This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This is a good anime movie but it can have weird moments if you are not fully use to Japanese or mature movies. For example we see Morio and Seijiro merge into one body while having too heads and in another Morio inappropriately touches Paparika when she is tied up and even puts his hand right through her jeans, up her shirt and rips off her face to reveal Atsuke on that side note she is seen naked and you might see her nipples and breasts. Although Paparika's origin was never revealed in this movie. I kept on wondering how did Atsuke gain the ability to change into Paprika. The music beautiful and memorable and the voice actors were good. This is definitely one of Cindy Robinsons good projects. If you want something mature in terms of anime movie I would recommend you check this out.

"Paprika" is a film that must have played better and seemed more unique back when it debuted back in 2006. This is because since then, a live-action film, "Inception", has come out and it's obviously strongly inspired by this Japanese anime. It's a film from the late Japanese director, Satoshi Kon, the same guy who brought us "Perfect Blue", "Tokyo Godfathers" and "Millennium Actress". And, like these other films, the plot is pretty weird and clearly not an anime that is intended for kids. "Paprika" has nudity, a weird plot and some violence that make it well worth seeing...for an older audience.The now familiar plot is about a stolen experimental device, the DC Mini. It's designed to allow psychotherapists to enter folks' dreams but a crazy guy is instead using it for ill. So, it's up to one of the therapists, Paprika, to enter folks dreams in order to stop the maniac.The animation is what you'd expect and the film quite good...albeit a bit confusing and very strange. It's really hard to describe and the best way to know more is just to watch this one.

Doctor Atsuko Chiba uses her alter-ego Paprika to treat police detective Toshimi Konakawa and his unsolved case in his recurring dream. Chiba, man-child genius Doctor Kōsaku Tokita and Doctor Toratarō Shima are running a secret program to enter into other people's dreams using the DC Mini. When the DC MIni is stolen in an inside job, people's dreams start to get invaded. The wheelchair bound chairman Doctor Seijirō Inui puts up roadblocks on the investigation.The wild dreamworld is amazing. It is imaginative and creepy. The story is another dreamworld mystery. It does need to work on the real world aspects. It needs to distinguish the real world from the dream world in the first half of the movie. When the worlds start to blend, the audience needs to feel it. The movie as it is never seems to leave the dreamworld. The dreams loses cohesiveness but it never loses its wonder. This is a superb visually wild movie.

I do love anime thanks to the Studio Ghibli movies and Akira, Ninja Scroll and Ghost in the Shell. Paprika is up there with one of the anime greats. Of Satoshi Kon's movies, it was Paprika that impressed me the most though Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers are very impressive films too. Paprika is not going to please everybody at first hand though, it is quite a complex movie and perhaps more adult-oriented despite the "kid movie" stereotype that animation is often associated with. That doesn't bother me though, because as I've said before a few times already I consider Paprika a fantastic film. Of the animes I've seen, Paprika is one of the most visually beautiful of them. Surreal yet very imaginative, the vibrant yet atmospheric colours and detailed backgrounds are a real feast for the eyes. The score is a wonder to behold as well and fits perfectly within the movie, epic and truly memorable, it serves well also listening to it on its own. The script is quite complex in tone, but is incredibly thought-provoking and is written in a very literate and intelligent way. The story is always involving and clever, and it is easy to understand once you know the film's intentions. The themes interwoven into Paprika are very strong and interesting ones and never dealt in a heavy-handed way. The characters are engaging and easy to relate to, complete with a nicely diverse range of personalities. The voice acting is very dynamic. All in all, a terrific film, unique and a feast from the visual and musical front. 10/10 Bethany Cox