Like a dream within a dream, this week begins a podcast within the podcast – A full rundown of Satoshi Kon’s only television series, Paranoia Agent. It begins with a simple premise: a juvenile delinquent called Shonen Bat (‘Little Slugger’ if you’re feeling dubby) is assaulting pedestrians across Tokyo, and two detectives need to crack the case.
But as always with Kon, all is not as it appears. Those who survive Shonen Bat’s attacks come out the other end oddly relieved – or maybe they weren’t so innocent to begin with. And what of the bat? He appears and disappears seemingly at random and leaves no evidence behind. Rumor has it he might not be human, at all. And in Paranoia Agent truth is stranger than fiction, and rumors can be even more dangerous than reality, if there’s even a difference between the two.
Ian and joseph begin their journey into Paranoia Agent with special guest Andrew Osmund, the man who literally wrote the book on Satoshi Kon. His long out-of-print text ‘Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist,’ was the main source for this season’s research.
Recap - 0:00
Introducing Andrew Osmund - 10:04
Ep 01 Analysis - 28:10
Ep 02 Analysis - 1:09:46