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Plot Synopsis

Don't be paranoid, or Shounen Bat will get you!

The peace was disturbed as numerous attacks on people have been made in Tokyo. All the witnesses say they all saw the same thing - what appeared to be an elementary school boy with a bent bat and rollerblades. The first victim is Tsukiko Sagi, the creator of the famous character Maromi. When the police interview her, Shounen Bat (or Lil' Slugger) seems like something she made up. But as more and more people say they saw the same person attacking them, the police are starting to believe. Little do the detectives investigating the case know what they have just gotten themselves into.

One by one more people are attacked, and time is running out. Can the detectives Mitsuhiro and Karino solve the case before it is too late?!

Credits: daos

Screenshots

This is what Tsukiko says Shounen Bat looked like. Shounen Bat. Miss Harumi losing her mind.

Story & Characters

Don't be paranoid, or Shounen Bat will get you!
The peace was disturbed as numerous attacks on people have been made in Tokyo. All the witnesses say they all saw the same thing - what appeared to be an elementary school boy with a bent bat and rollerblades. The first victim is Tsukiko Sagi, the creator of the famous character Maromi. When the police interview her, Shounen Bat (or Lil' Slugger) seems like something she made up. But as more and more people say they saw the same person attacking them, the police are starting to believe. Little do the detectives investigating the case know what they have just gotten themselves into.
One by one more people are attacked, and time is running out,. Can the detectives Mitsuhiro and Karino solve the case before it is too late?!
When I heard about this anime, I just knew I had to watch it! It may seem like your average horror or mystery anime where some random guy is whacking people with a bat, but there is more to the story than that. Much more. Basically, most of the episodes talk about one victim (they are usually related in one way or another) who gets attacked by Lil' Slugger. Whether it's stories being told on the street by desperate housewives, an actual encounter, or recalling something that happened to someone else each episode talks about the people who are attacked by Shounen Bat.
With this in mind, you may think it's hard to keep track of all the names of the characters, but there are a few significant ones that will pop up throughout the anime you cannot forget! The everpopular Maromi (so cute!) is a big influence on everyone in Japan (or at least Tokyo), almost like a Hello Kitty or Inuyasha thing everyone seems to have everywhere. I guess this was part of the way it was set up, and if you ever watch the anime you will see why.

Rating

9 (very good)

Art

Wow. *foaming* I've only seen high quailty art such as this in a few select anime like Ghost in the Shell, Serial Experiments Lain, or Witch Hunter Robin. The eyes look almost normal, but not quite. Some of the female mouths and noses (such as that of Sagi) are quite tiny, but this is what makes it almost like one of the anime you see where the characters have goofy faces.
Other than this, the art is abso-positively-lutely spectacular! I love how the artists drew this, because there are no frames where it seems the artists were very lazy to draw. *coughKareKanocough-_-* Everything is detailed and planned, and the way the characters were drawn fit them.
The scenery is awesome too. Except the opening/closing credits (we'll get to that later) the scenery fit the mood of the settings you saw. In the earlier episodes when Tsukiko was talking to a reporter interested in the Shounen Bat case, the food and tables were drawn very nicely. Also when the reporter was eating the food, it was very realistic so it looked as if you were right there with them, and just wanted to eat the ice cream too!
While this was good, I have a complaint to issue about the opening credits and ending credits. You can tell from the covers of the dvd (and the website) that the anime is dark and murky, something mysterious. The first time I popped in the dvd I was a little surprised to have a happy cheery song with random backgrounds! This is not dark, murky, or spooky. What are you getting at with this? The end credit seems more fitting, only the song is more sleepy. It's more of Maromi's themesong, and with a character as cute as that you can't expect anything dark either. The Maromi art at the end seems somewhat fitting if you look at it from a different perspective, but I still think the animators could have done more ot set the tone for the anime.
There is some violence and nudity/sexuality in the anime as well, but even that manages to be drawn nicely. *cough* In terms of violence you don't usually see much except when Lil' Slugger strikes the victims, and other than that maybe a some blood.

Rating

10 (excellent)

Sound

The sound is fairly good too, but again the opening and ending credits don't match the anime overall. I like the songs, and the only thing they match is the happy pictures. Opening credit song lyrics are weird too, especially when put with the ever-random art.
There is a lot of paranoia going on as well, because apart from the mystery this is a definite psychological anime. If you've seen something like Serial Experiments Lain, you should have seen people losing their minds and starting to go crazy. There were the panting noises, and possibly screaming afterwards. Somewhat the same thing happens in this anime, especially near the time the victims are about to be hit with the bat.
The nudity scenes also have, erm, sounds that fit along with it so it seems realistic. (one of the victims is a prostitute with a multiple personality)
Voices of the characters fit really well, at least with the English cast. I will try not to get into it much, but the cast played their parts really well. A lot of the time the characters were going crazy, so we had that sense in them. Sagi was the quiet and shy character, and so that's how her voice sounded. Someone innocent and quiet who you wouldn't suspect of doing anything except creating Maromi. The other characters had good voicing as well, like the detective who was constantly annoyed when he was running out of patience, or the old man in the hospital.
I don't recall hearing much music except the songs in the credits, but I believe there was something else in there as well. You could sense the danger when someone was about to be whacked, or a theme for another character. I don't know why, but I rather like the "dangerous music" when Shounen Bat was about to appear.

Rating

8 (good)

Presentation

The anime was great I must say, definetley something to spend your buck($) on.
I can't say there was humour or anything of the sort, unless you count the impatient detective. Most of the time (espeecially in the end) the anime sent a lot of chills down my spine. Definetely not an anime for the weak hearted, but still pretty good. Sometimes the episodes may seem weird, like the idiots who tried to kill themselves in some stupid way. At one time the art got a bit funky because detective Karino was living in "his own world", literally! The art was totally different there, but I suppose we can't blame him because it *was* his world was it not?
Like most great anime, this one portrayed a good message. It wasn't very clear at first, but even in the opening scene you could tell something was up. There were a lot of people talking on cellphones and sending text messages, going about their daily lives with their technology. (sounds a bit like SE Lain, ne?) It wasn't about the gadgets, however, but rather more about the masses of people just like us who live in the world. We may be different on the outside, having different jobs, friends, and the like, but underneath we are all just as vulnerable and scared.
The anime also dealt with serious issues, such as bullying or discovering your father has been watching you ever since you were a kid, and I don't mean in the good way! With problems like these it was probably no surprise as to "who came to them" to help them out, but the people also proved strong. One person in particular, who might have had one of the biggest problems of them all.
I've said it before and I'll say this again, if you want to watch an awesome anime thenParanoia Agent is for you! So turn out your l ights, bring someone to hold onto, and get ready to be paranoid!

Rating

9 (very good)

Final Verdict

9.00 (very good)

Reviewed by daos, 2y 37wk ago