Back to trending
Paprika

Paprika

Animation · Science Fiction · Thriller · 2006

Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.

Movie details

Paprika

“This is your brain on anime.”

2006 Animation · Science Fiction · Thriller 1h 30m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.8 / 10

Community rating

Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Paprika?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Animation · 1999

A member of an elite paramilitary counter-terrorism unit becomes traumatized after witnessing the suicide bombing of a young girl and is forced to undergo retraining. However, unbeknownst to him, he becomes a key player in a dispute between rival police divisions, as he finds himself increasingly involved with the sister of the girl he saw die.

Made in Abyss: Wandering Twilight

Made in Abyss: Wandering Twilight

Animation · 2019

Second compilation movie of the TV series which covers episodes 9-13. Riko and Reg descend to the third and fourth layer where Riko has her first experience of the Curse.

Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue

Animation · 1998

Rising pop star Mima Kirigoe quits singing to pursue a career as an actress. After she takes up a role on a popular detective show, her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

Animation · 1997

SEELE orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can advance his own plans for the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji is pushed to the limits of his sanity as he is forced to decide the fate of humanity.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

Animation · 2021

In the aftermath of the Fourth Impact, stranded without their Evangelions, Shinji, Asuka and Rei find refuge in one of the rare pockets of humanity that still exist on the ruined planet Earth. There, each lives a life far different from their days as an Evangelion pilot. However, the danger to the world is far from over. A new impact is looming on the horizon—one that will prove to be the true end of Evangelion.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Animation · 2013

Batman has not been seen for ten years. A new breed of criminal ravages Gotham City, forcing fifty-five-year-old Bruce Wayne back into the cape and cowl, but does he still have what it takes to fight crime in a new era?

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon

Animation · 2025

In a Kaiju-filled Japan, Kafka Hibino works in monster disposal. After reuniting with his childhood friend Mina Ashiro, a rising star in the anti-Kaiju Defense Force, he decides to pursue his abandoned dream of joining the Force, when he suddenly transforms into the powerful "Kaiju No. 8." An action-packed recap of the first season of Kaiju No. 8 and a new original episode, Hoshina's Day Off.

GANTZ:O

GANTZ:O

Animation · 2016

After being brutally murdered in a subway station, a teen boy awakens to find himself resurrected by a strange computer named Gantz, and forced to fight a large force of invading aliens in Osaka.

The Garden of Sinners: Future Gospel

The Garden of Sinners: Future Gospel

Animation · 2013

A side story of the original Kara no Kyōkai - the Garden of sinners movie series divided into 2 parts. In the first part, Shizune Seo, who finds her life too predictable due to her precognition, and Mitsuru‎ Kamekura, who uses his precognition to be a professional bomber, meet Mikiya and Shiki, respectively, and their futures begin to change. In the second part, 10 years after the original series, Shiki and Mikiya's daughter, Mana Ryōgi, spends a day with Mitsuru.

Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell

Action · 1995

In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Satoshi Kon

Written by

Satoshi Kon · Seishi Minakami

Megumi Hayashibara

Megumi Hayashibara

Paprika / Atsuko Chiba (voice)

Tohru Emori

Tohru Emori

Seijiro Inui (voice)

Katsunosuke Hori

Katsunosuke Hori

Torataro Shima (voice)

Toru Furuya

Toru Furuya

Kosaku Tokita (voice)

Akio Otsuka

Akio Otsuka

Toshimi Konakawa (voice)

Koichi Yamadera

Koichi Yamadera

Morio Osanai (voice)

Hideyuki Tanaka

Hideyuki Tanaka

Guy (voice)

Court is in session

Put Paprika on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.