Paranoia Agent - True Believers (Vol. 2) |  | Artist: Artist Not Provided
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Category: DVD
Buy New: $30.38
as of 7/30/2010 15:23 CDT details
New (4) Used (11) from $17.99
Seller: Denver Books and Gifts
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 65775
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Running Time: 75 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 013023237896
EAN: 0013023237896
ASIN: B000641Z4K
Release Date: January 11, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
As Satoshi Kon's 2004 broadcast series continues, it grows darker, more unsettling, and even more intriguing. Each scene raises more questions than it answers. Is junior high school student Makoto Kozuka the assailant known as Lil' Slugger, as police detectives Keiichi Ikari and Mitsuhiro Maniwa believe? Or is he a "two-bit copycat" who may become a victim himself? What links exist between Kozuka's fantasies of "The Holy Warrior" and the attacks occurring in Tokyo? Why were all the victims people under stress, who believed they'd been driven into corners? Kon keeps the audience in a perpetually shifting limbo, undercutting assumptions and calling what seemed to the facts of the story into question. Paranoia Agent will frustrate viewers who expect a straightforward narrative that fits conventional anime patterns. But it stands out as a fascinating, disturbing, and highly original work by a talented director at the top of his game. (Rated 16 and older: violence, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
Description
The detectives interrogate the boy arrested for the Lil' Slugger attacks, he claims to be a "Holy Warrior" who has only begun to help those waiting to be saved. However, he also only claims two of the five attacks! Just as the detectives begin to find witnesses and think they are uncovering the truth, a rash of attacks fuel the hysteria- especially the two inside the police station! As the police begin to doubt their own beliefs, even suicidal citizens begin to believe a golden bat can solve their problems.
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| Customer Reviews:
Heady, creepy, and darkly satirical masterpiece. March 11, 2005
The Mark Inside
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
DON'T LOOK AT THE BACK COVER IF YOU BUY/RENT THIS VOLUME. IT GIVES THE ENDING AWAY. The Shonen Bat that was arrested might be an imposter, but either way he's one hell of a nutcase. In the hilarious first episode we see what this Shonen Bat thinks. He thinks he's out on a mission from a video game to rid the world of evil, and the two detectives get sucked right into this bizarre video game world (it's a strange retake/farce of Kon's earlier film "Millennium Actress"). The second episode is a highly disturbing drama about sexual obsession that you knew was coming if you listened closely during the fourth episode, but still really manages to floor you. The third episode gets us closer to solving the mystery... only to slam us in the end with an even bigger mystery. This one also delves deeper into the minds of the characters, which serves to throw you off and make you think, "Wait, is this a dream or is this really happening?" The final episode on this volume marks a turning point, both for the series itself, and for the opinion of the people who watch it: Either you're going to like where the show is going or you'll be scratching your head. Even with the latter opinion, you're still in for an interesting experimental episode. Obviously, this show isn't meant for people used to more mainstream shows and films, but for those of us weirdos out there, it hits every mark. Watch with an open mind, and make sure you've seen "THX 1138" before you see it.
Twisted as heck, Scary as hell March 10, 2005
S. J. Murdoch (Seattle WA, USA)
Let me tell you a story.I was at Scarecrow video store one day in the anime section,wondering what to get. Nothing i had heard of was released yet so i wasnt sure of anything. One of the employees said, "Check out paranoia agent, its great," so i did. I watched the 1st disk and realy thought it was impressive. It was like a real movie. When the second one was released, i expected the same good thing. What i got, blew my mind. THIS IS ONE OF IF NOT THE BEST ANIME SERIES OF ALL TIME. Paranoia agent volume 2 creeped me out. Not just that it blew my mind. This disk beats the first in a way unthinkable. Satoshi kon has created a twisted, unsettling, and epic masterpiece. See the first disk first
Great jam packed installment! June 14, 2006
Eugene
The first DVD of Paranoia Agent spent it's time introducing you to Little Slugger and the premise of the show. At this point Little Slugger has racked up approximately 6 victims only to be unceremoniously captured at the end of the last DVD. This installment opens up with the two detectives, Maniwa and Ikari, questioning Little Slugger in the flesh. His testimony depicts his actions as a heroic, saving the characters from there problems in the style of a fantasy video game. Progressively his story becomes more confusing, as Ikari starts getting impatient and starts taking out his aggressions on Little Slugger, who proves to be a confused 8th grader who is being slowly backed into a corner...and we know what typically happens after that!
This time only a chunk of this set's 3 episodes are spent once again peeking into the lives of various characters in Tokyo while the rest of the time is spent dealing with the newly captured Little Slugger and adding further wonder into the Little Slugger case. While the first volume spent most of it's time convincing you that Little Slugger is a flesh and blood attacker these episodes aim to dispell that as the events unravel as more characters are backed into an emotional corner and characters from the first episodes are re-visited.
The ending of this DVD is a perfect stopping point and will leave you throughly confused as the Detectives quest continues and begins to cost one his very sanity. The plots various threads move swiftly and towards the end, you'll wonder how it can keep up it's break neck speed but let me assure you, it'll keep going.
Once again, the quality of these episodes is undisputed, the animation department has had some line up changes but none significantly noticeable here. The right amount of drawing ammo has spent in the right places resulting in a overall clean OVA quality look while a noticeably gloomy atmosphere perpetuates the events. Once again Satoshi Kon proves it takes more than violence, sex and blood to make a show mature but they help.
Opening Credits Do It All August 23, 2005
C. Chow (Leesburg VA)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
`Paranoia Agent' defies most of conventional anime. No giant robots, big guns, or girls with blue hair. It takes place in present day Tokyo and revolves around the lives of everyday workers. It is also unique for being an anthology.
`Paranoia Agent' is not based around the conflict of heroes and villains. It depends mostly on style. The opening credits are arguably the most memorable in anime history. We see our many characters standing in the midst of a disaster, flood, fire, earthquake, nuclear bombing. However they are all laughing uncontrollably in an insane manner, as to make us think that these characters may have come to except the horror of their lives.
The plot: Unlike most anime series `Paranoia Agent' is an anthology, each episode seems to exist on its own, in that we are introduced to new characters whose stories begin and end with that episode, an anthology. The stories are all related in the sense that each of our characters lives in modern day Tokyo and is having trouble in life, generally work related. They all end up being attacked by boy in roller blades, Little Slugger.
The stories are very entertaining in a dark comedy way, from a sleazy reporter who owes money to the mob, a school girl by day and prostitute by night, an anime production team that's behind schedule, friends that keep failing in their many attempts to commit suicide. Little Slugger attacks them all.
As the show progresses, so does Little Slugger. It becomes quite obvious that he is super natural. It also becomes quite obvious that `Paranoia Agent' has absolutely no intention of wrapping things up or ever explaining the truth about Little Slugger or any of the bizarre events. And it doesn't.
I couldn't see this series going on any longer and it's nice they ended it after 13 episodes allowing us to remember it fondly.
`Paranoia Agent' works mostly because of its style. The animation and directing are great. It also works because of its very entertaining stories, as short as they might be.
 Kon continues mind-bending goodness January 23, 2005
Terry Dawson (Appleton, WI USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The second volume of this four-volume series picks up where the first one left off. Writer-director Satoshi Kon is making this series a tour de force, as the three episodes on this disk introduce new characters, shed new light on previous characters and generally make the story more of a rich tapestry. There are a lot of threads in the fabric Kon is weaving: it's hard to tell where they're all coming from or where they're going, but some parts of the larger picture are beginning to emerge.
The first episode here is just fun, as the story seems to turn into a completely different type of anime, at least in the minds of a character or two. Here, as in his films Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress, Kon's storytelling consistently highlights differences of various subjective realities, as versions of truth are examined and re-examined from different characters' viewpoints.
Kon's strong writing and directing are complemented beautifully by well-done character design, strong understated animation and sound. This disk contains little in the way of extras, only textless opening and closings. It's hard to tell where Kon is going, but it's a fascinating ride.
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