Review of Paprika

This is the same person who directed Perfect Blue. Let that sink in. This film does have some brilliance. There's a story about a guy constantly chasing something in his dreams. That was a nice sequence with a plot twist. Unfortunately, it's not really connected to the overall plot, so meh. And before anyone says that I'm not intelligent enough to understand the plot, this plot isn't really hard to understand. It isn't like Utena where you have to watch multiple times and really think, in order to get it. Each rewatch, you catch something new andthinking of theories is always fun. That's why the fanbase is still thriving and theory crafting, decades later.

With Paprika, it just wasn't good. The characters were hit miss, with most of the cast being a miss. Paprika and Konakawa are interesting characters. Though other than them, most of the characters aren't good. The villain was exactly who I predicted. The only "twist" is that there were two villains. Atsuko is basically like the movie says. "You need a little more spice. Perhaps, Paprika?" She's a boring character, and not much is explored with her. Tokita is a morbidly obese character with no redeeming qualities. His personality isn't appealing, he's a buttmonkey, he's lazy, he's gross to even look at, etc. At least in Princess Jellyfish, the overweight character is easy on the eyes. In this, he's sloppy and gross. Not much to say about the villains. Rather one-dimensional characters, and they were predictable. When watch, from the beginning I said "it's either this guy or that guy". Plot twist, it's both. Whatever...

Sad thing is, the characters weren't even the worst thing. The worst is the romance and deus ex machina at the end.

Now, I don't exactly require romance. I've watched series without romance. However, I maintain my stance that a great romance carries the series to the next level, while bad romance drags the series down. In this case, the romance was so bad that it actively drug the score down. I kept going back and forth between a score of 3 or 4. Mostly because Konakawa was an interesting character, and his subplot was great. I really enjoyed it and his character. However, the romance and deus ex machina was so bad that it has to be a 3. No other way, a 3.

So here's my issue... I'll go with deus ex machina. Anything goes in this world, which makes villains boring. If you can just powerup out of your behind, then what's even the point? Maybe if it were metaphorical, but I fail to see the metaphor. Just a rant about polarity...

The romance is also gross. Ironically, I thought that they were setting up a romance between Character A and Character C. They were interacting with each other regularly. Character C basically opened up to Character A. There was even some playful flirting and a kiss. I actually thought they were endgame, and I would've accepted it. Except, Character B is the interest out of nowhere. Take in mind, Character A did nothing but insult Character B, while Character B was just a childish mess. Character A said some rather cruel things to Character B, and Character B was one of the most unappealing characters I've seen. There was no chemistry, no fluff, or anything. From what they portrayed, Character B was just a co-worker that Character A was annoyed with, but ultimately respected. They didn't even seem like friends... Though looking back on it, there were a few hints. Though the hints were a double meaning and could be taken as something else. I don't know. The romance just did nothing for me.