Happy Family Planning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Paranoia Agent | |
|---|---|
| "Happy Family Planning" | |
| Previous episode | "MHz" |
| Next episode | "ETC" |
Happy Family Planning is the eighth episode in the anime series Paranoia Agent. Though it deals with such themes as death and suicide, it is often regarded as the most humorous and light-hearted of the series.
Contents |
[edit] Prophetic Vision
"To begin with... The animal trail that goes beyond... The one who can follow it is the Holy Warrior. A seagull, a zebra, and a winter bee. There are no shadows of them wandering from place to place. Sitting in a happy circle around a brazier. Even dead branches add to the mountain scenery. Why do the crows caw? Well..."
[edit] Synopsis
Three people meet in an internet chat room and form a suicide pact. When they finally meet in person, Zebra (an attractive young homosexual man) and Fuyubachi (an old man in ailing health) are shocked to discover that the third member of their pact, Kamome, is a young girl. Not wanting to participate in the death of a child, the two men flee from her. They take refuge in an old building, and attempt suicide by simultaneously ingesting a large number of sleeping pills and inhaling carbon monoxide. The attempt fails, however, and the two are awoken by Kamome. The building is promptly destroyed, and the trio escapes unharmed.
Disappointed by their first attempt, they decide to try again by throwing themselves in front of a subway train. Zebra and Fuyubachi conspire to prevent Kamome from dying with them, but the attempt is moot. Just before they have a chance to jump, a salaryman abruptly throws himself in front of the train. Stunned, the three miss their chance. As they leave, the salaryman walks away from the tracks heavily bloodied and moaning, his limbs broken. Zebra seems to be the only person in the subway to notice him; no one else even gives him a glance.
After debating the most painless way to die, they decide to take a trip out to the country. They hike deep into the mountains and tie three makeshift nooses to a branch, creating makeshift stools out of rocks below each of them. Zebra and Fuyubachi again conspire to make Kamome outlive them by giving her a rope that they believe will break. Although Zebra and Fuyubachi almost strangle themselves, Kamome's hyperactive jumping causes the branch to break, causing the two men to tumble down a shallow incline.
Once again defeated, they retreat to a local bathhouse where the talk turns to L'il Slugger, specifically about how he assaults people in times of crisis, how Fox (himself another member of the online chatroom as well as the Slugger copycat) had been killed by him, and how they all wish he would come and do them in. Their wishes seemingly come true as he bashes through the paper wall into their room, apparently after having attacked someone in the next room. This L'il Slugger is quite taken aback when the three prove ecstatic to see him, and he runs away frantically with the three hot on his tail.
They lose L'il Slugger after an extended pursuit, and find themselves in a parking lot. Fuyubachi, who has a heart condition, falls to the ground apparently suffering from a palpitation. While Zebra helps him up, Kamome grabs his pills and offers them to Fuyubachi. Fuyubachi is horrified because he clearly remembers taking his last pill long ago. He then realizes that none of them have shadows and then he faints. After he comes back to health, he realizes that all of them are already ghosts and they trot along and pass 3 girls taking a snapshot, and they pose behind them, and the girls scream in horror when they see the picture of the ghosts, further proof that the trio is already dead.
[edit] Popular Interpretations
It is revealed near the end of the episode that the three characters are actually dead, when Fuyubachi realizes that none of them have shadows. Their exact time of death is not explicitly stated, though it can be assumed that Fuyubachi and Zebra die during their first suicide attempt, since they have shadows before this point, but do not have shadows afterwards.
Kamome's time of death, however, has sparked some debate. It is speculated by some that Kamome died at the same time as Zebra and Fuyubachi, since she can be seen hiding in a corner while they are closing off the windows. However, it is speculated by others that she commits suicide before her friends by jumping off the bridge (some think this both because the two men do not notice her in the room with them, and because she seems to have no shadow when standing outside the old building that Fuyubachi and Zebra attempt suicide in. However, since the area is somewhat dark, her apparent lack of shadow can be attributed to an artist's mistake or the viewers' misperception).
The fact that there is a loss of time between the nighttime suicide "attempt" and the daytime destruction of the building indicates that they die from the carbon monoxide and "wake up" dead when the building is destroyed. Also, this is the first appearance of crows, which then follow the characters throughout the episode.
Further evidence can be found when the trio considers death by train. In this sequence, before they can make up their minds, a businessman in the station jumps and is killed by the train. While the crowd gathers to look at the accident, he stands up and limps away, muttering that there must be an easier way. One can clearly see everyone's shadow in this scene, yet the jumper no longer has one after he gets up. He does not realize that he has died, and no other people waiting for the train seem to notice him except for the three main characters, a possible implication that they are in fact deceased (further supported by the fact that in this scene they possess no shadows as well).
More evidence is found at the end when Fuyubachi begins to suffer from "delusions." If watched closely, he notices that another person walking by has a shadow, but they do not. The camera closely focuses around each character showing plainly that they do not have shadows. At that point, Fuyubachi states one word, delusion.
The reasons that the trio would want to kill themselves are hinted at but never stated explicitly. Emphasis on Fuyubachi's medicine seems to indicate that he is in ailing health (throughout the episode, there seems to be only one pill left in the bottle, despite Fuyubachi taking it various times); Zebra staring at a picture of his boyfriend in his locket seems to indicate that he has been separated from him (either by death or a break-up); and Kamome's needy nature (running after the others and even crying when they try to leave her) seems to imply that she does not want to be alone. It has been further speculated that she is lonely because she is precocious, since she apparently gives the impression that she's an adult on the internet, and also because she is able to fathom suicide at such a young age.
Another theory is that all 3 characters are already dead when they meet in the courtyard at the beginning of the episode. Evidence of this is Fuyubachi's bottle of pills. He takes his last pill in the beginning and at the end of the episode , he realizes that his bottle still contains the last pill. This is a sign of death because it is accepted in many stories and fables that when you die, you take along with you whatever you were wearing or holding(such as Fuyubachi's bottle). This proves that Fuyubachi did not die from the Carbon Monoxide poisoning attempt in the house because he took his last pill before the Carbon Monoxide suicide attempt. If he did indeed die in the house due to the Carbon monoxide poisoning, his bottle would still be empty at the end of the episode. the only possibility is that Fuyubachi had died sometime prior to that and is now some kind of ghost or specter. This also proves that Zebra and Kamome died some time prior to their meet seeing that they are able to come in contact(speak,touch) Fuyubachi. Evidence to support this is the fact that you saw no actual shadows that they made. Also, the fact that they drew no attention or any sign of recognition from anybody whatsoever in the entire episode, supports this theory. It is possible that they all committed suicide prior to their meeting and did not know it. The fact that they were able to come in contact with their other chatmate Fox( a.k.a. The prime suspect/copycat in the Lil Slugger investigation) is still speculated.
[edit] Notes
- This episode was cut by 1 minute, 20 seconds by the BBFC due to the attempted suicide sequence involving the young girl. It still received an '18' rating, which is a rarity for an animated program in the UK.
- At the end of the episode, a group of tourists take a picture which happens to include the trio. When the tourists see the picture, they are visibly horrified having ghosts appear in their photograph; the audience never sees the picture.
- Episode Title Appearance: At the very end of the episode, the camera pans to a vending machine selling "Happy Family Planning" extra-thin condoms. Given the Paranoia Agent's social commentary, this may be a comment on the low birth rate in Japan. It's just as likely that it's an existential metaphor--just as you cannot commit suicide when you're already dead, you cannot conceive a family while using condoms.
| Paranoia Agent |
|---|
| Characters |
| Shougo Ushiyama | Misae Ikari | Tsukiko Sagi | Maromi |
| Episodes |
| Enter Lil' Slugger | The Golden Shoes | Double Lips | A Man's Path | The Holy Warrior | Fear of a Direct Hit | MHz | Happy Family Planning | ETC | Mellow Maromi | Entry Forbidden | Radar Man | Final Episode |
| Other |
| Paranoia Agent Original Soundtrack | Satoshi Kon | Susumu Hirasawa |
