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←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Episode Thirteen -- Final Episode Or: Wait, was this just the plot of Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space? Content Warning: A dog gets run over by a car, the camera only just cuts away in time to avoid depicting the actual impact, and even then, the aftermath is still shown. We’re not done with this blog series just yet, but we are wrapping up this anime, so it still feels prudent to give my thoughts on the whole thing. It’s difficult though, because -- how do I put this? -- while Paranoia Agent is a really good show, this was also probably my least favorite rewatch so far. I’m not really sure why that is, though. It could, for example, just be a result of the weekly routine going stale. I don’t think that’s the case, though, and rather than lay out my own personal issues, I’d rather try and explore the qualities of the anime. I can’t help but wonder if putting the movies at the end was setting myself up for failure. Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, and Paprika are some of my favorite movies of all time, while Paranoia Agent is just “a good show.” Superb, yes, but not a favorite. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret any of my time doing this or anything, but there were also times I just kept thinking “can’t wait until I get to talk about Millenium Actress.” There’s also the fear of repeating myself. I just wrote about Planetes, a show using its realistic yet fantastic setting of future space work to critique the systematic issues of the present, and now here’s Paranoia Agent, a show using its realistic yet fantastic setting of Tokyo to critique many of the same issues. I even made fun of myself last week for it. It really could just have been a timing thing. To a lesser extent, because each episode spends its time examining one singular faction of people, I might have run into danger crossing paths with Utena as well, though, with Utena, the thirty-nine episode length means each character gets multiple episodes, and multiple episodes translates to more depth. I think that last point has the greatest chance of being “it” now that I’m writing it all down because now I’m thinking of other symbolism-heavy anime that gets hampered by its own runtime in similar ways. Some of Kunihiko Ikuhara’s other projects, Yurikuma Arashi and Sarazanmai have thirteen and eleven episodes respectively, and while symbolism can condense down a lot, that still breaks down the central core to a single thesis and maybe some surrounding elements. That’s the weird thing about Paranoia Agent. It is at once a police drama, an anthology of character studies, a structural critique, and a monster story. Remember, this is a show that came out of all the disparate ideas Satoshi Kon had, forced together. Packed together like this, it can start to buckle under its own weight. And again, it’s beautiful, I really do like it, and I would recommend it to anyone who can get past the darker elements that necessitate the content warnings at the top of basically every post. I don’t know what I would change even if I had the hubris to think I could even try changing things. It’s entirely possible I just wish I liked it more. Or maybe it’s just because Satoshi Kon media doesn’t have good memes. Two things need to happen for Shonen Bat (or whatever the memetic mass is now since Maromi is gone there is nothing holding him back) to be defeated. The first is that Tsukiko Sagi needs to return to the real world, having fled into Ikari’s fantasy world the last time Maniwa tried to approach her. This may be the more difficult of the two tasks. While the world proves to be incredibly fragile given any sort of scrutiny, there’s also no reason to scrutinize it. Tsukiko is under Maromi’s protection (and the reveal confirms that every Maromi in the world is working to keep the illusion going) and sees Ikari as a sort of father figure that she never had in the real world, meanwhile, Ikari now has the daughter he never got to have and the “good old days” world he so desires. This is solved the same way the rest of the conflicts of the show have been. Deception, even self-deception can only get you so far; reality will always find a way to seep back in. In this case, it takes the form of Misae, Ikari’s dying wife, who was taken to the fake world at the end of the last episode for the express purpose of saying goodbye to her husband. Even before Ikari’s revelation, then, this is what starts the scrutiny. “How did you get here?” he asks. A better, if sadder, way to phrase this, is if this is “his world” as Maromi puts it, then why wasn’t his wife here already? “The world I belong in doesn’t exist anymore,” Ikari says. And even still, despite knowing this, he rejects the next best alternative, tearing down the fake world and returning to reality, ready to face whatever might be there for him. The second thing that needs to happen is that Tsukiko Sagi needs to accept what happened to Maromi. Here, I don’t mean “Maromi, the mascot she created,” but “Maromi, the dog she had when she was little.” Because that is where Shonen Bat sprung from. Unable to face the consequences of her distraction, she drops her leash and Maromi wanders into traffic, but the story she tells instead is of a boy with inline skates and a golden baseball bat. “In this way, you could become the victim,” Maniwa tells her. This is resolved in flashback, as once she is overwhelmed by the scale of her lie, Sagi is transported back to the inciting incident, but changes her actions from “immediately concocting and deluding herself into a lie,” to realizing what she’s done and embracing her lost pet. “I’m sorry, Maromi,” she says. In taking responsibility, her creation is unmade. And yet, the effects of the disaster linger. Ikari’s arc gets an epilog where he sees the ruined city and compares it to the aftermath of World War Two, finally cementing his realization that his beloved “good old days” never existed in the first place, and then there’s a two-year time skip, where Tokyo’s rebuilding is nearing its completion. Here’s the thing: The final shots of the show are a recreation of the opening shots of episode one, which in itself symbolizes a cycle. There are some different readings you can take from this. An easy one is that “no matter the consequences, life goes on,” a rather touching ending that attempts to make one’s problems trivial but in a good way this time. Another is that it’s supposed to pair with the after-credits stinger, where a now insane Maniwa invites the viewers to watch the series again and see what clues they missed the first time around. My favorite, though, is this one: The show presented its systematic critique, but, by the end, there was just a monster going around wrecking Tokyo. If changes were enacted, they were on a personal level (and we can get at some of them thanks to Tsukiko’s meaningful haircut and wardrobe change, which I’ll leave as an exercise for the viewer). The ending then, is a warning, that this will happen again. It must. After all, the final shot is of Maniwa taking the old man’s place in the parking lot, doing calculations scrutable only to him, and just like at the beginning, he widens his eyes in fear, aware of what will happen next. -r Next time: Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to this movie so he could replicate, like, two shots from it. okay update it's a little more complicated than that but the shots are there ←Previous Post -- Link to Episode -- Next Post→

"Aaaaah... Let me clear some time... I'll send you a message and, uh... Figure something out, okay? ...Any suggestions, just send 'em to me and I'll see what I can do." That's what Kendra said, but alas, it seemed like the Sleeper would only give a meeting time, saying that was when she had time. It seemed like the task of doing anything fun or exciting was solely on his shoulders. Shouldn't be too hard...especially with what he found out was happening this week. All he had to do was secure the tickets and he'd be golden. Click Annnnnnnd with that, he did... BGM Daichi waited for Kendra at the specified meeting place, just enjoying the breeze the day brought. Kendra did say that it was up to him on what they did today…so he hoped that it wouldn't be too much of an issue with what he had. Soon he saw his mate and gave a bit of a wave before flashing his usual smile. "Glad to see you had time today, Kendra." he said, before pulling out two tickets from…behind his own ear it seemed. "I was lucky enough to score these…there's an exhibition show Duel happening tonight between Team Free annnnnnd Team Fortuna!" He seemed extremely excited, almost having his smile evolve into one befitting a Cheshire Cat. "I figure we can VOD of the Duel to show the others…annnnd me being selfish…I really, really wanted to see them in action." Kendra flinched for a moment, a tiny sigh escaping her as she rubbed at her cheek gently, “...Damn. I wasn’t able to scrounge together the cash for it, that’s… What I had been planning to do originally.” Her hand brushed at her hair for a moment, pushing her bangs out of the way briefly, “I’ll make sure you get reimbursed for the cost of at least one of those, the second one might take some time…” She trailed off, but gave a small smile, “I thought it would be something you’d like to see, sorry I wasn’t able to make it happen on my own.” "Okay firstly: no need to reimburse me on this. Like, it's not even an issue. Secondly: no need to be sorry about it. Honestly, the fact you wanted to do this as well shows that great minds think alike!" Daichi snickered, before handing her a ticket. "Think of it as…me helping the Vice-Captain keep her position. Cause lord knows we don't need Sai being anywhere near a title like that." She let out a tired little sigh, “It’s an issue, but this isn’t the time to press it.” She rubbed at her head, her fingers digging up into her hairline for a moment… Before speaking once more, her voice was a bit more firm, “I don’t think Sai would want the position, he likes having… Options, I imagine. But I understand he can be hard to read, pretty much all the time.” Daichi nodded, sighing as the two already began to walk in the direction of the stadium. "If I'm honest and can speak freely with no repercussions…" he started. "...it's hard to read Sai in general. Like, there's more than reading his personality or body language…it's puzzling to try and figure out how his mind works. His thought processes and styles when it comes to Action Duels vastly differ from the side of things that I've watched and adored from a young age…and yet, he's just as passionate about it as I am. And it's because of that…that I think me and him butt heads so much, neither of us wants to admit we're in the wrong. Then again…I've been reading the Duel Monsters Horoscopes lately and most of this may just be conjecture…" he said, chuckling nervously. “Speaking frankly, I don’t like Sashisematta. I think he’s a ticking time bomb.” She waved her hand in the air lightly as the two of them approached that stadium proper, pausing for a moment as she considered her next words, “...But Vega is certain about him, and I’m not willing to give up my chance because of a personality clash. So here’s my advice.” She tilted her head towards Daichi, giving him a small grin, “Give him shit. That’s what he wants, and that’s what he should get, yeah? I think he wants people to argue with him, he already said he wants to play a heel for the audience, so get in his head… He wants to take it a step further and be a heel to us too. If I’m wrong? I don’t think he’ll mind too much anyway. He doesn’t seem to take things personally.” Daichi took all this in stride, lulling over each word that Kendra spoke before smirking and shaking his head, eyeing the Vice-Captain with a side glance. "And here I thought you were simply just sleeping on us in those meetings. Turns out you're quite the smart cookie. Wise beyond your years, Kendra." he nodded, chuckling a tad bit. "Very well. If that's what I should do, then I'll make sure it's a grand spectacle." Kendra whistled innocently for a moment as she shrugged her shoulders, “Like I said, I might be wrong… But I think this is where Sai’s head is at. I may not like him, but I can respect the idea of it… At least he had a plan for his horrible ideas, if that makes sense.” She chuckled for a moment underneath her breath, choosing to not acknowledge the compliments before, “...If something goes horribly wrong, I’ll step in… Since it was, well… My fault, a bit.” "I appreciate the concern there, but if it all goes wrong…we'll handle it like guys do. No need for you to jump in." Daichi waved his hand dismissively at the thought. "After all, I could easily say no…and yet I'm going along with it. But honestly, ya might be right. Guess he's just got a whole illusion going on right now…and it's one I want to unveil…one day. Eh either that or the curtains fall on me in the process…who knows." He said with a small smirk, before finally taking his seat once they entered the stadium. "But Sai talking aside…this is going to be good, I can feel it." Her fingers drummed against her arm for a moment as she crossed it over her stomach, a tiny sigh escaping her, “...Please don’t kill each other, that would give our team a much, much worse reputation.” She mumbled a tiny bit as she shook her head, stretching her arms up into the air as she let out a tiny chuckle, “You go ahead and sit… I’m gonna go get a coffee or something while there’s some time before the duels. Send me a message if you decide you want anything.”

Storm Well, things are certainly starting to brew, aren’t they? There are three watchdogs on Andalou, and each of them, even though they know how little good it will do in the grand scheme of things, has decided to petition the deities they serve. Olive has placed a coin at Hinder’s altar, Kitt is mediating at the forge of Taros, and Joy has returned home after another successful party. Now, nobody would call any of this breaking the rules, and besides, watchdogs are under much looser rules anyway, but even still, the kind of advice these dogs are looking for is not advice the gods can give so easily… by themselves, that is. It is nighttime, though, and channelling a message through Myria’s domain takes but a moment of cooperation. The only cost to this loophole is a small fraying of reality. But wasn’t it always going to fray anyway? Static The glint of Lar’s hearthfire reflects off of the metal slab of an altar left to Taros, which slowly morphs into a vision provided only to Kitt: Kitt’s vision is that of a cave carved by human hands into the side of a mountain. Time moves quickly in his vision, so he can see everything, from the initial excavation to the support beams going up and, eventually, carts being wheeled in and out, carrying precious ore. Iron is this particular mountain’s yield, though as time continues to speed by, the carts become less and less frequent, and their returns less rewarding. Less and less iron is extracted from the mountain. But the carts never stop entirely. Even when they’re only carrying out stone, they still keep cycling through, and slowly -- and yes, it is slow even in the vision’s sped-up state -- the mountain begins to shift. It becomes clear: the mountain is being hollowed out, stripped of everything it ever held, until there is nothing left to take but the exterior rocks. When those are gone, then, one by one, the carts are broken down and the pieces loaded onto the next so another cycle can be made. The last cart is wheeled off, and nothing remains of the mountain, and, as the sun sets on this final, day, it starts to flicker, and the illusion breaks, and the reflection of Lar’s fire returns to the fore. Sleep Joy has a dream that night. She dreams she’s at a party with everyone she has ever known. Everyone on Andalou is there, of course, as is her family, as are the religious elders she trained under. Even the other watchdogs on the island, two people she has known for barely a day are there, even if their forms are hazier, their words distorted by a subconscious lack of knowledge. She ignores them anyhow. They are not the center of the party. No, the person -- the being -- commanding the most attention, the party’s lifeblood, is Laeta herself. Everyone surrounding her gets equal attention in turn. The stories she tells involve her entire audience, and the jokes and games get everyone in uproarious laughter. And yet still Joy pushes through, closer and closer to her goddess, the one that now defines her as much as she, her god, desperately trying to break through the crowd. Laeta has to single her out to give her what she desires, gently taking her hand -- the one thing Joy manages to pierce the final crowd barrier with -- and guiding the rest of her forward, letting the crowd dutifully split apart now that the goddess has taken action, before pulling Joy into a warm hug, the warmest she has ever felt. “Oh, my child…” she says, pulling out of the hug to smile down on her watchdog, her hand moving to caress her face, “Oh, sweet thing of mine, guider of our future… “Do not screw this up.” Like Antennas To Heaven… As soon as Olive places the coin on Hinder’s altar, the coin begins to shift, growing and warping until it adopts a new form: the thread from the Sindalium Spinning Wheel, the very thing he stole to gain his initiation in the first place. Hinder was there too, sitting on the altar as though he didn’t care much for the importance placed on the thing, and if Olive were to look around, he’d notice the room had shifted to match the circumstances as well. “Here’s a fun fact for you, boy-o:” Hinder says, picking up the thread and vanishing it just as he did the first time they had met. “You and my other watchdog? You’re almost nothing alike. Which is weird, right? You’re supposed to be all the same because you’re supposed to be like us. That’s kind of silly, though. I mean, stick two Taros watchdogs in the same room and they’ll have disagreements about how to make a hoe or whatever problem they’re trying to solve. “But hey, there are still some similarities between you two,” Hinder continues, now kicking off the altar and pacing around Olive. “I mean, you’re both watchdogs now. That’s something. But also this: They, and every watchdog of mine stretching back as long as watchdogs have existed, have ended up with the same questions. And I get it. It’s a lot to just dump on someone, whether they’re asking for it or not. But they never seem to figure that ‘every’ part out. They just stop at the questions and don’t even think about anyone else. Hell, some of them that do still get bent out of shape about it. “Honestly, I think it’s neat. Every human, no matter their differences, having the same problems certainly makes you easier to con.” He grins, produces the string again, and transmutes it back to a coin. “But also, if they realized it a bit sooner, that’d make the problems a lot smaller real quick.” He sits back on the altar and flips the coin back over to his watchdog. The room starts to shift back to Andalou’s temple. “Olivander Steele,” Hinder says, “my advice to you, then, is this: I could tell you all the fluff, about how you’re my watchdog and I’ll support you no matter what. What you are asking of me, it’s been asked before. But I think just that, that you’re all feeling the same stuff, is pretty powerful on its own.” OOC

“I think we need to have a discussion regarding the team’s last match, Sashisematta. Can we discuss it at some point before the next one? I know neither of us are dueling but I think it’s important.” Sai smiled lightly, his eyelashing fluttering slightly, as if to show off the artificial extensions he was wearing. The almost effeminate appearance it created with his narrow facial features was sharply contrasted by his well-tailored blood red suit. "They're tough, aren't they? I had actually studied their style quite a lot, albeit for pleasure rather than business. Unfortunately, they proved even more vicious than I expected, and I was not afforded the turn in which my win was assured." Rosalia’s stomach turned at the thought of what she would have to do here. Whatever what she had to do even was, she hadn’t a clue. All she knew was that Sai was putting on a heel act, and had told her it wouldn’t matter until he had lost. Which he had. Charlie’s loss had stricken him from the sky like Icarus, with Rosalia herself not far behind. She had decided that, since this conversation wouldn’t likely be pleasant for Sai either, to let him choose the meeting place. "If you think you are going to change who I am, your night will be wasted. As a counteroffer, I present you the opportunity to change the world, gaining a new perspective on who I am in the process. Would you like to step out of your cage for a night?" Rosalia frowned, confused. "Change the world? Sashisematta, my intention is trained on changing the team, for the better, at that. What are you talking about?" "Why are you on this team? Did Vega seek you out? Are you following in the footsteps of… another?" "I was a part of the college team the others were on. You know this." She conspicuously didn’t answer the rest of the question, visibly uncomfortable. "Why do you try to change the motivations of another without acknowledging your own?" Sai's expression was cold, as he stared into her eyes through the nonsensical eyelashes he wore. "Sashisematta," Rosalia sighed, sounding tired and frustrated as she leaned towards him, massaging her temples. "Whatever your motivations, I have no issue with them, it’s just… I don’t want the rest of the team to suffer judgment because of it. They don’t deserve it. You don’t care that the audience thinks of you how they choose, they do. I do." "Have you been losing sleep lately? Your tie seemed to have shaken you up." "I’m taking steps to make sure my win percentage is better from here on," she said, a touch snappishly, which for a girl as quiet as she was was close to shouting. "I’ve already… been taking steps to improve. When Miss Sterling scouted us, she selected me because I was seen as the most promising in terms of skill level…" Her voice was softer now, quiet. "I intend not to let her down for it. Any of you, either." "She doesn't care if you fail. Not in that way. Neither do I, honestly. Regardless, I hope you understand that your performance in that shootout was the best our team has had." "Thank you, Sashisematta." Rosalia wasn’t sure she believed it, even if he did. Or if Vega believed it. But it wasn’t worth debating it. They were getting too far away from the reason she’d wanted to speak with Sai today anyway. "You told me things could change if you lost… Thanks to Charlie that’s happened now. So tell me. What does this mean for you?" Sai narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowed, "I don't believe I said any such thing, and if I did, my mind changes with my clothes. I will behave however I feel appropriate given full context. Consistency of character is far less important than maintaining sovereignty." With a frown, he leaned closer to Rosalia, intentionally breaching her personal space and looming over her, "don't you believe it selfish that you keep dragging the conversation back without answering a single question of mine? There is nothing wrong with selfishness, but at least be cognizant." She didn’t flinch. "I thought you enjoyed when we talked about you," she said flatly. "Not nearly as much as I enjoy getting what I want." "... So this so-called 'world-changing opportunity' you were speaking of?" Sai had backed her into a corner, whether he knew it or not, though Rosalia suspected he did. She decided to concede on giving him the thing that made her less uncomfortable. Sai grinned, leaning back away from her, "I have a glorious time planned, and unlike my date with Rin it will be just the two of us."

Falisha gave a bit of a cheeky grin as she watched the conclusion of the duel between the two duelists in front of her, "Y'know, now that I think about it... you two duel like a Major League's Turbo Duelist I used to watch every once in a while... gahhhh what was their name..." She rubs the back of her neck and gives a chuckle, "My fault for not paying attention when my family dragged me out to duels I guess for family bonding time." She smiles and gives a shrug as she watches the duel finish concluding, "Oh right, guess we're still technically supposed to be prepping for that..." She scratched her cheek, she had been hoping to work on something once the duel ended, though she headed to listen to the briefing anyways. __________ Falisha stared at the blackboard with a scrunched up nose, "Team 'Shining' seems a bit.... glory-hogging doesn't it? I know our name isn't exactly subtle either but Shining makes me think they're full of themselves." She'd be staring at a certain magician with a playful smirk, starting to feel the bags forming under her eyes before she pulled out a small hand-mirror to start covering them again. "Anyways, I think I'm perfectly capable of competing in a duel, though my Adamancipators I really need to uh.... I need to figure out a way to get them more consistent, but that means cutting some of my Duel Runner budget upkeep. Or food. I can survive off snacks, I think..." She had started mumbling to herself the longer she talked before being snapped out of it by someone rather unexpected to her. "Oh, hey Eve! Uh...." She blinks a few times as though she was actually processing being approached before hearing 'bike', "Wait why didn't you just lead with that? Sure thing! Though is it just the brakes or ya wanna like have me look into seeing what I could do to pimp it out? Crowds love a good hot rod ya know! Oooh or have you seen some of the like really unique D-wheels some people go for? Oh or how about getting some more practical add-ons? I may as well make sure your runners up to date on the card database too! Learned that lesson the hard way when mine was throwing up white cards on the screen...." She had already began walking towards where she thought Eve's room was, her heels clacking against the ground as her coat flowed behind her.

An exhibition match! Between the coach and her girlfriend! While it was stated outright that the latter wasn't using her preferred deck, she did seem to put up something of a fight all the same. Yet in the end, it was a solid and clean victory for Coach Vega. Which left the briefing on the team's next opponents. Team Shining. Kind of a pretentious name if Eve was being quite honest about her opinions. And their apparent reputation as being a bunch of pricks lined up with that notion perfectly! The action duelist, Lance Sheridan, concerned her in particular. Roughing up your opponents directly in a duel never sat well with Eve. In some turbo circuits back home... back other home, that sort of thing could get you banned for life. Luckily, Sheridan was an action duelist, not a turbo duelist. The odds of somebody getting hospitalized by this guy seemed a lot lower now. Speaking of turbo dueling, once the coach had left the team to their own devices, people naturally started chatting it up with each other, as people often do. Something had been bugging Eve lately. She first noticed it back when she went out on her mini-adventure with Sai, and elected not to mention it because she knew he'd make a non-stop fuss about it. And it seemed like Falisha had a bit of free time, making this the perfect time to bring it up. "Heyyy, Falisha," Eve smiled, approaching the D-Wheel expert of the team. "If it isn't too much trouble, could I ask you to take a look at my bike? I think something's wrong with the brakes."

╔. .═════════╗ Kendra would be lying if she said she was paying THAT much attention to how the duel ended. She was more concerned with her plans that had been pushed back, really. A few lost hours wasn't going to destroy her, but it was definitely going to make things a bit sticky for a bit while she tried to sort them out properly. There was something about a burn effect being anti-climatic, which she wasn't too invested in. What worked, worked. Other than that, it was mainly just waiting for something to happen with the others. Daichi had mentioned something in response to her last statement, but really, that was the last thing on her mind at the moment. She let out a tiny breath as she saw the duel wrap up, "Time for the briefing..." --- "Daichi. Kendra. Falisha. Are you three up to it this week?" Was she? It was easy to just say yes and eat a loss if she had to, but honestly, that wouldn't be satisfying at all. She had delayed her first appearance to be as ready as possible, at this point, was she just stalling to stall? Or was she just dooming herself to an early loss? Either way, Daichi beat her to the punch, which made sense. He was more confident in this already, and here she was, still debating if she was prepared to go in for her first match. She took a deep breath to steady herself for a moment as she let him finish... And then, she let out a tiny sigh as she waved her hand in the air, "...I can't really make anymore edits to my deck with what I have at the moment anyway, might as well go in. If these guys are as big of jerks as she says... Extra motivation to win." She let her head rest against the table, letting the others take their time as the meeting winded down... With the end in sight, she started to gather her things, a tiny yawn escaping her as she collected everything into her bag once more, standing up and turning to make her way towards the door. She wasn't really in a hurry to get away from them specifically... "Hey Kendra!" She flinched for a moment, time was already not on her side and she was going to have to deal with the repercussions of that later, she couldn't stay too much longer. She stopped through, letting Daichi catch up as she turned to face him. "If your free sometime this week, maybe we can hang out. Anything you want, I'll see what I can do to accommodate for it. Sound like a plan?" She paused for a moment, right. Vega had been pushing this still. Rosalia was easy to meet up with, the two of them didn't force conversation, and there was always a practical purpose. Daichi wasn't like that, from what she understood. She glanced to her phone, her thumb tapping at the screen for a moment as she mumbled gently, "Aaaaah... Let me clear some time... I'll send you a message and, uh... Figure something out, okay? ...Any suggestions, just send 'em to me and I'll see what I can do." People were hard. ╚═════════. .╝