Paranoia Agent 1.06

Fear of a Direct Hit

Tokyo experiences stormy weather. Ikari and Maniwa, the two police detectives, continue to investigate the case of Shonen Bat. They spend a lot of time questioning the old homeless lady. Ikari is very aggressive in his questioning. She only wants to talk about her granddaughter whom she has not seen in a long time.

A young teenager named Taeko has run away from home after finding out that someone has been watching her, taking pictures of her as she undresses. She suspects or knows that it was her father. After tearing her room apart and destroying the hidden camera, she takes to the streets.

The storm gets more intense. It destroys the shelter that the old homeless lady built for herself and carries her away. Ikari and Maniwa summon Tsukiko Sagi, the first person attacked by Shonen Bat, and question her. Ikari is very verbally aggressive. He insists that there Lil' Slugger does not exist and that she injured herself. He tells her that the old homeless lady saw it all. Tsukiko falls down in the middle of the interrogation as if she was just hit by Shonen Bat.

The home where Taeko lived with her parents is destroyed by the storm. Her father is Hirukawa, the policeman who caught Lil' Slugger at the end of episode 4. Taeko is struck by Shonen Bat. The old lady is swept down a river. and then winds up in a hospital. Her granddaughter comes to see her. Taeko also winds up in a hospital. Her father is there when she wakes up but she doesn't recognize him.

Thoughts

Most, possibly all, of the named characters who have appeared in this series made appearances in this episode. Some of them only got very brief scenes with no lines or very few lines.

Early in this episode it seems like Taeko maybe the granddaughter of whom the old homeless lady spoke. Towards the end it becomes clear that she is not her granddaughter.

This show is anything but light and easy to follow.

This episode didn't feel quite as bizarre as the last one but it still wasn't easy to follow. The focus bounces back and forth between the two detectives and Taeko. I watched it twice. There were some things that didn't stick with me on the first viewing.