Having myself entertained myself with lucid dreaming for about a year(not so much these days though), and being fond of well-made anime movies, I instantly knew I needed to watch Paprika. I had to wait quite a while after hearing about the movie before I could see it; by chance a film festival aired it in the city I live in.
My expectations were ridiculously high and I expected nothing less than a fully blown mind; maybe even a new understanding of the universe, and why not all-power fullness while we're at it. After seeing the movie, I felt slightly disappointed but I realize that it's purely based on my much too high expectations.
Most of all, the movie is uplifting, optimistic in tone and a great reminder of all that's great about lucid dreaming. I found myself seeing things I knew were typical for the subject, even things I had experienced myself. If you have ever had a good lucid dream, you will get so much more out of this movie. If you're a LD novice, this movie can be a good starting step to get the motivation to start out adventuring in your sleep.
This obviously made me appreciate the movie more, but even if we remove that layer, Paprika is a very good movie. It is technically stunning, with very few of the normal anime time saving tricks. For it's subject it is very light, and the psycho-babble is kept to a bare minimum for the audience who know nothing about the subject.
The storyline moves fast, often leaving to you to figure out what just happened, but never straying so far as to make you lose track. It's a good mix of conventional and "thinking man's movie".
The soundtrack is good but we don't get to hear enough of it. The English dubbing was surprisingly good, with the detective Konogawa(or Kogawa? Might be some translation mishap here) and the geeky but good-hearted boy genius who's name escapes me.
In conclusion, be sure to check this movie out if you want a good anime feature, or if you're interested in LDing in general. Remember, it never hurts to try something new.
My expectations were ridiculously high and I expected nothing less than a fully blown mind; maybe even a new understanding of the universe, and why not all-power fullness while we're at it. After seeing the movie, I felt slightly disappointed but I realize that it's purely based on my much too high expectations.
Most of all, the movie is uplifting, optimistic in tone and a great reminder of all that's great about lucid dreaming. I found myself seeing things I knew were typical for the subject, even things I had experienced myself. If you have ever had a good lucid dream, you will get so much more out of this movie. If you're a LD novice, this movie can be a good starting step to get the motivation to start out adventuring in your sleep.
This obviously made me appreciate the movie more, but even if we remove that layer, Paprika is a very good movie. It is technically stunning, with very few of the normal anime time saving tricks. For it's subject it is very light, and the psycho-babble is kept to a bare minimum for the audience who know nothing about the subject.
The storyline moves fast, often leaving to you to figure out what just happened, but never straying so far as to make you lose track. It's a good mix of conventional and "thinking man's movie".
The soundtrack is good but we don't get to hear enough of it. The English dubbing was surprisingly good, with the detective Konogawa(or Kogawa? Might be some translation mishap here) and the geeky but good-hearted boy genius who's name escapes me.
In conclusion, be sure to check this movie out if you want a good anime feature, or if you're interested in LDing in general. Remember, it never hurts to try something new.