Best and Worst Of! And Paranoia Agent Impressions

There's about all of three days left in 2004, and man what a year it's been. For all the gamers out there, Gamespot (Link) has prepared their annual Best and Worst of list, and as usual it's an entertaining, informative and in-depth affair (Link). They start out with a full year in review, with listings of all the top news stories (sorted monthly) and then they jump in straight to the awards.

Regardless of what one thinks of them in general, Gamespot always manages to come up with an exhaustive end of year report and this one is no different. There's enough information in there to satisfy the hungriest gamer, and it's a good look at the amazing year that 2004 has been.

In other news, I managed to catch the first two episodes of my Eflix (Link) anime rental, Mousou Dairinin, or Paranoia Agent. Directed by Satoshi Kon (Millennium Actress and my bet for one of the best animes ever, Tokyo Godfathers) this is one of the most unusual anime series I've seen in a long time - and I mean that in a good way.

Paranoia Agent eschews all the usual trappings of anime for a character based storyline that not only has a different protagonist for each episode, but is extremely excellent in exploring the dual nature of our mental states. Describing the plotline is difficult, simply because you won't be able to suss out the full story until the final episode. Roughly the series revolves around mysterious beatings that happen to seemingly random people, carried out by an elementary school boy with a bent baseball bat and roller blades. As these victims survive their attacks they realise that somehow their darkest fears are unlocked, driving them into a higher state of paranoia - and what's worse is somehow there is a connection between them all, one that will keep you guessing till the end, as I am. Even this early in the viewing the characterisations are so unique with no one being actually good or bad - they're just shades of grey.

These are my first impressions, and God are they favourable. Don't take my word for it though. Check out this review (Link), or better yet, try and get your hands on an episode. It just might change the way you look at anime forever.