Spotlight Anime: Paprika MAL Anime Information Page: Paprika MAL Score – 8.19 (by 17687 users) Ranked - #241 Popularity - #207 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the anime that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate an anime: Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Animation - insert rating Sound - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Animation - discuss any pros and cons of the animation styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Sound - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to the music and sound effects used in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 5 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to watching this discussion unfold. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Paprika was NOT inducted into the club Anime list: 42 Yes - 59.2% 29 No - 40.7% 20 Don't know this anime - 21.7% of the total number polled 1 Abstained - 1.0% of the total number polled |
santetjanNov 9, 2010 9:41 AM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| I'll just leave this here: If you want the tl;dr version, a very emphatic yes. |
| Paprika is an excellent example of telling a story through it's visuals, so much so that I think pretty much anyone could agree that this movie (along with pretty much any of Satoshi Kon's works) simply could not exist outside the animated media. Now that all that is out of the way, what did I think of the film? Honestly, I'm not sure what to think. It's a fine piece of directing, which is illustrated in scenes such as the Chief going crazy and Detective Konakawa telling Paprika about his fascination with movies, which in turn is invaded by Himuro's dream. The music is fantastic, seemingly effortlessly working it's way in and out of particularly important scenes. The characters, as Lind_L_Tailor has previously mentioned, are well developed for a movie. Though he failed to mention one of my favorite character scenes, in the form of the short but sweet "Elevator Scene" towards the end between Chiba and Tokita. Which, I thought, did a good jobl of conveying the relationship between the two of them in a way not entirely with words. On the other hand, though, there just isn't denying how "strange" this movie can be. Though, I'm sure that was exactly Kon's intention. I just watched the movie for the second time, and I'm still not exactly sure(like Lind_L_Tailor) what was going on. What did it mean when baby chiba apparently eats the Chairman and turns into an adult? Was it some sort of theme such as her overcoming the darkness inside her? Is it a man and woman creating a child, who eventually creates an adult? Fuck, I don't know. My point is, I think the strangeness of the movie will detract some possible "yes" voters into "no" voters. I, however, consider it a well directed movie with good character development and good overall themes. So, I'll be voting "yes". Also, bonus points for the unattractive but genius Tokita getting the girl. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
| I have to say that I'm going for a 'no' with this one. I love Kon's works especially Millennium Actress, Paranoia Agent, and Magnetic Rose (from Memories). But for me Paprika would be one of the weaker ones among his works. I felt that the surrealism was just a mask to cover a simplistic story and plot.While I do enjoy surrealism and/or visually-stunning works, I assume Paprika wasn't intended to be just a film to show-off its artistic qualities, and for that matter I think the rest of the elements fell short. I have to emphasize that what baffled me the most is the climax, which wasn't interesting at all. And the villain whom is quite cliched and one-dimensional. The rest of the characters wasn't really memorable too. I watched it twice; the first time I watched it, I really liked it for being trippy, and I appreciate the direction, animation, and music. The second though, I realized that there's nothing much into it, and seeing that weak climax twice added to my disappointment. It wasn't a bad movie; it certainly had its moments, but I don't think it is as good as to be inducted in the club. |
idlezealOct 31, 2010 3:38 AM
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| I'll just start by saying that I watched this movie on a cinema screen. And I'm still inclined to vote no. Will develop further when I have more time. |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| Most things have already been said, but one thing i really liked was how the movie exploited the dream concept. I expecially remember when Konakawa was running towards the door and the floor went all haywire, making him having to push himself forward but without reallly getting anywhere. I really recognized myself there. I think it was a perfect visualization. But even though the characters were great, the villian was boring and the ending frankly blew. I think it also went too far with the dream stuff. It stopped being interesting and just became exaggerated. My favourite part is probably the opening sequence when Paprika just walks around, and i don't know what that says about a movie. Leaning towards a no. |
| Yeah, the villain was incredibly one dimensional. And he does stick out like a sore thumb compared to some of the other, main characters. It seems that pretty much everyone agrees that the ending wasn't all that well done. And, I can see that being a deciding factor on many votes. I can understand that, as it does let down all that came before it. The opening sequence is one of my favorite parts as well. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
| It's just a minor technical thing, but... Lind_L_Tailor said: is untrue. Perfect Blue is a novel adaptation as well.Paprika is actually the only thing Satoshi Kon has directed that is adapted from another medium As for the anime itself, it was a fun ride with nice art and soundtrack, but I'm not sure it deserves to go in the relations. An anime should be inducted if it's a exemplary work of its kind, but when I think of fun-filled mind trips, I think of Mind Game, not Paprika. Paprika also lacks the depth and tension that Perfect Blue had, so that road doesn't serve it much better. As a result, I think I am going to vote no for Paprika. |
Current FAL Ranking + Previous best::  [ |
| @ Foe-tan This is true. Mind Game is probably the closest I've seen to Paprika. Arguably it's a better movie, as well. Also, yeah, Perfect Blue was a novel adaptation as well. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
FOE-tan said: It's just a minor technical thing, but... Lind_L_Tailor said: is untrue. Perfect Blue is a novel adaptation as well.Paprika is actually the only thing Satoshi Kon has directed that is adapted from another medium It is? Well damn. Thanks for correcting me. ...And convincing me to watch Mind Game. |
| I had to re-watch Paprika for this spotlight. I didn't know why but for some reason I couldn't remember much of the story of Paprika but I could remember any single scene individually. After the re-watch the reason is obvious to me. Paprika is astounding as a visual experience but the story is nowhere near being amazing. The story is simply forgettable with nothing too extraordinary to offer from my point of view. Characters, unlike what some posts suggest here, in my opinion, could have been much better. The whole reasoning behind the chairman's actions was so flat and useless and the genius of the story and his friend didn't have much to offer while the mentioned but not shown friendship between them created empty spaces in the plot that needed to be filled but the movie never got the chance to do so. The old doctor was totally stereotypical. The detective and his story of betraying a dying friend was full of cheese. And that gets us to Paprika/Chiba duo. While Chiba managed to become the most developed character of this movie (no that hard considering the rest of the cast), Paprika ended up being used by the plot most of the time. She was there to deliver lines (that at some points felt like forced hints to lead the audience towards certain conclusions) or cosplay as characters Kon decided to pay tribute to. Satoshi Kon was a great director and "Millennium Actress" is still one of the best anime movies I've watched and I've enjoyed some of his other works including Paprika. Yes, I enjoyed Paprika to some extent. For a movie with so little to offer plot-wise, that's a great accomplishment. But I don't think Paprika deserves a place in our relations list. This one's a NO for me. |
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| Kokuro pretty much share the same opinion as me. Sure Paprika is visually astounding, but its story and characters are very forgettable. As much as I love Satoshi Kon, Paprika stands among his weakest work that I have seen. |
| -Fixing- |
| If only for the visuals, this gets an A from me. As for the characters, while they certainly are forgettable I think Paprika herself is an interesting character and the story overall is really interesting. and omg the visuals :) |
katsup said: If only for the visuals, this gets an A from me. As for the characters, while they certainly are forgettable I think Paprika herself is an interesting character and the story overall is really interesting. and omg the visuals :) Visuals and Soundtrack were definitely the highlight's of this Kon work. Unfortunately I'm also suffering from character amnesia. I can't seem to remember anything that happened other than a giant parade that looked like a crazy group of carnies had taken control of Japan. I actually have Hirasawa, Susumu's Paprika soundtrack and still listen to it quite regularly. Is this movie worth induction for it's music and visuals alone? I'm torn, between Mr. Kon's death and his last letter that had me cracked up for a couple of days in morning, I almost feel obligated to vote yes for this movie in his memory. But that wouldn't be even remotely fair or objective to a critical group such as this. I'd really appreciate it if someone could come up with a very interesting plot analysis that could force me to remember what actually happened in this movie besides the dream machine. What I do remember is that I felt like Paprika was an improved version of Perfect Blue, which seemed like a bare bones attempt at this more developed version told in a different way. Dreams are something that Kon was intimately fascinated with and Paprika and Perfect Blue where his works which showcased this fascination. This movie pushed the envelope in Animation and Music production, plus I can't say that it wasn't entertaining, which leans me towards voting yes. |
| @ Orion1 Why don't you just watch it again? It's only 1 hr. and 30 minutes. I know that Paprika and Perfect Blue do share themes such as movies, dreams, and such. But, to call Paprika an improved version of Blue is a bit of a stretch. I'd even argue that Blue is the better movie after watching both of them recently. I mean, I'm always on the proverbial edge of my seat every time Blue reaches it's final stretch, while in Paprika I was more like "why didn't this end 30 minutes sooner?" Damn, maybe I need to rethink my vote. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
| I think perfect blue is Kon's best work , so I find paprika to be just as mesmerizing. I love how paprika messes with the boundary between reality and dream worlds. The whole idea of being able to explore people's dreams and all that stuff is just really cool. It's been 4 years since I've watched the movie so I'm a little hazy on the details... but I feel like the story was really impacting to me. I think paprika's climax may not have been as intense as perfect blue but I still think it was a pretty awesome ending. Interesting plot + stunning visuals + sound = yes vote from me. |
| @insan3soldiern: You make a valid point about me watching it again. I will try to squeeze it in, but I guess that means I will have to go back and watch Perfect Blue again too. I've been meaning to have a night with Satoshi Kon if you will, in honor of his life. Maybe I'll dedicate this Saturday to that if I can get around some actual social responsibilities. LoL |
Orion1 said: I will try to squeeze it in, but I guess that means I will have to go back and watch Perfect Blue again too. I've been meaning to have a night with Satoshi Kon if you will, in honor of his life. Maybe I'll dedicate this Saturday to that if I can get around some actual social responsibilities. LoL why watch perfect blue again? paprika and perfect blue have no relation to another,and while they may be similar you shouldn't really compare them since this spotlight is on paprika alone. While you might like perfect blue better when you compare the two, how paprika fares among anime in general (and not just kon's work) should be the focus (i think). though perfect blue is always good for a rewatch, same with paprika :) |
| A night with Satoshi Kon would start from the beginning which is Perfect Blue. However, in the process of watching all his work in chronological order, I'm sure I will find some interesting observations about his progression in his work. I still find it odd when people insist Perfect Blue was his best work, but as stated this is a forum for Paprika, even if Perfect Blue seemed like it's evolution. As for Kon's work in General, I'm thinking when comparing it to other anime, they're all good enough to belong on the relations list. Call me crazy but I just feel like Miyazaki and Kon are a couple directors whose work should be on all anime fans, especially aspiring critics, required must watch list. |
Orion1 said: Call me crazy but I just feel like Miyazaki and Kon are a couple directors whose work should be on all anime fans, especially aspiring critics, required must watch list. Maybe because i know way too little about Kon than i should, but i don't agree with that when it comes to Paprika. With good visuals and neat ideas Paprika is not much more to me than a fun ride. That might be enough to recommend it to [anyone], but i don't think it excels. In the end i haven't gotten anything more out of it than "yeah, that was fun", and i'll give it a negative point for having such an incomprihensible end and a boring villian. I'd probably vote yes for the opening sequence in a "music video club" and some other parts in other categories, but as a whole movie it's not enough. |
| I would have to also disagree about the Miyazaki and Kon thing where all their work deserves to be on the relations. There are a number of people out there who got very tired of the similarities with Miyazaki works and eventually stopped watching them. I think this very same process happened to me, except for Kon it only took 3 of his works to completely burn me out and I don't intend to watch anything else of his. I first watched Perfect Blue and thought it was a masterpiece other than the very final scene felt a little tacked on. Then I saw Paranoia Agent and thought it was fantastic, though the pacing was awkward with many episodes seeming filler-ish. Granted I still enjoyed them, such as the episode with the 3 people forming the suicide pact, but I think the series would have been even better without them. They could have been released separately as DVD specials or something. Then along comes Paprika...I figured I would either watch it or Millenium Actress and probably only one. I decided on Paprika since it seemed the more interesting of the two. Gotta say it seemed very poorly put together. I didn't find it exceptionally deep or thought-provoking, most of the dream/reality stuff to me seemed an excuse to play with visual effects than to do anything with the storyline. I was just really underwhelmed by this work since it seemed a step down from the previous 2 Kon works I've seen. I think it's one of those cases where your first contact with the man's work you are overwhelmed with the glamour, the 2nd work it's still there but you start to notice some of the flaws, by the 3rd work the glamour is gone and then can't help but just look at the basics of the piece and find it unpolished. Good animation and a crack composer on the payroll doesn't make this a good film. Though I should say that I have rewatched Perfect Blue a couple times and either the glamour never wore off or it really is just that much better imo. |
| All I want to say is that, I too, don't think the director alone should influence whether or not something was inducted. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
| Well, now that it's rejected I have the chance to comment on it... Anyway, Paprika sufgfers of Kon-ism. The beggining and the ending are bad and the middle is good. The man only knew how to make the middle of movies. While the intro scene in Paprika is brilliant it's the intro, not the beggining. So it doesn't count. I had the wonderful chance of watching this on a big cinema screen. That's why I rated it so high at the time, because the animation is brilliant. However the story and characters are very rushed, badly put together and not solid at all. The story premise is good, but it seems they wanted to make out of it more than what it actually is. Same applies for the characters. In the end, I left the room confused, happy with the viewing experience but a bit unsatisfied. Because I was confused. Not in the brain-whacking way, but in the "why they do that?" way. I'm glad it did not get into the relations. |
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
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