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So last week I signed up to LoveFilm.com at Will’s behest. Apparently, if a bunch of his friends sign up, the tooth fairy will give him an iPod or something. Anyway, so at my brother’s recommendation, I rented the first disc of Satoshi Kon’s ‘Paranoia Agent’.

While Dave, who watched the first couple of episodes with be managed to write it off as “an animated episode of The Bill” (Bless Him), I thought it was brilliant. The premise is great: A series of attacks involving a young boy on skates and armed with a baseball bat takes place around Tokyo. However, is it one attacker? Is the attacker real? Are the assaults made up by the victims, the result of paranoia, a cry for attention-or even, to cover up other crimes? It’s a great psychological thriller, and although I’ve only watched the first two episodes, I’ve already started to form my own little ideas and had most of them dashed or distorted.

What I really like about this, is despite the dark undertones of the story (the idea of increased violence in youth culture), there is an almost childish playfulness about some of the characters. Tsukiko Sagi, an animator whose cartoon creation (Maromi) comes to life and converses with her. The schoolboy who imagines himself as the ‘perfect’ boy, or the Old Man who silently chalks out complicated formulas. Al the characters seem great so far and I think have the potential to turn out a fucked up killer or a victim.

If you have seen the whole series, please don’t ruin the plot for me, I can imagine that it’s going to be a brilliantly crafted story with many a head-fuck and hidden meanings. Theres something I could never say if it really was like an episode of The Bill…