What happens when your dreams and reality merge together?
For today's recommendation, I'll be taking you back to the 00s. If you are someone who loves a dense plot and wants to experiment with anime or perhaps want some added spice to your list of "animes to watch", I introduce you to Paprika! The perfect spice to elevate your palette.
Quick Synopsis: The movie revolves around Dr. Atsuko Chiba who works as a scientist, but also works like a dream detective under the code name "Paprika". Atsuko and her team members are working on a device called DC Mini, which allows Psychiatrists to aid their patients by entering their dreams, but if it comes into the wrong hands, it can cause serious damage.
So my introduction to the world of anime was a movie that was so dark and twisted that it made me question everything and everyone around me. It was none other than Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue. That movie had such an impact solely cause of how relevant it was in today's time. Ever since then I've been engrossed in this genre of films.
Director Satoshi Kon is well known for his brilliant works like Perfect Blue (1997), Millenium Actress (2001), and Tokyo Godfathers (2003). His final installment was Paprika (2006), unfortunately, in 2010, he passed away due to Pancreatic Cancer.
Paprika was released in 2006 under Madhouse and Sony Entertainment Pictures. It's a 90-minute long film that will make your head spiral in ways that only one can imagine.
In hopes to treat their patient's psychotic disorders, Doctor Kosaku Tokita (Toru Furuya) and Atsuko Chiba (Megumi Hayashibara) come up with a device called DC Mini. The device is in the form of a headset which when put on the patient allows the doctors to view their dreams on a tiny computer screen. Doctors also have the ability to enter their dreams to help them deal with their traumas better. But before they could make changes to the prototype, the device is stolen which essentially means that anyone can dive into the dreams of others. The idea of having access to the human psyche is already terrifying, to know that anyone can view you at your most vulnerable moment? even more disastrous.
Soon the problem arises when people's dreams start getting invaded which leads to the person causing severe harm to themselves. The fine line between reality and dreams begins to diminish as we begin to enter a dystopian world, where objects in your dreams appear in your reality and vice-versa. Tokita and Chiba along with detective Toshimi Konakawa (Ootsuka Akio), Shima Torataro (Hori Katsunosuke), and Paprika (Megumi Hayashibara) together begin to search for the perpetrator in the real world and the dream world.
Paprika is a detective who only exists in the dreamland, she is exactly the opposite of what doctor Chiba is, one can say she is her alter-ego. To begin with, our main lead Paprika/Doctor Chiba are polar opposites in every sense. While Paprika is sweet, vivacious, and a little flirtatious, doctor Chiba is extremely introverted, work-oriented, and cold towards her workers. Paprika is the only one who points out Chiba's flaws. One can also see the vast difference by the way they dress as well. Paprika chooses to wear bold tones while doctor Chiba sticks with her monochrome tones. Megumi Hayashibara deserves applause for voicing both the leads. It almost felt as if it was two different people talking. She did a great job of absorbing their characteristics and expressing them through the dialogues. Kosaku Tokita is the genius behind DC Mini, one would think of his character to be exactly like Chiba or perhaps more dense than her (considering he's the creator). Instead, he turns out to be a man-child who won't accept anyone's opinion if they're negative, he's immature but a master at his work. It's interesting to see the platonic relationship between Chiba and Tokito, two people completely different from one another but still have a close bond. Another character is detective Konakawa who is solving the DC Mini case but simultaneously is dealing with his own demons where he is stuck in a recurring nightmare.
The visual production of the movie is one of the reasons why it's worth the watch, props to Madhouse. Another aspect that I've witnessed in Kon's movies is the recurring theme of what's reality and fantasy, despite being repetitive he managed to deliver alternate realities every time. The visual transitions in the movie were extremely smooth and almost breathtaking to watch. Paprika tells you that you don't need reality to tell a tale, it can be in the realm of your dreams too. Even in the movie, Konakawa seems to enjoy his dreams more than his real life.
Paprika begs the question of who we are and who we want to be, are we portraying our true selves? or is it just skin? It deals with our relationship with dreams, and how we handle them. Primarily dreams are our escape from reality, they're not real but those dreams stem from our emotions like fear or suppression.
Paprika requires patience, it'll confuse you but in the end, it all binds together. it's a cinematic experience and a perfect end to Kon's short-lived but phenomenal career. If you haven't watched it, brace yourselves and hop on this journey to the psychedelic world.
You can watch Paprika on Netflix
Let me know your thoughts. Have you watched Satoshi Kon's movies? Thank you for stopping by I appreciate you. Have a great week ahead!
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