Paranoia Agent

[MithrandirOlorin]

Episode 9 had me thinking at first of that one Batman The Animated Series episode.

[rickgriffin]

Escapism is generally harmless...

The issue 'nowadays being pretty prevalent' is people choosing their fantasy at the expense of reality

See: Ready Player One *prepares for inevitable bricking*

[Edvarius]

Lil' Slugger might be some inexplicable thing appearing to those pushed too far, but even he doesn't want to deal with spooooky ghoooosts!

[Kisa]

As a note on EP8 the reason Zebra wants to die is that same sex couples are still really taboo to the Japanese people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Japan
Just for some information and if you think about is about where we were in the eighties. Though it is prolific in the anime genre, anime is as it is here a niche market in many ways where things that happen in it are tailored to their fans. It is sad that what we have here in the US isn't true there yet but at least their media markets are more open to at least showing/broadcasting it.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Hmm.

I'm really not a fan of "SURPRISE! YOU WERE FOLLOWING A SERIAL KILLER ALL ALONG!" plot twists, and I'm a bit confused as to how, if this guy can barely swing a mop without killing a circuit breaker, how is he such a successful and efficient murderer? I suppose I should expect serial killer tropes in a story that's essential about a serial killer, though.

Episode Eight...eh. Really kinda hit a little too close to home for me. =/

[Redem]

To answer the episode question, If you are curious Peter Parker with the fly teleporter is Miguel O'hara the spider-man 2099

[Nevix]

Hmm.

I'm really not a fan of "SURPRISE! YOU WERE FOLLOWING A SERIAL KILLER ALL ALONG!" plot twists, and I'm a bit confused as to how, if this guy can barely swing a mop without killing a circuit breaker, how is he such a successful and efficient murderer? I suppose I should expect serial killer tropes in a story that's essential about a serial killer, though.

Episode Eight...eh. Really kinda hit a little too close to home for me. =/

My original interpretation was that 'Lil Slugger was killing the staff just after they'd finished the necessary work, but before they realized it was done, when their stress went through the roof because everyone else was now in charge of the rest of the production, especially the idiot producer.

I never saw the "potential serial killer", and I thought the idiot had just snapped because he thought he was going to lose all of his status/credit.

Also, on a more general note:

I missed some of the connections of the suicidal group to the overarching plot, or forgot them over the years. My interpretation of that ending was that the suicidal characters wouldn't realize that they were dead, and that the old man forgot what they were. Not so sure about that now.

For the other episode... my only takeaway was that the older women were utter females of canine persuasion, and everybody in that episode needed some sense slapped into them.

[MithrandirOlorin]

Paranoia Agent seems kinda like The Twilight Zone if it were a show with an overarching plot. The twists the most recent three reviews especially felt like Twilight Zone style twists.

[ScreamingDoom]

I'm a bit confused as to how, if this guy can barely swing a mop without killing a circuit breaker, how is he such a successful and efficient murderer?

Believe it or not, but one does not need to be particularly bright or talented to be a serial killer. Most serial killers are complete fuckups in some way.

Gary Ridgway was tested with an I.Q. of 82 and he is one of the most prolific serial killers ever. He wasn't careful about his murders, either in the execution or in the cover up; he returned to the place where he buried them over and over again to have sex with the corpses.

Carl Panzram was a life-long fuckup, constantly in prison. He was a stupid criminal, constantly caught. He still had an impressive body count literally around the world.

John Wayne Gacy buried the bodies of his victims in his own house. And a lot of his victims were young employees of his own construction business. These are not smart decisions.

Even the serial killers who are intelligent and careful at first, tend to reach a point where they are not. Ted Bundy, for instance, said that the first time you plan everything down in exacting detail. The tenth time? You forget where you put the fucking rope.

H. H. Holmes built an entire murder hotel, complete with a underground torture chamber and crematorium. He was eventually caught because of an unrelated insurance scam and the flatly stupid decisions he made regarding it.

This bizarre idea that serial killers are careful, methodical masterminds is a complete modern fiction. It is rarely the case.

[Redem]

Escapism is generally harmless...

The issue 'nowadays being pretty prevalent' is people choosing their fantasy at the expense of reality

See: Ready Player One *prepares for inevitable bricking*

heh outside of novelty, I'd say Ready Player one look pretty awful