Radar Man

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Paranoia Agent
"Radar Man"
Previous episode	"Entry Forbidden"
Next episode	"Final Episode"

Radar Man is the twelfth episode of the anime series Paranoia Agent.

[edit] Prophetic Vision

To begin... a unicorn is fighting ferociously. Guided by the crowd of dolls and the voice of the sage. He obtains an ancient sword at the base of the moon, and now on to Pegasus. Who called the Holy Warrior? But she was such a good child. Well...

[edit] Plot

Maniwa is now somewhat delusional and spends at least part of his time dressed as a superhero, patrolling the rooftops of Tokyo. The episode begins with a battle between Maniwa and Lil' Slugger (who has taken on a demonic form). Maniwa is injured and Lil' Slugger slips away as a shadow. Maniwa turns to the (now bedridden) old man for help. He says to him something about dancing with a bunny shortly before passing away. Maniwa heads to Misae's house after hearing her on his massive collection of radio equipment. When he arrives, he demands to know how she fought off Lil' Slugger and is told that Lil' Slugger and Maromi are the same.

There is a montage of news clips illustrating the extreme popularity of Maromi, leading up to an interview with Tsukiko. Her childhood notebook, containing several Maromi-like characters, is displayed on TV. Maniwa, watching from a busy shopping center, notices a small, dark scribble that resembles a silhouette of Lil' Slugger among the Maromi sketches. While contemplating, he hears a voice calling to him. Looking at his reflection in a store window, Maniwa notices a doll in a playboy bunny suit as she asks him to follow her. Maniwa reaches the apartment of an otaku with a big collection of dolls. With their help (only Maniwa can see or hear them as alive, and the otaku isn't aware of his presence), one of the dolls informs him that there was another incident similar to the Lil' Slugger attacks ten years ago. The victim -- Tsukiko!

Tsukiko is driven home by her boss and dropped off; he confronts her as she gets out, grabbing her face and neck violently and criticizing her for thinking she's special. He suddenly recoils, apologizes, and drives off. Seconds later, Tsukiko hears a collision and extended car horn going off. She sees her boss's car has a huge dent in it and the monstrous Lil' Slugger Maniwa faced earlier looms over her, then disappears (shown by the disappearing shadow on Tsukiko).

Maniwa goes to Tsukiko's father to discover the truth behind the incident. Tsukiko was never really attacked. He mentions that it's the only thing he ever let her get away with. As Maniwa is looking at a weathered, old doghouse, Tsukiko's dad shows him a baseball bat and says he carried it around pretending to believe her, and pursuing the imaginary assailant. Maniwa takes it, believing it's a "legendary sword."

At her boss's funeral, Tsukiko endures the gossip of women who hate her and blame her for the death. Back at M&F, Maniwa contacts Tsukiko and tells her that he knows everything. However, Maromi cuts the line and Lil' Slugger suddenly appears, more deformed and monstrous than ever. Maniwa appears to fight Lil' Slugger.

In the meantime, Maromi leads Tsukiko to Ikari's paper-cutout world. Around Tokyo, figures, images, and merchandise of Maromi are disappearing as the victims of Lil' Slugger fall back into their repsective states of paranoia (after a quick flash of their representative animals, like Harumi/Maria and a butterfly). The otaku has completed the doll he's working on, a depiction of himself wearing a Maromi shirt. A hole appears where Maromi's picture is (both on the doll's and on the otaku's shirt). As he stumbles outside, horrified, he is suddenly engulfed by shadow.

In the final scene, we see Misae being wheeled through a hospital on a gurney. She clutches a picture of herself and Ikari, and won't or can't answer the doctors' questions. They disappear and Misae rolls into an elevator. The old man appears(presumably indicating Misae has died), tall to the point of being grotesque and dressed in red as a bellhop, and asks what floor Misae is going to with a deadpan expression. In a weak voice, she whispers that she wants to see her husband, and the old man agrees.

[edit] Notes

-Episode Title Appearance: "Re-da- Man" is formed from some neon lights burning out in a Japanese billboard normally reading (translated) "Magazines for Intelligent Investors Trader Monthly" (the last two words are spelled Tore-da- mansuri). --In the Adult Swim version, a translating caption reads "Radar Man".

-Many elements and much of the staging for this episode were inspired by Batman the animated series. A nod is made to the series when Radar Man jumps atop a "Bat-delivery" truck.

- Maniwa is able to see the Otaku's anime models move and can converse with them, further demonstrating his descent from reality into the world of Maromi and Lil' Slugger.

- The demonic form of Lil' Slugger that Maniwa faces resembles an oni.

- Audio clips taken from the quoted first lines of this episode were used for the teaser trailer for the initial Adult Swim broadcast.

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