paranoia Agent S1E13

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 12 Radar Man Grade: B ‘Paranoia nurtures him.’ Ex-detective Maniwa, using terminology and iconography from Makoto’s fantasy world, fights a desperate loosing battle against a demon Lil’ Slugger, and retreats to seek guidance from the … Continue reading “Radar Man” Paranoia Agent S1E12

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 10 No Entry Grade: D- On a TV interview to promote the new Maromi anime, Tsukiko praises the increasing popularity of Maromi and hopes that she’ll spread her ‘peace’ to many more people. In tandem … Continue reading “No Entry” Paranoia Agent S1E11

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 10 Mello Maromi Grade: B Back at Tsukiko’s office, work is progressing on an anime based off of the popular character she created- Maromi. The anime follows a baseball player who isn’t good at the … Continue reading “Mellow Maromi” Paranoia Agent S1E10

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 9 ETC Grade: C+ Just as the last episode ditched Koyto to show the Lil’ Slugger phenomenon’s geographic reach, ‘ETC’ shows the exponential growth in the number of his attacks in the form of an … Continue reading “ETC” Paranoia Agent S1E9

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 8 Happy Family Planning Grade: A Trigger Warning- Episode deals directly with suicide. Episode 8 announces itself as the second half- almost a separate season of the show- with a terrifying farce far away from Tokyo … Continue reading “Happy Family Planning” Paranoia Agent S1E8

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 7 MHz Grade: A- Someone, in a computer terminal-lit room, is listening to MHz signals (well, someone had better be connecting the dots, because the series has been getting increasingly metaphysical of late). Makoto cuts … Continue reading “MHz” Paranoia Agent S1E7

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 6 Fear of a Direct Hit Grade: A Detective Ikari is starting to his cool, constantly on the verge of starting smoking again (something related, by the transitive properties of the show’s metaphor to him losing … Continue reading “Fear of a Direct Hit” Paranoia Agent S1E6

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 5 The Holy Warrior Grade: A- The show’s rotating narrative focus finally turns its attention to the source of all the attacks linking the main characters to day, and it’s nothing like what the viewer … Continue reading “Holy Warrior” Paranoia Agent S1E5

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 4 A Man’s Path Grade: A Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault The dark sarcasm drips off the title of Episode 4. There’s no letup in the increasingly dark themes of the previous episode as the show continues … Continue reading “A Man’s Path” Paranoia Agent S1E4

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 3 Double Lips Grade: A- Episode 3 pulls no punches. The cold open of Maria’s housecall and its immediate aftermath serves to immediately bleed the romanticism out of Maria’s life as an escort. Or, rather, … Continue reading “Double Lips” Paranoia Agent S1E3

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 2 The Golden Shoes Grade: B+ Of course Icchi did it. If Lil’ Slugger is real, Icchi fits the bill. He’s got the skates, he’s got the hat, he’s got the egomania, and the secret … Continue reading “The Golden Shoes” Paranoia Agent S1E2

Paranoia Agent, Season 1 Episode 1 Enter Lil’ Slugger Grade: B- Straight from the opening credits, with its montage of nuclear war superimposed by images of its main characters in hysterical laughter while a giddy theme song plays, Paranoia Agent … Continue reading “Enter Lil’ Slugger” Paranoia Agent S1E1