Paprika

The world of dreams can be an incredible window into the psyche, showing one's deepest desires, aspirations, and repressed memories. One hopeful tech lab has been developing the "DC Mini," a device with the power to delve into the dreams of others. Atsuko Chiba and Kosaku Tokita have been tirelessly working to develop this technology with the hopes of using it to deeply explore patients' minds and help cure them of their psychological disorders.

However, having access to the deepest corners of a person's mind comes with a tremendous responsibility. In the wrong hands, the DC Mini could be used as a form of psychological terrorism and cause mental breakdowns in the minds of targets. When this technology is stolen and people around them start acting strangely, Atsuko and Kosaku know they have a serious problem on their hands. Enlisting the help of Officer Konakawa, who has been receiving this experimental therapy, they search both the real and dream worlds for their mental terrorist.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Paprika Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Chiba, Atsuko Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Konakawa, Toshimi Main

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Tokita, Kosaku Main

Furuya, Toru Japanese

Jinnai Supporting

Kon, Satoshi Japanese

Shima, Torataro Supporting

Hori, Katsunosuke Japanese

Inui, Seijiro Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Kuga, Mr. Supporting

Tsutsui, Yasutaka Japanese

Konakawa's Friend Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Osanai, Morio Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Maruta, Jungo Producer

Kon, Satoshi Director, Script

Mima, Masafumi Sound Director

Katou, Michiya Episode Director, Director of Photography

Reviews

Mar 11, 2025

The_Strings

Recommended

Besides watching the mainstream animes that release a new season each year, it feels good to come back to those cult animes from time to time. The best part about this anime is that whether good, bad, or ugly you can empathize with almost every character. It's also a good thing that instead of coming up with a random plot twist, they build up for it from the very beginning. Not even mentioning the "Inception style" scenes, they're something on their own and one wouldn't be able to comprehend how good they are by reading someone else's description, they'd ultimately need to see it themselves.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 10, 2025

mellyms

Mixed Feelings

I couldn't understand, I guess I didn't understand what was being said or what people were understanding. But after watching for a few days, I was able to make sense of things when I thought about it with a clear mindset. Some of the dialogues in the movie touched me so much that they are still in my brain.

Since it was my first time watching this type of anime, I was confused while watching it. I thought to myself, "What the hell is this?!" but even after watching it I remember everything about the movie, how does this happen?

And no matter what I say, ... it's a visual feast. I think that concepts such as dreams, the subconscious and the 'confusion' that are meant to be explained are explained in the best way. The confusion was never absurd; Even things that were absurdly disconnected seemed to make sense together. While watching, I thought to myself, "Am I really having such complicated dreams?" (maybe)

I was pointlessly waiting for the main plot of the movie. Throughout the movie, there are thoughts like there must be a bad character, we have to defeat him or Paprika must come to an end. But this movie wasn't like that, it was irrelevant, what this movie wanted to tell was very different and whatever it was, it was perfect. Maybe even though I didn't understand what was being said at all, 'I'm going to make an anime about dreams and subconscious.Draw it.' Even for people who perfectly fulfill the wishes of someone who said these things, I can give high marks to this anime. It was really high quality..

bye (˶º⤙º˶)

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 25, 2025

LuxuriousHeart

Not Recommended

This is the same person who directed Perfect Blue. Let that sink in. This film does have some brilliance. There's a story about a guy constantly chasing something in his dreams. That was a nice sequence with a plot twist. Unfortunately, it's not really connected to the overall plot, so meh. And before anyone says that I'm not intelligent enough to understand the plot, this plot isn't really hard to understand. It isn't like Utena where you have to watch multiple times and really think, in order to get it. Each rewatch, you catch something new and ... thinking of theories is always fun. That's why the fanbase is still thriving and theory crafting, decades later.

With Paprika, it just wasn't good. The characters were hit miss, with most of the cast being a miss. Paprika and Konakawa are interesting characters. Though other than them, most of the characters aren't good. The villain was exactly who I predicted. The only "twist" is that there were two villains. Atsuko is basically like the movie says. "You need a little more spice. Perhaps, Paprika?" She's a boring character, and not much is explored with her. Tokita is a morbidly obese character with no redeeming qualities. His personality isn't appealing, he's a buttmonkey, he's lazy, he's gross to even look at, etc. At least in Princess Jellyfish, the overweight character is easy on the eyes. In this, he's sloppy and gross. Not much to say about the villains. Rather one-dimensional characters, and they were predictable. When watch, from the beginning I said "it's either this guy or that guy". Plot twist, it's both. Whatever...

Sad thing is, the characters weren't even the worst thing. The worst is the romance and deus ex machina at the end.

Now, I don't exactly require romance. I've watched series without romance. However, I maintain my stance that a great romance carries the series to the next level, while bad romance drags the series down. In this case, the romance was so bad that it actively drug the score down. I kept going back and forth between a score of 3 or 4. Mostly because Konakawa was an interesting character, and his subplot was great. I really enjoyed it and his character. However, the romance and deus ex machina was so bad that it has to be a 3. No other way, a 3.

So here's my issue... I'll go with deus ex machina. Anything goes in this world, which makes villains boring. If you can just powerup out of your behind, then what's even the point? Maybe if it were metaphorical, but I fail to see the metaphor. Just a rant about polarity...

The romance is also gross. Ironically, I thought that they were setting up a romance between Character A and Character C. They were interacting with each other regularly. Character C basically opened up to Character A. There was even some playful flirting and a kiss. I actually thought they were endgame, and I would've accepted it. Except, Character B is the interest out of nowhere. Take in mind, Character A did nothing but insult Character B, while Character B was just a childish mess. Character A said some rather cruel things to Character B, and Character B was one of the most unappealing characters I've seen. There was no chemistry, no fluff, or anything. From what they portrayed, Character B was just a co-worker that Character A was annoyed with, but ultimately respected. They didn't even seem like friends... Though looking back on it, there were a few hints. Though the hints were a double meaning and could be taken as something else. I don't know. The romance just did nothing for me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Paprika Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Krelian - Apr 24, 2007	314 replies	by Sun_Chan »» Mar 12, 4:30 PM
	What the hell did I just watch? RandomPerson4 - Dec 30, 2012	26 replies	by LuxuriousHeart »» Mar 11, 5:01 PM
	questions about paprika [spoilers] darrenkbenn - Sep 14, 2021	4 replies	by LuxuriousHeart »» Feb 24, 8:51 AM
	So, who killed the victim in that homicide case? Samu-tan - Aug 27, 2010	9 replies	by Beatnik »» Jan 1, 2024 9:00 AM
	For what reasons do you like this movie? Unknow0059 - Apr 16, 2017	10 replies	by nekogaro7 »» Oct 17, 2023 7:29 AM

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