Anime Japan

Paranoid Fruit

Another Wednesday is here and the nexus of the week has been reached! I like Wednesdays because I don’t have any Computer Science lectures, only a Japanese class in the afternoon which makes a nice change from the norm.

Today I thought I might pass comment on the two anime series we’re watching at the society this term – Paranoia Agent & Fruits Basket. Both are fairly wacky pieces, one with a fairly complex and mind-twisting plot the other is just plain stupid but very funny – I’ll leave it to you to decide which is which!

Paranoia Agent

Paranoia Agent is primarily about a kid dubbed with the title “shounen bat” who has been going around on roller-blades attacking people with a golden baseball bat. Two detectives are on the case to stop this kid from any committing more attacks but they soon find that this is much more than they can handle…

Paranoia Agent

The animation is excellent if somewhat a little psychedelic at times! One thing which confused me was the volume of central characters which soon mount up so much so that I found it difficult to keep up with who was who, the less be said about the complexity of the storyline!

Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket is a completely different animal (that was a very poor joke for those who have seen it!) which follows the story of a high-school girl, Honda Tohru. Having lost her mother in a car accident, she has come to live alone in a tent in the forest near her school. Never a quitter, she strives to honour her mother’s memory and work hard to do the best she can with her life but soon things overcome her. Who will turn up to help her out?

Fruits Basket

The synopsis makes it sound a bit depressing but in fact, it’s absolutely hilarious – you’d have to see it to know what I mean! The storyline is pretty random and at times it does feel like the same stuff is being recycled a bit but it’s still fun to watch.

Author

Originally from the UK, David is designer and wanderer currently based in Kamakura. Prior to this, he lived in China and longs to explore more of this vast and varied land. He started Randomwire in 2003 to chronicle his travels and occasional musings. Feel free to drop him a line.

17 Comments Add New Comment

  1. Kitty says:

    I love the way the fruits basket synopsis seems to manage to ignore the main part of the 'plot' and your cleverly selected screen shots don't give any more away.

  2. Kitty says:

    I think it does turn out to be significant in the end. The whole thing is supposedly based around a curse that does have some other effects although goodness knows what. My friend burnt it for me and apparently the last two episodes actually have a plot however half the CDs didn't work.

  3. Flames says:

    This is that kind of anime where if you miss one eposide you just havta say WHAT THE HELL!?

    P.S. This anime rox

  4. Sango says:

    Paranoia Agent was Very good, i was very pleased with how it ended,
    But if you miss an eppisode, you might get lost, but no worry's re-runs are on every night on adult swim.

  5. David says:

    A year on and I'm still wondering what the heck it was all about… all I do know for sure was that it was excellent. Definitely one to add to the re-watch list when I get the time! I especially love the tripy intro sequence… madness! 🙂

  6. smitten says:

    i love fruits basket so much i wish there was more im collecting the books too you should read them i love kyo the best i love the way that tohru is so naive when they are obviously showing they love her to bits! the plot is really goood so if u havny wached it then watch it! heheheh i love it!!!!!!!

  7. hanayuki says:

    well,i fall in love with yuki.can i be his girlfriend?hehe..is it true that kyo is the one that tohru love so much?

  8. Mitzuki says:

    Why didn’t u include Tokyo Mew Mew, Sailor Moon, Mermaid Melody, Dectiv Conan, or Full Moon o Sagashite in there? I LOVE those shows!

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