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Paprika
Anime DVD Review
Quickly becoming the most powerful force in anime today since the retirement of Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon has essentially created a whole new genre of anime — the psychological thriller. And like famed director Alfred Hitchcock, Satoshi Kon leads us through the tangled maze with both sophistication and confidence, challenging us to think, knowing that we may never understand it all, but he's going to throw it at us and see if we can "get it".
 Paprika is a mind-blowing, pulse pounding extravaganza of wildly imaginative dream-state imagery that deserves every accolade heaped upon it. Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel about a female detective who investigates criminal cases by entering the dreams of her subjects, Paprika is loaded with eye-popping visuals that perfectly capture the essential gestalt of the dreamstate. Being a film from Japan, however, it is uniquely attuned to the culture and references of that society — it's a bizarre and twisted view of the dark side of "cute" and delves deeply into the collective Japanese psyche.
 Kon treats film as if it were a canvas, layering multi-media elements in such a way that you may start to suffer from sensory overload. This is something you can only do with animation and he knows it. With this film he has proven why anime is superior to all other types of film-making.
And of course, as mentioned previously, Susumu Hirasawa's awesomely amazing, experimental soundtrack provides the perfect companion to the astonishing on-screen action. Composed during the film production rather than after, the music served to inspire the artists during storyboard sessions, unusual for a Japanese production. As a result, the overall effect is a perfect combination of sight and sound, grabbing you and dragging you down into the depths of whatever is lurking in the minds of the characters, and of course, what is most frightening is that this is lurking in the mind of Satoshi Kon — a director who has challenged the entire medium of anime, and raised the bar of what an anime film is all about.
Yes, it's really that good. Mindblowing in every aspect. See if you can "get it".
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, November 2007
Paprika
Anime Audio Review
Get the jump on Satoshi Kon's latest masterpiece by grabbing this simply amazing OST. If you liked the music from Paranoia Agent, this is the same composer (Susumu Hirasawa), but with more money. Kon has delivered a film which is kind of like Hello Kitty crashing headlong into Philp K. Dick — it's a bizzare and twisted view of the dark side of "cute" and delves deeply into the collective Japanese psyche.
Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel about a female detective who investigates criminal cases by entering the dreams of her subjects, Paprika is loaded with mind-blowing, eye-popping, wildly imaginative visuals that perfectly capture the essential gestalt of the dreamstate.
This soundtrack has a wonderful manic quality to it that matches the on-screen action. It is the music of dreams, and the music of nightmares. It is both floating on a cloud and descending to the depths of hell. In everything you do, this music will be your companion.
Bursting with ideas, this soundtrack is a sophisticated tour-de-force of musical invention, and a perfect compliment to the hella-awesome-ness that is Paprika!
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, August 2007
Below: Scenes from the anime film Paprika.
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