Paprika (2006)
Paprika is a fever dream blast of inspiration that is simultaneously wonderful to behold and nightmare-inducing. It ends on a low note but the trip to that conclusion ensorcels you so completely you may not even care.
In the near future, Doctor Atsuko Chiba (voiced by Megumi Hayashibara) uses the experimental DC Mini device to hop into her patients’ dreams and treat their subconscious using her alter-ego, Paprika. When people exposed to the device, including her boss, Doctor Toratarō Shima (Katsunosuke Hori), start exhibiting erratic behaviour culminating in suicide attempts, Paprika must explore the increasingly bizarre dreams they collectively share to find out who is responsible. How does the strange parade of creatures and living objects connect to her patient, Detective Toshimi Konakawa (Akio Ōtsuka), the scientists responsible for creating the DC Mini, Doctor Kōsaku Tokita (Tōru Furuya), and Kei Himuro (Daisuke Sakaguchi). More importantly, why is this happening?
The medium of animation is perfect for this kind of story. You would need so many special effects to bring the otherworldly sights of the dream world to life it would’ve basically turned into an animated movie anyway. Director Satoshi Kon has so many visual tricks up their sleeve. Paprika’s movements are inhibited only by her imagination. This is shown in the mind-blowing opening scene in which she moves from reflections on windows, to pictures on T-shirts to billboards and anything you could think of to get from one place to another. Many scenes show characters morphing or changing as their consciousness gets sucked into the never-ending parade of weird objects invading everyone’s dreams. When you see it, you don’t know whether to run for the hills screaming or force your eyes open so you don’t miss a second. The colours and creativity in these visuals are so dazzling it doesn’t even matter that sometimes you'll have difficulty understanding the plot.
The film ensnares you in this whirlwind of wonder and unease. You have difficulty differentiating reality from dreams, except when someone wakes up and points out how crazy things were a second ago. That’s the power of this story. And then, we get to the conclusion, which is a major letdown. Not only can you decipher the mastermind behind this big thing based on the character's design, the reason for everything doesn’t really make much sense. You’re left wondering if maybe the translation was bad, or if this story really wasn’t all that good and you were just swept up in all the razzle-dazzle. Ultimately, I say there is more to the film than just what you see. The mystery is compelling and the twist keep you guessing. It’s just everything before the conclusion was so great that when this generic ending comes around, it feels even worse than it is.
The last few minutes of Paprika will split audiences. Either you’ll love it and it’ll become a new favourite, or it’ll leave you with mixed feelings, meaning you’ll be blown away by the movie but content with just seeing it once... maybe two or three times. The sights within are nothing short of incredible so regardless of how you may feel about that finale, it’s worth seeing. (English Dub on DVD, May 24 2019)
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Paprika (Satoshi Kon, 2006)
Cast: Voices of Megumi Hayashibara, Tōru Furuya, Tōru Emori, Katsunosuke Hori, Akio Ōtsuka, Kōichi Yamadera, Hideyuki Tanaka, Satomi Kōrogi, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Mitsuo Iwata, Rikako Aikawa, Yasutaka Tsutsui, Satoshi Kon. Screenplay: Seishi Minakami, Satoishi Kon, based on a novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Cinematography: Michiya Katô. Art direction: Nobutaka Ike. Film editing: Takeshi Seyama. Music: Susumu Hirasawa.
Almost from the beginning, motion pictures, with their ability to move rapidly through time and space and their frequent embrace of the irrational, have been associated with dreams. The development of animated movies only heightened the identification, and makers of animated films have always been ready to embrace the dreamlike. Satoshi Kon's extraordinary anime Paprika is not only dreamlike, it's also about the dream state and its psychological potential. The word "psychology" etymologically means "the study of the soul," and nothing gets closer to the soul -- whatever that is -- than dreams, unfettered by reason and mundane actuality. So Kon's film is about an invasion of the dream state, predicated on the idea that technology might eventually allow one to enter other people's dreams -- an invasion of the soul. Kon finds the dreamlike not only in movies or television, but also in other manifestations of the imagination like circuses and parades and toys, and ultimately in the internet, which Paprika herself identifies as one of the "areas where the repressed conscious mind escapes." Paprika is an avatar in the dream world of Atsuko Chiba, a psychiatrist who is using the newly developed DC Mini, technology that allows her, as Paprika, to enter the dreams of her patients. But when one of the developers of the DC Mini begins using it for his own nefarious purposes, the boundary between dreams and waking life is breached, with phantasmagorical consequences. Dr. Chiba and Paprika have to find a way to repair the breach. Any summary of the film is inadequate because there's something recursive about Paprika, a dreamlike movie about movies (and other things) as dreams.
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My Review of Trapp Ikka Monogatari
Chances are you are quite familiar with the story of the Trapp family of Austria. Whether you read the memoirs of Maria von Trapp or if you watched any version of The Sound of Music…
More than likely, it’s the latter. Yes, The Sound of Music is one of those musicals just about anybody has seen. Even me! Whether on stage, the Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer smash hit movie, or that abomination live for TV with Carrie Underwood, you more than likely have seen something along the lines.
But did you know that Japan had its own take on the story? In 1991, Japan’s World Masterpiece Theater released “Trapp Ikka Monogatari” or The Trapp Family Story. World Masterpiece Theater had several animated stories loosely based on books like Anne of Green Gables, The Swiss Family Robinson, and in later years Les Miserables.
Maria Kutschera arrives in a little Austrian town to become a nun and asks to be put in the strictest abbey there is. At Nonnberg Abbey, Maria was a bit of an odd-duck there (and that’s putting it lightly). Maria’s a bit of a wild child and is constantly getting in trouble with the head sisters of the abbey. And worst of all, she whistled! Gasp! How do you solve a problem like Maria? Well, the sisters decide to have Maria stay with a family for nine months to a family with seven kids. Maria is to be a governess to one of the children but she eventually hits it off with all seven kids. That’s right, Rupert, Hedwig, Werner, Maria, Johanna, Martina, and Agathe.
Oh, I’m sorry! Do those names sound foreign to you? Well unlike The Sound of Music, this adaptation found it necessary to use the REAL names of the von Trapp children.
BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: As it turns out, only a few animes part of Japan’s World Masterpiece Theater has been dubbed and released in North America. And this was not one of them. On top of which, this anime is not available for streaming purposes. Not even on Retro Crush. Sigh. Someday, dammit! The sub cast, holy shit I am familiar with literally the entire cast. Yes, it’s because most of them were from Pokemon or Sailor Moon. I know many seiyuus are able to sing, but there were several people I was blown away with, especially Masako Katsuki. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.
*Maria is played by Masako Katsuki (known for Cassidy on Pokemon, Michiru/Neptune on Sailor Moon, Tsunade on Naruto, Cecile on Kyou Kara Maou, and Sheffield on Familiar of Zero)
*Georg is played by Katsunosuke Hori (known for Fu on FMA: Brotherhood, Fersen on Rose of Versailles, and Tsuneyoshi on Tokyo Ghoul)
*Rupert is played by Shinobu Adachi (known for Aunt Daryl on Little Witch Academia)
*Hedwig is played by Maria Kawamura (known for Dr. Fennel on Pokemon BW, Eudial on Sailor Moon S, Mamiya on Revolutionary Girl Utena, Naga on Slayers, and Asuka’s mother on Evangelion)
*Werner is played by Yuuko Matsuoka (known for Bertha on Pokemon DP, Madame Christmas on FMA: Brotherhood, Queen Metalia on Sailor Moon: Crystal, and Alvida on One Piece)
*Maria (von Trapp) is played by Yuri Shiratori (known for Roxanne on Pokemon AG, Charlotte on Berserk, Yukina on Yu Yu Hakusho, Noriko on Golden Boy, Sayo on Negima, Tsubame on Rurouni Kenshin, and Mei on Love Hina)
*Johanna is played by Hiromi Shikawa (known for Bugsy on Pokemon)
*Martina is played by Saori Sugimoto (known for Sanae on Green Green)
*Agathe is played by Naoko Watanabe (known for Chi Chi & Pu’ar on DBZ)
DISLIKED CHARACTER: Well folks, at the beginning of the series I had quite a few characters that left a bitter taste in my mouth! I let Hedwig go early on. I can’t blame her for her disgust and distrust of new adults.
Then we go to Matilda! I’m on a half and half with her as she wants the children to be safe, but she’s often looking out for her own best interest than what’s best for the children. She does mean well. Except for a few times! One is when she’s telling the children what’s best and whenever Maria intervenes, Matilda constantly brings up that Maria is nothing more than a governess and to butt out. She brings it up at every opportunity. And then there was this sucking up to Lady Yvonne (who we’ll get to in a second) to a point where she’s literally forcing the children to do this and that for this woman.
And now let’s talk about Lady Yvonne. The atypical soon-to-be step-mother to children who put their birth mother on a pedestal! Rightfully so! No matter how much Yvonne looks like the von Trapp children’s dead mother (because they are blood cousins), no way in hell could she ever replace her. Yvonne has no interest in being tied down by Georg’s seven children. I’ll betcha anything she has no intention of having any of the children live with her if the marriage is to go through. Probably ship them off to a boarding school knowing her! Several episodes down the line and I was right. Believe it or not, there’s something worse than Hedwig on the rag, Matilda on her high-horse, and Lady Yvonne. That answer is…
The Nazis! Worst characters in damn-near every show, book, anime, or what-have-you!
SHIPPING: Much like the real life account of Maria Kutschera, they’re definitely going to cover her eventually marrying the patriarch of the Von Trapp family, Georg.
But before that, we’ve gotta get through this engagement between Georg and Lady Yvonne. Because Georg isn’t after her vast wealth, her father approves of this marriage. The deal-breaker was unfortunately the seven children. Yvonne has no interest in being a mother and even gives the children extravagant gifts to win them over. She really wants a nanny to take care of all the children or send them to a boarding school and just have an empty house with Georg. But kudos to Georg for sticking with having all 7 children decide for themselves and not be sent off against their will.
Another strike against this match came when Yvonne tried to get on the youngest Von Trapp child (Agathe) good side. That went as horrible as you would expect. Yvonne even tried to show Maria that the children think nothing of her. That went even worse! All of the children love Maria. And as for Yvonne, they never really warmed up to her and she finally noticed it. Finally, Yvonne confronted Georg on what we started noticing after episode 20. Does Georg love Maria? Come on dude, she’s like 20 years younger than you, she’s barely an adult, she’s like four years older than your eldest son! But yeah, he admits it! Surprisingly, Yvonne accepted it. The engagement was called off and she ends up with some random wank.
Okay, we’re finally going to get Georg x Maria happen, right?! Throughout these nine months together in the house, they really didn’t have as many ship-worthy moments as one would think. After all, Georg was engaged throughout that time. But they both had some blush-worthy moments that make you think, oh yeah, they’re gonna hook up. After Yvonne and Georg called off their engagement, it was around the time Maria was supposed to head back to the abbey as her nine months at the Von Trapp household were going to end. But the kids were all in an agreement that they don’t want Maria to leave and that they love her. Georg felt the same way and he ends up asking for Maria’s hand in marriage. But did Maria really love Georg? It sort of felt exactly like what the real Maria wrote in her memoir. She stated that she loved the children the most and she learned to love Georg later on. But I didn’t see Maria upset or angry during the wedding ceremony. Whatever!
HEY! IT’S A MUSICAL: Don’t expect to hear the songs from Sound of Music or anyone to have the voice of Julie Andrews. But what we’re given isn’t half bad! Maybe it’s the over two decades I spent watching anime that I’m fine with any Japanese songs. When I say that it’s a musical, I don't mean the characters suddenly bust out singing like in the Sound of Music. Usually, all the singing was just Maria and the children bonding and later it became something bigger.
Now, here’s something you might not know. When Japan was first broadcasting this series, there was an opening sequence featuring Do Re Mi. You remember Julie Andrews teaching those kids Do Re Mi? Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to locate an actual video of the opening and just the audio. In later broadcasts and releases to the anime featured the song “Hohoemi no Mahou”. But Do Re Mi still ends up on the CD release. I do believe that’s the only song that is similar to the musical.
ACCURATE OR NOT?: Here we are again! The crappiest spot in the world where we nitpick people’s works and compare it to the original sources.
*The children’s names! If you’re a big Sound of Music fan and watch this, you might be thrown off by the names of the children. That’s because all of the children have the correct names of the real von Trapp children. Again, they are Rupert, Hedwig, Maria, Werner, Johanna, Martina, and Agathe.
*The children’s names might be all correct in this version, but the ages and positions are changed a bit. Hedwig and Agathe are kinda switched around. Agathe, the baby of the family is really the eldest Von Trapp daughter. And Hedwig was actually the fifth child (just ahead of Johanna and Martina).
*The dates are severely different from what they were in real life. I wasn’t entirely sure of what year the anime was in with this retelling until episode 36. That’s when we were all certain that this is 1938 with the annexation of Austria and Hitler’s takeover. Now if the anime stayed true, all the kids would be much, much older. Because originally, Maria came to the house in 1926, was married in 1928, and had her first child with Georg in 1929. The children might be a year or so older than when the anime began by the time we reach March 1938, but that’s it.
*Lady Yvonne exists! In the anime, it was clear that Georg was procrastinating or putting off meeting with her. In real life, it was the other way around. But everything else was pretty accurate about her as she was indeed a cousin of Georg’s late wife Agatha. I’m not sure if the anime said anything about her status in the world. In Maria’s memoirs, she referred to her as a princess. I just think she was a socialite of some sort.
*This is more of a swipe at the musical, but Georg was not a hard-ass on his children who hated merriment, fun, and singing. Yes, he does have some PTSD of losing his first wife and seeing things that brought her joy give him misery, but that’s just normal. Surprisingly, the only time Georg snapped in the anime was when Maria found his wife’s old sewing machine. It was more of the Baroness of the house that put restrictions on the children, telling them they must be quiet, not make a ruckus outside, and do what they are told. Despite Georg having status in the world, he doesn’t act like it because he was not born into that status, he was given the status after serving in the military. So he still believes the children should be children to an extent.
*Maria actually had three children with Georg. In the series finale, we see a baby. Now I’m not sure which one it is as the series doesn’t say. Every place I looked online says the baby was Johannes. And that does make sense as it is 1939 at the end of the series and that’s when the real Johannes was born. If that’s the case, Johannes is actually the youngest child of Maria and Georg. But in real life, they actually had two daughters before Johannes. Eleonore and Rosmarie were not featured in the anime. It would make sense due to the dates lining up as the Von Trapps escaped Germany in 1938 and Johannes was born in 1939. Then again, the anime doesn’t really follow year protocols until the 1938 incidents.
ENDING: The Von Trapp family experienced some hardship shortly after Georg and Maria got married. The bank Georg’s money was in went bankrupt and he had absolutely no money. They decided to turn their huge home into a boarding house. Mostly students and men of the cloth were the ones stopping by. But it wasn’t until the visit of famous opera singer Lotte Lehmann came to stay and noticed Georg’s children singing and suggested they enter a choir contest [true story btw]. This was kind of a domino effect for the family as they kept getting gigs. Georg was highly against doing this for money and that singing as a family is a thing they liked doing but wasn’t going to make a career out of it. But we all know how that’s going to go! Things started looking up for the family and then March of 1938 happened!
Austria had been taken over by the Nazi’s. Georg was loyal to Austria and hoped that one day Austria would break from Hitler’s grip. Everyone was frightened at what was happening. And everyone had to assimilate to their new overlords or risk being imprisoned or sentenced to death. Seriously, it was illegal to sing Austria’s national anthem. And the kids had the worst time back in school. All of their teachers were replaced with Nazis who are teaching the children that they must salute “Heil Hitler” every morning. I do find it funny that Werner had the rest of his siblings say “Tail Hitler” when they’re forced to do the salute.
But yeah, the Von Trapp family was uneasy about everything happening around them. Georg’s anger was visible to all the children involving this situation. And to make matters worse, there is a traitor in the household. Georg’s head butler Hans is a flippin’ Nazi! He was downright giddy when Hitler took over Austria. Things were getting harder for Georg and his family. Certain liberties they’ve taken for granted were suddenly taken away by secret police. Especially when Maria gets ill and the doctor they’ve relied on for so many years was taken away by the secret police. Because he was Jewish! Add to that, the secret police came to Georg’s home several times. Once because he didn’t hang the Nazi flag outside his home, another time to give him a special request from the German army to man a special submarine, and finally to have the Von Trapp children sing for Hitler’s birthday.
On the plus side Maria’s pregnant. There is no plus side. There’s never a plus side when Nazis are involved. Georg, get your family the fuck outta Austria!
Georg had to be careful planning as Hans couldn’t be trusted anymore and he could have spies. That also means leaving Franz the farmhand and Rosy the cook behind. Those two were very nice characters and you just wish they could have been saved too. So the story goes, they tell Hans that the family is going to go hiking in the mountains. Not too suspicious as that’s something they normally do. The family packed their things, gave their goodbyes to Franz and Rosy and head off to the bus station. Trouble did arise when meeting up with Rupert (who’s been away at a medical school) as he missed the connecting train. But everyone was able to meet up again near the Swiss border. The family stayed with Mimi (a former maid for the Von Trapp’s) and her husband.
Their escape was a nail-biting experience to watch. Mimi’s husband borrowed a funeral hearse to transport the family across the German border into neutral territory. And wouldn’t you know it, the secret police came searching and asking questions. Good on Georg to speak in Italian as he was in real life an Italian citizen at one point in his naval career. Good on you, anime! I was scared they were going to open the casket as a lot of the kids were hidden. Thankfully, they eventually made it to neutral territories and eventually the United States before war broke out all over Europe. During one of the singing competitions, they made a connection with a gentleman from New York. And that was their destination. Their escape was successful and in 1939 Maria gave birth to…I’m pretty sure it’s Johannes. The end.
Love it. Love everything about the story (minus the animation). Hey, Japan’s World Masterpiece Theater is great and all, but the character design isn’t the best. That was one of my criticisms of Les Mis and even then that was still in the top tier category for best adaptation. Now do I like it more than the Julie Andrews musical?
*groaning*
I can’t bad-mouth the musical. Julie Andrews is a bleeping goddess. Her voice brings the sunshine in every room. Music wise, it’ll hands down go to Sound of Music. You just can’t beat Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. In terms of the story itself, I do like this adaptation a smidge more than the musical. A three hour musical vs. a 40 episode anime series! Let’s just say, I really liked how Maria was able to connect to ALL of the kids on a deep level. In the musical, yes Maria did connect with the children, but I felt there was more of a connection between Maria and Lisel than any of the other kids. Not only that, but there were several episodes where we delved into Maria’s past.
The anime however had a lot of episodes so that Maria was able to learn more about the seven children individually. Originally, she was there to only be a teacher to Maria Von Trapp, but she also became a teacher to Johanna. Despite being only a Governess, she was able to help a lot of the children with their problems. Yes, these episodes are technically fillers, but some were worth it. In one episode, Maria helped Rupert decide what he’s going to do in the future and ends up wanting to become a doctor. Perfect choice as the real Rupert Von Trapp really became a doctor. In another episode, she’s stuck trying to help Agathe through a rebellious phase which connected to the arrival of Lady Yvonne’s surprise visit. Those episodes showed us who the children love and trust and who was trying too hard to become their new mother. And we even get an edgy episode where Hedwig gets her first period.
Oh yeah, this anime went there!
If you are able to find and/or download this anime, I say take a chance and watch it.
Okay, now we go back to my list of unlicensed gems…which is filled with unwatchable hentais! Be kind to me, Randomizer-kun!
Oh, thank you God! It’s another story from World Masterpiece Theater. Although, it’s a story I know absolutely nothing about. Wish me luck!
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