Paranoia Agent (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Paranoia Agent (妄想代理人, Mousou Dairinin) is a 2004 original television anime series directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by studio Madhouse. Staff credits also include screenplay writer Seishi Minakami, character designer Masashi Ando and music composed by Susumu Hirasawa. The series first aired in Japan on February 2004.

Background:

“Truth is stranger than fiction.

The line between belief and reality is challenged in this dark and mysterious psychological thriller where citizens across Musashino City are being assaulted and terrorized. Now, two detectives must figure out the truth about Lil’ Slugger.”

Plot Synopsis via MVM Entertainment, May 2021.

Satoshi Kon has released a lot of interesting projects during his career, and the one that stood out to me the most was Paranoia Agent because it was the only one that he directed which wasn’t done in a film format, but rather as a television series. Now granted the director has worked on series projects before, like the original JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure OVAs but Paranoia Agent was a proper one where he directed all of the episodes.

Paranoia Agent also has music composed by Susumu Hirasawa, including its opening theme song, which is still memorable to this date. Madhouse did a great job with the anime also. Both have collaborated with the director with his other films, like Millennium Actress and Paprika.

In terms of licensing history, the series did get a release in the west through Geneon Entertainment and MVM Entertainment for North America and the United Kingdom. However, the UK release was not released in its uncut form due to one episode that had a child involved in a suicide scene. When MVM decided to bring the series back onto Blu-ray format, the episode had to be revisited to see whether or not the cuts could be waived. Fortunately it did, so this Blu-ray release is the first time UK fans can watch the series in its entirety legally.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

While Funimation re-released Paranoia Agent as a steelbook, MVM went for a different approach for their release. In the past MVM did release a rigid boxset for the series during their DVD release, and have come back for a similar approach with their Blu-ray release.

The package is presented as a rigid box with an Amaray case to house the discs. The artwork is using Funimation’s release, but also included are some art cards.

The artwork does have information details and BBFC content on the back cover, like some MVM special editions have in the past. The collector’s edition Blu-ray set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £49.99. A standard Blu-ray was released a few months after this release.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Amaray packaging
• Information for specification and BBFC description on back cover
• 4 Art Cards

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 24th May 2021

The collector’s edition release for Paranoia Agent contains all 13 episodes across two Blu-ray discs, with the encode and authoring from Funimation’s release. The audio options include Japanese with English subtitles and the Soundscape English dub commissioned by Geneon Entertainment.

Worth noting that the video presentation is 1080i and based on the Japanese Blu-ray release. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Video	1080i High Definition Upscaled format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	2 BD-50s

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 2:

• Satoshi Kon and Susumu Hirasawa’s Paranoia Agent Talk Show
• Paranoia Radio Audio Commentary for Episode 11
• Paranoia Radio Audio Commentary for Episode 12
• Paranoia Radio Audio Commentary for Episode 13
• Director Satoshi Kon’s Hand Drawn Storyboards for Episode 1
• Trailer
• Promotional Video

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Paranoia Agent is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray can be acquired through Amazon UK, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)