These are the two strangest episodes of Paranoia Agent (and considering what’s already happened, that’s saying something). In “ETC,” a gaggle of gossiping neighbors trades tall tales about Shonen Bat. Satoshi Kon assembled a murderer’s row of Madhouse employees (including the legendary Rintaro!) to animate the individual segments of this micro-anthology. Then, in “Mellow Maromi,” the series enters its own meta-verse, with an episode depicting a team of overworked people trying to make a single episode of an anime. According to our research, Kon originally wanted this to be a live-action episode about the making of _Paranoia Agent _itself. Joseph and Ian are joined by returning guest Eric Thurm and his colleague Chingy Nea. Together, the two also covered all of Paranoia Agent in their ‘Behind Anime Lines’ column on Fanbyte. Read their coverage on ‘Behind Anime Lines’ here: https://www.fanbyte.com/tag/behind-anime-lines/ Recap: 00:00 Analysis: 07:14