# Has anyone seen Paprika - the Japanese animated film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202 "2009-12-22T16:28:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/21 "2010-01-01T06:08:41Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > _Paprika_… wasn’t that the [“refrigerators on parade”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAnSKN9s7eY) movie? Damn that was a weird sequence. I’d already seen a rather similar seen in Studio Ghibli’s “Pompoko”, which I preferred, so that scene didn’t do as much for me as it might others. ---
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/22 "2010-01-01T06:57:55Z")
the series Paranoia Agent was made by the Paprika and Perfect Blue creator. Just as trippy as Paprika and very good as well. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/23 "2010-01-02T03:41:39Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I thought it was good, not quite great. Better visuals than story cohesion. Agreed. Friend of mine once described me as a narrative junkie, and he was right: if a story doesn’t have a plot, no matter how good its other aspects are, I’m probably not gonna care for it much. Paprika’s story wasn’t, IMO, especially interesting. I did like Tokyo Godfathers, although the amount of swearing in it would almost certainly earn it an R in the US. Ghost in the Shell annoyed and bored me. Maybe I should see it again, but I probably won’t. Miyazaki is still The Man, though, with Princess Mononoke still my favorite anime by a country mile. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/24 "2010-01-02T04:18:49Z")
> [@Xandroid](#): > > I have yet to watch Kon’s other works, but I’d like to second (or third?) “Millennium Actress.” It’s a really charming film. > > (This is my first post on The Dope, btw!) Hey, welcome, **Xandroid!** I’m so sorry that it’s a little late; blame the holiday merrymaking. Glad to have you aboard. brujaja ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/25 "2010-01-03T06:46:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yep, that’s it, and it gets weirder. This implies that it was relatively sane for you at some point?! Holy crap, this was a Mind Fck for me from the moment: The Detective goes into his own dreams in rapid sequence at Paprika’s urging. At once, I was like **WTF?!** and \*\*Please Sir, I want some more. \*\* The music is great as well. My Google-fu is not with me tonight, but there was at one time two unused Paprika soundtrack tracks that were up for free legal dl. The track “Runner” remains in the top 3 most played tracks of my Ipod. Hey Ma. Sorry I Couldn’t field this one for you. I got it on netflix, and bought it the next time I had the opportunity. If you watch it again, go with both sub and dub. You will get a lot more context. As I understood it, dreams started dreaming of each other, and you get a lot of crazy circular logic there. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/26 "2010-01-03T14:46:21Z")
Actually, upon re-watching it with my wife, I have a rather obvious(and dim-witted) question. When the detective wakes up at the beginning of the film to review his dream sequence, he does so with…Paprika? So, was he still asleep at that point, since she doesn’t exist? I mean, was the real Paprika lady wearing hers DC-M at a remote location? Is that why he wasn’t sure it was her when he met her in real life? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/27 "2010-01-03T16:04:41Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I did like Tokyo Godfathers, although the amount of swearing in it would almost certainly earn it an R in the US. I only know one word that I’ve ever seen censored in Japanese (manko - pussy). The language, by and large, doesn’t have any bad words, or at least none that are used frequently. Assuming that you saw an English translation, I’d venture to guess that the translator was being more foulmouthed than the original. Kuso, technically, means poop or shit, but I’ve never seen it censored, so I’d venture to guess that it is used more like “dammit”. It’s the only word I can imagine having been said all that much in Tokyo Godfathers, and if the translator translated it as “shit” then he was almost certainly doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![mage-girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/28 "2010-01-03T18:05:17Z")
I got the Paprika DVD from the public library a couple months ago. The first time I watched it I really liked it, if thought it was a little (er, LOT) weird. The second time I watched with friends. Half of them were completely blown away. I didn’t enjoy it as much the second time through. Another vote for Tokyo Godfathers. I really enjoyed it, though it is in parts a bit contrived. I should have watched that for Christmas! 'Tis the season1 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/29 "2010-01-03T20:37:42Z")
> [@mage-girl](#): > > Another vote for Tokyo Godfathers. I really enjoyed it, though it is in parts a bit contrived. I should have watched that for Christmas! 'Tis the season1 🙂 IIRC, doesn’t the Detective [Paprika] go to the cinema at the end of the movie? Doesn’t he go to see, or at least walk by a poster for T. Godfathers? 🙂 Yeah, not that anything can compare to Paprika, but, I didn’t care for Godfathers that much. I mean, solid story, sure, but, You know, its like, I saw 2001 and then Clockwork Orange as my first two Kubrick films. What a let down to know that Kubrick isn’t that “play with your head” all the time. Eyes Wide Shut, now that’s something else. Backwards ““high church”” chanting at a sex romp? Epic. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202/30 "2010-01-04T02:43:11Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > IIRC, doesn’t the Detective [Paprika] go to the cinema at the end of the movie? Doesn’t he go to see, or at least walk by a poster for T. Godfathers? 🙂 Yep, he does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-paprika-the-japanese-animated-film/522202.md?page=1)