lrunte - 2016-03-09 20:16:40

Without warning, Satoshi Kon mixes dream and reality and takes us far, far away in his dreamlike delirium. It requires from the outset a steady pace which remains from beginning to end in leading us in the constant action while exploring all facets of his approach. We have the feeling of running in all directions so much it's rich, especially as the graphic quality is amazing, especially in terms of movements, which are also constant, fully consistent with the purpose. With Paprika, there is no barrier to the imagination, no concessions to this delusional epic at the heart of the complex psychology of colorful characters. Paprika is an intense movie both in terms of the pace of the action of the concentration it requires to follow everything. In one word : MASTERPIECE.

cathryn03 - 2015-12-27 04:32:27

So there is a very easy way to describe this movie in three simple words:

1: what.
2: the.
3. fuck

kasey.gislason - 2015-05-29 13:41:47

Another recommendation I had from my friend Rach. Ialready watched it 2 times and I believe I won’t stop there. Here’s my review.

[8] Story

The movie literally puts you in the middle of thestory. Like many sci-fi movies, I’d love to get a hold of the details of theinvestigation and development of the DC mini, but the story here is about whathappens when such a device is stolen. For its immense potential, anybody who possessesit illegally is considered a terrorist. With a few plot twists and beautiful dialogues,Paprika is a solid work, most of all. Like Akira, I felt that I really wantedto have gone deeper into the story. Something that I usually don’t feel with Ghibli,for instance.

[9] Animation

It is refined, appealing and intense. The mostinteresting dimension in Paprika is definitely this. You literally get the feelingof an animated drawing where colors are vivid and the outlines are magicallymade real (through movement). Details and cinematics are a delicacy. Even ifyou don’t grab the story or feel particularly interested in it, I think you’llappreciate the rest. Sometimes you will sense that the figures are dragging intheir movement, much like an old movie; but the graphic quality creates aunique world here, not that it only exists in Paprika. Guess it’s Satoshi Konand that’s it in a nutshell. And speaking of ‘shell’—  I’ve sensed it in Ghost in the Shell: StandAlone Complex, but I’ve sadly only watched 1 episode yet. So if you liked it,you can try Paprika. :)

[8] Sound

Technically well made, it didn’t excite me enough. Ibelieve it is the sound that often enhances how you will ‘carry’ the movie experiencethroughout the future. It’s alright that they experimented with a vocaloid, asa fan of electronic music and digital creation in general, it was fun.

[8] Character

Characters are well defined. I especially like thetone of Paprika in her conversations: she is open-minded, playful and charming,like a childish/artist version of her alter-ego. Dr Shima is also quite a character!Those were my personal favorites. Konakawa’s dream is also very interestinglymade. I think we will all see a bit of ourselves in one of these characters.Guess they’ve played smart.

[8] Enjoyment

I spent some time of this movie trying to put piecestogether. The events can go on a bit strangely sometimes, making the watcherwonder what is really going on until clues are given. Still, it is just wonderfulto watch the story develop and how characters behave in the meantime. Ihonestly hope that dream therapy will be available in the future, even thoughthere are risks associated to it... Well, there are always risks abouteverything! Just go watch Paprika!

[8] Overall

It’s not a favorite by itself, but it’s still a greatmovie. A good choice for when you don’t know what to watch, with or without agroup of friends. It has a few moments of relaxed comedy, a few thrilling scenes,a bit of sci-fi going on as well… I’d say it’s very complete and amusing. I don’trecommend it to narrow people. *laughs*

srippin - 2015-05-20 11:51:47

En verdad es una pelicula que supera a Inception de Nolan.

victoria.beatty - 2015-05-05 22:08:14

Absolutely mind blowing. Paprika is a masterpiece of surrealism, symbolism, and just overall batshit insanity. Watching this was like riding a roller-coaster whilst on a merry-go-round, while being blindfolded and drunk (in the best possible way).

Everything about Paprika is top notch: characters, plot, atmosphere, music, you name it. The sheer discomfort caused by this film (and it is nothing short of film if you have any critical instinct) is something that I've never felt while watching an anime and will likely never feel again. Paprika is a must-watch: It is more than an anime movie, it's an experience. Absolutely 10/10.

norn - 2014-04-06 05:08:03

"Now... it's showtime!"

Paprika is a 1993 novel by author Yasutaka Tsutsui. The anime adaptation of the novel is done by Studio Madhouse.It is also the final film to have been directed by Satoshi Kon prior to his death. Madhouse has also animated Kon’s previous works; Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paranoia Agent. I recommend that you watch these if you haven’t already.

STORY 7/10

Paprika is about dreams, more specifically about a device that has been stolen that allows the user to jump into another person’s dream. Unfortunately the device is only a prototype and dangerous to use without the proper safety measures. The device is dubbed the “DC Mini” and was intended to be used in the field of Psychotherapy so that a psychotherapist could understand their patient more by actually going into their dreams and seeing a bit of their sub-consciousness. It is up to the team that headed the DC Mini project to get the device back from whoever has stolen it.

That makes the story seem simple and it is. There are a couple of things that I was iffy about, first thing is that scientific terms are thrown around and that can add to the confusion of some people on top of the “Is this really a dream?” sort of thing that happens in the narrative because the DC Mini was stolen.The movie is worth a rewatch if you feel that you missed parts of the narrative or if it didn’t make sense and doing a bit of research into dreaming, REM and more stuff on the dreaming side can help.

ANIMATION 8/10

Like all of Kon’s other works Paprika has that surreal feeling to it and that element exemplified by the concept of Paprika. Dreaming, anything is possible in dreams and almost anything is possible with animation. I would call the animation whimsical, that doesn’t give Paprika much credit it has energy and feels alive too.

There is a bit of variety for the actual set pieces and that is nice. There is a bit of repetition which is to be expected. The movie largely consists of the urban sort of environment: offices, apartments and all that jazz. While the dreams do have a couple more areas that they explore it still has the city or a similar environment as the focus.

Outside of the dreams the animation is quite standard. Another I did like was the transitions between the set pieces, what I am talking about can be seen in the first few minutes of the film; think of the Baccano! or Durarara!! Openings and how they go from one scene to another seamlessly. That is the sort of thing that happens in this movie; the whole movie isn’t like that else it would get dry.

SOUND 8/10

The soundtrack to this movie is great. The soundtrack is also bizarre. I haven’t heard much else like it and it gives the movie a magical feeling especially when combined with the animation. The soundtrack is composed by Susumu Hirasawa; he also composed the soundtrack for Millennium Actress, Paranoia Agent and also Berserk. Paprika’s score has thirteen songs but as a collective the soundtrack is forgettable with a couple of standout tracks.

CHARACTER 8/10

There are half dozen characters of significance in Paprika and in the hour and a half that it had to explore, expand or explain the characters it felt like it ran out of time for one or two of them but it does feel complete by the end. For the time they had it was a nice effort.Many details and relationships between the characters are left ambiguous and explained later, this is a double-edged blade and it only really works half the time in Paprika. In the other times if you have missed a detail you’ll be confused about how that was an outcome. Many little hints can be easily missed or overlooked.

ENJOYMENT 9/10

I could praise this film for days. Satoshi Kon was a great director and he has proved this through the anime that have that consistent quality. I feel that compared to some other directors he truly challenged himself and his team with the anime that they have produced. I appreciate the animation and the soundtrack they make Paprika what it is. If Paprika didn’t have Kon and Madhouse’s magic it would have been boring. The way it was told was what made it exciting and interesting.

In the end, after reading all of this I think it may be obvious what I thought of the film, it is one of my favorite anime movies of course.I recommend that you watch this so that you can get your own opinion on it and so that you can experience it yourself. Make sure to watch the other anime that I have mentioned in this review. Overall I give Paprika 8/10.

Perfect Blue was the debut work of Satoshi Kon and a good place to start if you want to watch all of his works. Check out Azuslu7jpg’s Perfect Blue review if you want to know more about it.

violet.larson - 2014-01-31 10:11:36

"Paprika" is a movie about dreams. You could even say it is a dream.

With the future of science being as advanced as it is, the development of a system where you can view and interact with dreams in real time called the "DC Mini", is being used as a psychotherapy tool.

But without limitations installed on the prototype models, they could be dangerous tool, if stolen.

That is sadly, exactly what happens.

The only one who can stop this is Paprika, a mysterious women who coincides in the body of Chiba Atsuko, the head of the DC Mini development team, along with the literally larger than life genius, Kosaku Tokita.

"Paprika" was originally a book written in 1993 by Yasutaka Tsutsui, who also wrote "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" in 1967. I have not read any of his books yet, but with the experience I've had with his writing so far, he's a very intelligent, imaginative writer.

This film being directed by the late Satoshi Kon, you will no doubt end up with quality product, this being the last film he directed, it's a nice good bye. We did end up with quality.

For character, Paprika and Atsuko Chiba occupy the same body. Paprika seems to have the ability to travel between dreams an reality.

Torataro Shima is a gifted psychiatrist who is supporting the "DC Mini" operation along with Morio Osanai, kind of an underling of the operation.

Seijiro Inui is the chairman of the Institute for Psychiatric Research where the DC Mini operation is being funded and taking place, and what he says goes. He's against the development of the DC Mini for the most part.

Toshimi Konakawa is a a cop, and a college friend of Shima's, and is under psychiatric treatment using the DC Mini, he's kind of a subject.

Kosaku Tokita is the genius who created the DC Mini. He is quite immature, he basically started this whole mess.

Homera Kei is a suspect who may have stolen the DC Mini prototypes, he was Tokita's friend.

The art in this picture is of high quality, which is something to expect by Satoshi Kon and his crew. There is some nudity in this production, that is basically it when it comes to obscenity in this film... Other than the messed up dreams of course.

You could show this film to a young adult.

The sound in this film is excellent. I seriously cannot get enough of Susumu Hirasawa, I thank Satoshi Kon for promoting him, as well and showing us this amazing composer and musician! The SFX are very imaginative and unique.

All of the seiyuu are excellent, nothing to complain about there.

---

This is an intelligent, imaginative film. It's nothing deep (Unless you want it to be), a very unique psychological thriller, except replacing all of the gore and mind games with crazy dreams filled with parades, butterflies, enchanted forests, gibberish, and a giant naked woman eating someone else's dreams (You'll just have to see it).

This is not a long film at all, 90 minutes in fact, the shortest that movies come. For that length, this is a film worth viewing.

I would recommend this film to anyone interested. In fact, I would recommend everything Satoshi Kon has created to anyone interested, he's that good.

joconner - 2013-07-19 20:50:42

Paprika is actually the only thing Satoshi Kon has directed that is adapted from another medium, but in true Kon fashion he makes it no less his then any of his works. The story, adapted from the novel of the same name, is essentially just a vehicle for a bizarre vision of Kon's, inspired by the music of Susumu Hirasawa (who, unsurprisingly, wrote the soundtrack for Paprika), to create a bizarre audiovisual experience akin to that of Yellow Submarine.Of course, Paprika is far from a feature length music video, which is hardly surprising given its origins as a novel. The plot revolves around a device called the DC Mini, a device made by the eccentric, morbidly obese scientist Kosaku Tokita, that allows people to experience each other's dreams. However, the device is stolen, and starts being used to implant dreams in fully conscious people, causing them to go crazy. In effect, it's subconscious terrorism.The characters in this film are of a surprisingly high quality. It's not often that a single film can make a particularly memorable character, but this is a feat that Paprika manages for every member of its cast. Every one of them is memorable and well fleshed-out, and no one character takes a back seat just for the sake of the lead getting focus. The main character, Atsuko Chiba, is an uptight, stoic businesswoman, but in her subconscious dreams she takes on an alter-ego, the titular Paprika, who is essentially the complete opposite of Chiba... quirky, vibrant, and fun-loving. Toshimi Konokawa is a detective who is an early patient of the DC Mini, who asks for Paprika's help in dealing with his nightmares of a murder case. Kosaku Tokita is the aforementioned morbidly obese scientist, a man with a childlike disposition that causes him to not think through the possible repercussions of his scientific advances. The wheelchair-bound chairman (I'm not sure if this pun was intentional or not) is a stern man who believes that dreams are sacred, and that science has taken a step too far.One thing about this that's very much worth noting are the comparisons to recent blockbuster film Inception, and the claims that Inception ripped off Paprika. While there are some serious similarities that can be quite hard to chalk up to coincidence, most noticeably in the premise itself, and in a more specific instance the way certain characters are handled as well as a motif used to portray them (see the elevator scene in both films), neither film really comes off as worse for it. This is mostly because while the movies share similar themes, both go about it in completely different ways. While Inception runs with an airtight, professional system of rules and techniques that focus on the ways the dreams are hacked, and the ideas behind the titular technique of Inception, Paprika goes for a more surrealist, stream-of-consciousness style, blurring the lines between dreams and reality much like in previous Kon works like Paranoia Agent. As a result, while the argument that Inception ripped off Paprika does hold a fair amount of water, both films are still fantastic in their own right.Going back to the subject of Susuma Hirasawa for a minute, his music is an absolutely perfect fit for Paprika, as it has been in previous Kon works. He's been compared to Danny Elfman in contrast to Kon's Tim Burton, in that the two of them, when working together, manage to create a bizarre marriage of music and animation, as seen in Paranoia Agent and Millennium Actress as well. Paprika, however, is probably the ultimate example, and is sadly the last, not counting the possibility of Hirasawa working on Kon's posthumous project The Dream Machine.As for the other technical aspects, Madhouse deliver once again with the art. It's in the same style as Paranoia Agent, Millennium Actress and so on, and is produced to a high standard of fluid animation. The directing is unsurprisingly superb, blurring the lines of reality excellently, and creating fantastic, gleeful dreamscapes of derangedly cheerful imagery. The voice acting in the original Japanese is superb, bringing together numerous cast members of Evangelion again, and featuring a fantastic performance from Megumi Hayashibara as Chiba, and her alter-ego. The dub, while far from bad, doesn't really scale up. Cindy Robinson puts in a great performance as Paprika, but really can't cut it as her conscious counterpart Chiba. The rest of the cast, for the most part, seem very miscast. In fact, some of the performances in the dub are actually very good. In particular, Yuri Lowenthal's take on Tokita is absolutely dead-on. He captures many of the childlike nuances of his speech perfectly... and yet, his voice itself simply feels unfit to the role.Overall, while mostly fantastic, Paprika does have a serious flaw. In its surrealism, it loses track of the plot. Whilst the plot is mostly strong, it can become more disorienting than simply bizarre, and especially towards the ending it loses track of what was happening in the plot. It seems quite strange that this would be the case, considering the source material... which may be worth checking out, if only to explain what happened in the ending. Even after numerous viewings, I honestly couldn't explain exactly what happened no matter how hard I tried.Nonetheless, Paprika is something that absolutely has to be experienced because there is honestly nothing else quite like it. It's one of those rare anime that I would honestly recommend even to people who aren't anime fans. It's less in the vein of anime and more in the vein of surrealist films, but using animation in the perfect way to bring out the bizarre visions behind it.Final Words: Whilst not quite perfect, it's an absolute sight to behold. An absolute must-see.Animation/Graphics: 10/10Story/Plot: 7/10Music/Background: 10/10English Dub: 6/10Overall: 9/10For Fans Of: Millennium Actress, Ghost In The Shell.