Talk:List of Paranoia Agent characters

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[edit] Multiple Entendre?

If the first name of Tsukiko is a play on the term "Lunacy" and her last name means bird, is it possible that this is in fact a joke about the slang phrase "loony bird"?

Entirely possible. I hadn't thought of that angle.--Mitsukai 00:18, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)
How is Tsukiko a pun on lunacy? No matter how I say the name, I don't hear it. --Frungi 4 July 2005 03:18 (UTC)
It's more of a play on words than a pun due to the cross-language joke involved (see directly above for that answer). That may have to be corrected in the text.--Mitsukai 4 July 2005 03:19 (UTC)
But where do you get the first part of the joke (Tsukiko ≈ lunacy)? --Frungi 4 July 2005 16:14 (UTC)
Tsuki-ko, "moon child", but also "little moon". In some languages, "little moon" is the term for lunacy.--Mitsukai 4 July 2005 18:59 (UTC)
Should the article be changed to say that? It currently says the name may be a pun on the English word. --Frungi 4 July 2005 19:28 (UTC)
"Lunacy" is one of those words that is tied into the "little moon" or "moon" bits, so it is valid to say lunacy. We could probably reword it to say that it's a "play on words such as lunacy", but I don't think it needs to go that far. If you want to change it, feel free to. That's what we're here for, after all. ^_^--Mitsukai 5 July 2005 00:44 (UTC)

[edit] What was his name!?

In the minor characters section, I want to add the guy who was Tsukiko's Chief for the M & F company. You know, black T shirt, sort of husky build but he sort of has a somewhat feminine way of moving. Has the voice of a suck up sort of..but I can't remember his name. I just skimmed through the entire series quickly to see if I could find it but I couldn't. I can't see his name clearly mentioned in any cast lists either, did he even have a name? I think he'd be a valid addition to the Minor characters section.

He dies in the Radar Man episode, and his name can be read in his funeral picture. I don't know how to read kanjis, and his name is never mentioned directly in the episode. Loborojo

His (last) name was Hatamura. That's what he answers the phone as in the first episode. Someone who can read kanji can figure out his first name, like you said. I'm adding him to the list of minor characters. Honestly, I don't know why anyone else hasn't, since he was in three of the thirteen episodes (episodes one, two, and twelve). Monsieurxander

Originally I was going to add this to the Paranoia Agent's main page but I felt it would make it too long, so I decided to make it a sub section.

I always felt this series was extremely well done, and felt it deserved a little more of an entry. Espeically seeing as how its now being shown on TV, many will eventually begin to analyze the series.

I made some pages for individual characters not too long ago, but they weren't too popular and too full of speculation rather than facts. So rather than continue on with that mess I thought I'd try to challenge myself to make a more focused entry merely giving a short summary to each character. I'm rather new to making entry's at Wikipedia so I'm very open to suggestions, and ofcourse additional information is more than welcome to be added at anyone's leisure.

I would recommend breaking it into three sections, main character (if they play a significant role in the series. I'm assuming that Tsukiko, Little Slugger, Ikari and Maromi are the four that meet the bill), significant characters (other characters who play a large role in the anime but are not vital to the outcome) or minor (if they play a minor or superficial role, such as Prof. Ryu or the otaku). Since I'm watching the series as it airs on Adult Swim, someone who has already seen the whole series might be better at determining who is and who is not a major character.--Mitsukai 19:12, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Thank you. As your watching it for the first time I don't want to give away absolutely everything, although you've probably accidentally been spoiled by much already. (Sorry. ^^;) The thing is, is that almost every episode has a different "main" set of characters, while the Detectives, Tsukiko etc are all more along the lines of recurring characters. Their role as an actual spotlighted character only happens during certain episodes, so I thought it'd be best to maybe put them in the order of which they appear. Although I will consider it once more of the series is shown on Television. Ofcourse, its always open for someone else to do the same thing, but I personally think it works really well the way it is right now. I also decided to exclude the minor characters, as most of the bigger characters I feel deserve a somewhat in depth paragraph as Kon's really done a great job of building their character's, even if they only appear for an episode at a time. Thank you for your suggestion. :3
I see a minor character section was added. On second thought, perhaps splitting the recurring characters to the episodic characters could work. Let me give it a shot and see how it works
Switched Misae and Radar Man to main recurring characters. Both are heavily featured in three episodes, are in the opening credits, and contribute QUITE A LOT to the overall storyline (much more than the Old Woman, who is also in the main recurring character category). 130.18.33.135Monsieurxander

[edit] Real villain?

I found out that after her dog died, Tsukiko Sagi "created" Makoto Kozuka's alter ego and clone as a mental scapegoat. Because of this reason, i suspect that she not only the protagonist, but is also the real main villain of the story. -- Ed Telerionus 17:53, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Why a separate page?

Why isn't this part of Paranoia Agent as a section? A single, 13-episode animated series doesn't seem to me to be worth splitting out a separate page just for character listings. Still, there's some good work here, and it should be preserved. -Harmil 30 June 2005 19:28 (UTC)

I believe it was created in an proactive attempt to adhere to the 30K limit guideline for Wikipedia pages. As the series gets more airing in the US, there's going to be multiple layers added to the main PA page and that one is going to grow rather quickly, thus necessitating breakoffs; this likely would be the first section to be broken off due to its present size as is. A bit forward thinking, admittedly, but as you metioned, worth preserving.--Mitsukai 1 July 2005 13:34 (UTC)
Yes thats pretty much it. This series has a really diverse and complex cast as well as a number of things that could go over a lot of people's heads such as symbolism and story relevance. But rather than make the main page nearly unvewable due to the length we opted to make it a new page.--Kiyosuki 14:15, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] About Taeko . . .

I only saw the dubbed version on television, but didn't she discover the photos from the hidden camera in the "trash" on her father's profile, not the Internet?

No, she found them next to the trash can on the desktop. It seems her father was going to delete the files, but when he dragged them to the trash can, he missed and lefted them on the desktop. Then she found them after changing the background.

but, to ask the reaaly dark question, was it ever definitively revealed that he was selling the pics? the "YOU HAVE TO CALL ME DADDY!!!" bit with the whore was a particularly strong indicator that the pics weren't for business alone.

Thank you; that was totally what I meant. Also, it wasn't just the whore; it was the little girl at the house he was robbing just before he caught "Little Slugger." -HurriSbezu

The nature of his need for Taeko's pictures is very cojunctural. He could of been selling them for money...which would go with his overall money grubber ambitions. However, he also did seem to have some very interesting sexual fetishes...there's really no way to tell for certain. Its pretty disturbing either way however. --Kiyosuki 14:17, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Zebra, Fuyubachi, and Kamome

Me and an acquantence looked into some things, and we discoveredvarious details, such as the earliest point where they could have died and the latest point where they could have died. However, there are disputes:

  • Did they all die at the same time?
    • Zebra - It is assumed that he died after taking all the pills and inhaling the smoke
    • Fuyubachi - It is speculated that he may have died on the train, where he appeared dead
    • Kamome - It is speculated that she died before Zebra
  • Shadows
    • Shadows appear on the characters at several points, so this could be interpeted as them living, or it could be interpreted that the shadows appear on them because they have some connection to the mortal realm. They do, indeed, change clothing; and do not cast shadows outside of on themselves.
  • Ravens (crows?)
    • What do they symbolize in this episode? They appear at the bench, where they were discussing how to die, and then later when Fuyubachi discovers that they died.
  • Train victim
    • It appears that Zebra was the only one that saw him, so it raises questions of if the other two could see him. Were they dead at the time? Does the old man die on the train, and does the young girl die after they fail at hanging themselves?

Comments would be nice. -- A Link to the Past 08:27, July 17, 2005 (UTC)

A common mythological theme is that crows escort the souls of the dead to the afterlife, so crows are often used symbolically to represent the transition of the spirit to the world of the afterlife.

Kamome is dead by the time she makes the second phone-call (to enter the sealed room she had to have passed through the wall, expecially as suddenly and eerily as she did. She did not want to be alone, and therefore at her death she went to meet her friends in the afterlife). Both Zebra and Fuyubachi -must- be dead after inhaling the toxic poison and swallowing all the pills, as evident by the fact neither Zebra or Fuyabachi cast shadows on the ground in any other scenes. Look closely in the train station, all three of the characters are the only characters (aside from the ghost of the man who threw himself in front of the train) who have no shadows while everyone else standing around in the station has a shadow beneath them.

If you watch closely as they set up the hibachi and seal the room, Kamome is hiding in the background, so she probably just wanted to hide to surprise them. This can, obviously, be intrepreted as her already being a ghost, but Zebra and Fuyubachi not being able to see or talk to her until after they have both also died--Author X 03:03, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

As for the internet chat room scenes, they are flashbacks of conversations the characters had online before the meeting in the park.

Now, the only inconsistency I see in the anime is that Fuyubachi swallowed his last painkiller from his botte in the beginning of the episode before he died (he had a shadow before the abandoned building scene) yet his pill has mysteriously returned again at the end of the episode; which is the pivotal point where he realizes he and the others are dead. The only way that could happen is if he was already dead before he ever set out to meet the others in the park, which is a definite plothole in the story. However, it -could- be explained that he was already dead and his shadow was merely a goof on part of the production team and much of his horror at the end is realizing that he was dead and his actions had caused the death of both Zebra and Kamome.

I don't think that the pill is that big of a plothole. he also feels that Zebra's hand is warm, which makes no sense either. i think that he just imagines that the pill is still there, and as they are no longer bound by the physical realm, this makes it so. this "lack of limitation" is also illustrated by their walk at the end of the episode, when as a truck drives by, they all suddenly change location. also, Zebra's the only one who sees the guy on the train because he's farther back than the other two, so he was close enough to notice. Kamome was freaked out by the jumper and Fuyubachi was attending to her. Zebra wasn't doing much of anything, and thusly noticed the other ghost. There is another legend about dying where you always start the next day just like you started the previous day. So Fuyubashi will always have one pill, and the contents of the backpack. Also, they make a comment about the grim reaper being to busy to collect the souls. This is important because it explains why they have not been collected from the mortal realm. They say this after they are already dead. On another note, are we sure he is named Fuyubashi, and not Fuyuhashi? Fuyuhashi translates to "Winter Bee" but Fuyubashi doen't translate to anything significant. This would also play into the prophecy.

[edit] episode 3

The beginning of episode 3 was a litte disturbing... does anyone else agree??

[edit] Psychology

It is obvious that this show deals extensively with human psychology...It seems as though each of the victims has some sort of psychological disorder or condition (e.g. Yuichi-superiority complex, Harumi-Multiple Personalities, Tsukiko-mental and emotional divergence, etc.) It might be appropriate to include a brief psychoanalysis with each character...This might go a long way towards bringing new perspective into this discussion. I hope that someone with a fair knowledge of psychology will be able to make the appropriate edits. Dave 01:45, 13 May 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Ages?

Should the information about the characters' known ages be included? e.g I was watching the Radar Man episode and it's revealed that Tsukiko's age is 22. She was 12 years old when the first "Lil Slugger" incident happened, and it was "10 years ago" as stated by the Meganecco doll. Loborojo

[edit] Shogo vs Yuichi

It is clear that these two characters were constructed as foils for each other. Even though there is evidence that the director is critical of Yuichi, I have to question the extent of this from what was shown in the anime. I think saying this about him is a bit inaccurate "[he] is really a vain, spoiled brat whose ego has been so overfilled with delusions of popularity and self-indulgence that it has made his mind weak, inflexible and delicate." Besides the unncecessary harshness of this statement, I can't help but question the accuracy of it. For example, was his concept of his own popularity delusional? I don't believe it was. I believe we were led to believe that he was in fact the most popular kid in school so I would believe that his sense of his popularity may not be humble but it certainly wasn't delusional. He certainly does seem vain especially with the numerous teeth shots and his opinion of Shogo, but exactly how spoiled is he? I didn't notice any signs of him being spoiled. His lonely birthday party was not extravagant as I would expect from a kid who is spoiled. His room and home looked typical and in no way suggested wealth or indulgence. Also, is he a brat? a brat is "A child, especially a spoiled or ill-mannered one" yet Yuichi is not spoiled and he doesn't lack manners. He cooperates with the police. Despite his mind breaking down, he was actually rather well behaved. He is clearly not a brat.

Also, it is further suggested that vain self-indulgence and egotism is the reason that lil slugger attacked him. However, lil slugger also attacked Shogo. There is no explanation for this though. If these two characters are to be fairly treated as opposites, then this means that the director was in part critical of both of them. If Yuichi was too vain and egocentric, then Shogo was too submissive and allowed others to walk over him. We are meant to like Shogo for his honesty and kindness, however, he himself was actively trying stop being so passive. If Yuichi's crime was that his ego was gigantic, then Shogo's crime was his inefficacy. Furthermore, wasn't Yuichi treated as a victim throughout all of this? It is true that we see him undergo a mental breakdown and experiencing paranoia. However, we never seen any behavior of his that would require punishment such as this. In fact, the most criticism that could be leveled against Yuichi would be on what he was like before lil slugger but we saw next to none of this except for a few Toothpaste commercial inspired shots. Also, we are definitely meant to like his mother and Harumi who are both very fond of him. Even the likeable Shogo is friendly towards him. Shogo's defending of Yuichi in class against him as lil slugger can be explained as him doing the right thing as the character we like. However, later in the episode, after Yuichi had bullied Shogo, they were walking together as if friends. Clearly, Shogo doesn't think of Yuichi as a bad person despite his behavior towards him. In all of these ways, Yuichi is clearly being presented as an unwarranted victim rather than a villain being punished. I think that the way everything is paralleled between Yuichi and Shogo suggests that the director wasn't exactly critical of either of them but instead of the environment they were in at school with the peer pressure. It seems to make more sense that they were both victims of the current school system and it was lil slugger who released them from it. 159.242.10.215 20:36, 6 May 2007 (UTC)