Paranoia Agent5dvddub,sub
Volume 1
Enter Lil' Slugger
para_agent"When the darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears..."
After the first victim's story, the police felt the overly stressed woman was having a breakdown and lied to cover-up for some crime. However, after the third and fourth attacks upon unrelated victims led to the same description of a young attacker with a golden baseball bat and in-line skates, the police had to wonder - is the "Lil' Slugger" real or some kind of sinister phantom?
Volume 2
True Believers
When 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.
Volume 3
Serial Psychosis
Lil' Slugger's violent legacy spreads rapidly throughout the city becoming a legend whose image warps with every social circle. To those who want to die, he is a savior; to housewives, stories of his exploits are the rage of the gossip circles. However, to the distressed staff struggling to get the animated TV show, Maromi the Dog, back on schedule, Lil' Slugger is the menace who has been striking them down, one at a time...
Volume 4
Sayonara Maromi
The Lil' Slugger's epidemic runs rampant in Tokyo while Umaniwa researches Tsukiko's childhood and discovers the disturbing origins of Maromi! However, before he can do anything, he is attacked by a giant Lil' Slugger! Soon the mass psychosis threatens to destroy the city, but does Tsukiko hold the key to salvation?
Details
An interesting side note turned up when reviewing the commentary track. The director, Satoshi Kon, confirmed that the opening and ending animation have nothing whatsoever to do with the story. Apparently, the opening and ending created a great deal of controversy when they were originally aired in Japan. With fans of the series studying the sequences in microscopic detail and trying to find some hidden insights into the story. It was also surprising to find out that the opening animation used less than 100 cels.
Commentary
I wasn't too sure about this series at first, but, after the fourth episode I was hooked. To my surprise, not only was the series really, really good, but, it is also only four volumes. For some reason that defies description, I was under the impression that the series was longer. There are some passing similarities to the Maxx, but, all in all, it's a very interesting series.
There are no naughty bits and only a minimal amount of blood. A word of caution, the story is somewhat convoluted. So, you *MUST* watch the series from the beginning. You can't come into the middle of the series and expect to have any idea what is going on. I have all four DVD volumes.