Paprika
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STARS > Megumi Hayashibara (voice), Tôru Furuya (voice), Kôichi Yamadera (voice) DIRECTOR > Satoshi Kon [3/5] A hallucinogenic anime collision of dream warriors, evil scientists and giant sieg-heiling Japanese dolls, Paprika follows the dual life of Dr. Atsuko Chiba-half-psychotherapist, half-dreamgirl-who utilizes a device called the DC-Mini to insert herself (in the guise of the doe-eyed, 18-year-old title character) into the nightmares of her patients. When one of the DC-Mini prototypes is stolen-allowing the thief to manipulate the dreams of Chiba's fellow scientists, even while they're awake-chaos ensues, and Paprika/Chiba is plunged into a bizarre vortex of psy-warfare that culminates in a Godzilla-style showdown in the streets of Tokyo. Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1991 novel of the same name (which was apparently serialized in the Japanese version of Marie Claire that same year) Paprika's contortionist plot is a psychedelic amalgamation of Aeon Flux, The Cell and The Nightmare On Elm Street films that are far too elaborate to detail here, but that's just as well: Under the visually arresting direction of Satoshi Kon (Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers), it's way more fun to follow onscreen. -J. Bennett |
