Sometimes a movie can leave you feelings so mixed that you have to wait for a day or two before you realize whether it was actually a masterpiece or only decent entertainment. In my opinion, this amine is pretty close to being a masterpiece. The pitch was not easy to handle, though : a group of scientists (who are protagonists, which is rare in japanime which tends to focus on youngsters or weirdos) has almost completed the design of a brand-new high-tech device called the "DC Mini", which has the ability to display the subject's dreams on a screen. Once recorded, it can be used by specialized psychiatrists for therapeutic use. But one of these happens to get stolen by some tortured megalomaniac mind who uses it to penetrate other people's dreams and destroy their consciousness to death. The fellow scientists will try to discover who is doing that, while getting assistance from a mysterious imaginary girl called Paprika, who is unrivaled at finding the cure to mental illness by penetrating inside dreams and guide the subject to healing.
Curiously enough, though not particularly violent, this anime reminded me of Akira : as a matter of fact, the dream-related part of the movie which uses many distortion effects and frantic music (excellent score from Susumu Hirasawa, by the way). One who knows a little bit of Japanese culture can also distinguish critical viewpoints towards nowadays's Japanese society as well, which is faithful to Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel.
It really made me want to learn more about Satoshi Kon's other movies such as "Perfect Blue" or "Tokyo Godfathers". I guess that's a good odd... Perhaps not the best-suited for children who perhaps won't understand a rather complex script, but a heck of a show for the other !
Curiously enough, though not particularly violent, this anime reminded me of Akira : as a matter of fact, the dream-related part of the movie which uses many distortion effects and frantic music (excellent score from Susumu Hirasawa, by the way). One who knows a little bit of Japanese culture can also distinguish critical viewpoints towards nowadays's Japanese society as well, which is faithful to Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel.
It really made me want to learn more about Satoshi Kon's other movies such as "Perfect Blue" or "Tokyo Godfathers". I guess that's a good odd... Perhaps not the best-suited for children who perhaps won't understand a rather complex script, but a heck of a show for the other !