The two main things that come out of this episode:I found this one hard to follow. Can someone explain what happened this week?
While technically correct, if you went around pronouncing it the Japanese way to the average American they wouldn't know what you were talking about.(snip)
And THAT is how you pronounce "karaoke." Don't know where we got "karry-okey."
(snip)
I recall when I originally saw Paranoia Agent, my theory was Lil' Slugger was the collective unconscious made manifest - everyone's fears, insecurities, sins, hatred; everything negative - took the form of a supernatural being with the power to relieve them of their problems should they truthfully wish it. Sort of like what I thought Pennywise in It was, but he was more like everyone's racism, lust, hatred, cruelty, jealously, etc. - in that town (well, until I read about King's macro canon thing that explains what Pennywise really was). And I don't think Tsukiko was Slugger's creator either, he was always around just without form but growing, then she could have been the final trigger that allowed him to manifest because her high level of creativity made her like a lightning rod to Slugger almost. Huh, tbh, I don't remember if I ever watched Paranoia Agent all the way through.I wasn't surprised that Lil' Slugger was still out there. Makoto always felt like a fake to me. He was way more vocal and dramatic than I would have expected from Lil' Slugger. Plus, he has braces and I don't think Lil' Slugger does. I was surprised that Taeko wasn't the granddaughter that the old woman had talked about. I wonder if her family will become more important later. The detectives, or at least Ikari, firmly believe that Tsukiko faked the attack to extend her deadline. That is still possible, but I'm not quite sure. I think both Tsukiko and the old woman could be unreliable narrators here. We've already seen Tsukiko's doll talk to her, so that does make the audience question what is and isn't real from her perspective. The old woman said that she doesn't have a home to go back to, but her granddaughter was able to see her at the hospital, so I assume that they aren't having as much of a hard time financially. That might be too much of an assumption, but it does make me question if either one of them really saw what they think that they saw. Plus, even if Tsukiko did injury herself, it doesn't explain the multiple other attacks.