Paprika
(2006)
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Watch Trailer 0Share... |
Paprika
(2006)
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Watch Trailer 0Share... |
Credited cast: | |||
Megumi Hayashibara | ... |
Paprika /
Chiba Atsuko
(voice)
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Tôru Furuya | ... |
Tokita Kohsaku
(voice)
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Kôichi Yamadera | ... |
Osanai Morio
(voice)
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Katsunosuke Hori | ... |
Shima Tora-taroh
(voice)
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Tôru Emori | ... |
Inui Sei-jiroh
(voice)
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Akio Ôtsuka | ... |
Detective Kogawa Toshimi
(voice)
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Hideyuki Tanaka | ... |
Guy
(voice)
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Satomi Koorogi | ... |
A doll
(voice)
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Daisuke Sakaguchi | ... |
Himuro Kei
(voice)
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Mitsuo Iwata | ... |
Tsumura Yasushi
(voice)
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Rikako Aikawa | ... |
Kakimoto Nobue
(voice)
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Shin'ichirô Ôta | ... |
Reporter
(voice)
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Satoshi Kon | ... |
Jin-nai
(voice)
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Yasutaka Tsutsui | ... |
Kuga
(voice)
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Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Brian Beacock | ... |
Hajime Himuro /
Kuga
(voice)
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Three scientists at the Foundation for Psychiatric Research fail to secure a device they've invented, the D.C. Mini, which allows people to record and watch their dreams. A thief uses the device to enter people's minds, when awake, and distract them with their own dreams and those of others. Chaos ensues. The trio - Chiba, Tokita, and Shima - assisted by a police inspector and by a sprite named Paprika must try to identify the thief as they ward off the thief's attacks on their own psyches. Dreams, reality, and the movies merge, while characters question the limits of science and the wisdom of Big Brother. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
I'm not an expert in anime, nor have I seen a lot of this genre, but I utterly admire the immense creativity of people like Hayao Miyazaki ("Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away"). Satoshi Kon's "Paprika" is a great example of anime at its finest. The movie is a sea of original ideas and a visual blast. Apparently, the plot is about the theft of a machine that allows scientists to enter and record people's dreams, and how a detective and a young therapist called Paprika join forces to get it back. But there is so much going on and so many smart innuendos (remember: this is Rated R anime, not "Ratatouille" - even though I think the R rating is just too much in this case) that "Paprika" becomes one of the most original adult animations in recent memory - superior to Richard Linklater's "Waking Life" and even "A Scanner Darkly", I dare to say. I won't give away anything because I don't want to spoil a single scene, but I'd say that I see it as a movie about the power of movies over our life/dreams, and about the love people like me have for the Seventh Art. I don't know if that was Kon's original idea and honestly I don't care - it's not every day that you find a movie that amuses and says something to you in such an unpretentious way. Whatever was Kon's original idea, I think that he got what he wanted: a movie that both entertains and makes you think. Simply fascinating. 10/10.