Paprika: The Storm of Progress

Best video I have seen about this masterpiece

The Dub'd version of the film is the version I know and saw. To think that's somehow a taboo is outrageous gatekeeping. Thank you for using the Dub.

Great vid! Definitely going to my anime essay/analysis playlist.

Excellently written analysis and video essay!

Such a good movie but still less recognition and STILL around 800k USD max after so much expense.

Im as lost at the end as i was at the beginning

This vid had me spiraling
What the h

Beautifully put.

Watching this masterpiece with English dubbing is a hate crime.

this was amazing!! I think that your acceptance of satoshi kon’s movies not having one central focus helped a lot in understanding not only Paprika, but his other works.

I love this analysis! And I really like the Paprika dub. I think it did a pretty decent job.

Such a great analysis of such a classic film
You have motivated me to re watch this movie once again

Would love to see this film analyzed in regards to Baudrillards theory of Hyperreality

Brilliant. I think this theme of nostalgia for past potential, and what it means to hold on to that feeling of possibility throughout one's life, shows up just as strongly in Kon's "Millennium Actress," too.

Great video, incredibly high effort. I disagree with your treatment of themes but I think you've identified them spotlessly. I think S. Kon's take on the invasive mediation of technology into everyday life, or the "storm of progress" as W. Benjamin characterizes it, is on the whole an optimistic take. It engages in a thorough dialectic with the pessimistic/nihilistic (maybe even reactionary?) takes of the likes of Baudrillard or Kittler, and finds itself siding with the fervent (but cautious) optimism of the likes of McLuhan.

This is just some food for thought. I think your analysis is more aptly applied to the works of Sion Sono, particularly "Suicide Club" and "Noriko's Dinner Table" (it is especially true for the latter).

This is what I was looking for, thank you for all the effort you put into making this!

Similair idea of possiblities that awaits us in the future is represented in film "Mr. Nobody" ( I hope that you would made video about that film as well🙏♥️)

Lol 66.6k subs

damnn that was a good review!

Amazing

I’m on board with all of this, but the English voices... gross lol

I guess no one figured out that the main villain was still at large(literally) at the end of the movie and got away with his master plan. Hear me out. Tokita is the mastermind and main villain, he was the one that created the device and had chiba use it to create this dream world were she would basically experience this alternate reality or "dreamwolrd" were she would experience this story(the movie we just watched) were she felt she was progressing in the story thinking she was in control but in reality is was a just a script ultimately brainwashing her into falling in love with him.... think about it. For a genius like him it wouldnt be that hard for him to sabotage the device to brainwash her. This movie was so confusing that quite honestly just about any interpretation could be plausible lol

Amazing Video. Thank you so much

This was a gorgeous video essay
Thank you

I must say, you did a great video I watched this in chinese website by translated chinese. i think this video is logical and thought-provoking if you can translate chinese in your video, chinese can see and understand you easily. thank you .

Brilliant analysis that somehow umbrellas many people's interpretations. Your writing was so dense and nuanced I felt like I was reading Hegel. So good.

Watched Paprika so many times gonna watch it again.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thank you for this :,)

Beautiful analysis! I have been meaning to watch the film and this has just convinced me to do so.

This movie woke me up

Nice:)

I think it’s fine that you used dub, just make sure to look at both because some dubs will probably change meaning in dialogue.

Guys i still dont understand how the dreams merge w reality? Can someone pls explain it , or is it all still a dream where tokita is a giant robot and walking around town and when the chairman becomes a tall black thing?

Fantastic analysis but I would have added that part when paprika says that men need women with a little bit of spice. Because love can be something that really makes us accept our current life (that is not our lost futures) and consider it worth living, overcoming the problem that resulted from failing in the pursuit of our original dream.

as someone who's usually subs before dubs, I prefer the dub of this movie, because the soundtrack is louder in that version lol

"Paprika" is one of the best sci-fi films ever made, together with "Living in Oblivion" it is also one of the best films ever made on the topic of dreams, and together with "Dark City" it surely is one of the best films ever made on the topic of identity, illusion and/or reality of personality.

Losing our possible futures.... 🤔
Now that's scary

"And hopefully whenever we chose or have chosen, our future can be informed, instead of controlled, by our past."
Love that quote!

I fucking LOVE Paprika. Bad ass movie

nice one. as for Paprika's identity/origin, I think it only gets clearer when Chiba Atsuko (the real, conscious, ego) thinks Paprika is part of her mind. Paprika tells her ''have you ever considered maybe YOURE a part of me ?'' Suggesting that reality is subjective, just like consciousness.
Then ''To think that you can control yourself and others, you're just like an old baldy I know'' referring to Dr Sei-jiroh who is all ego and wants to control everything.
Paprika then pushes Chiba to admit her love for Tokita, and when Chiba decides to follow her heart and try to save him, Paprika says 'She's become true to herself'
My humble theory (after a first watch) is that Paprika is both the unconscious of Chiba and also what you could call ''God'' or 'Light', which is exemplified when she absorbs the darkness and restores light. During all of the movie, she wanders around dreams to show Light to the characters, even the bad ones (by revealing their harsh truth). I think what she is telling Chiba is that the unconscious is both a part of you, but also a higher consciousness at the same time. It's part of you, and you are part of it, and trying to control it is delusional and egoistical.

rest in peace shitoshi kon ! may you make the afterlife more brilliant

I worry that this may present more about your own frame of reference, or even bias, than a clear examination of the films content. I enjoyed it, the presentation was captivating and interesting. But as to validity it felt like an effort was made to fit philosophical elements to the film. Once that is accepted, one only need pick their philosophy and they can splice the film into it. While everyone has a lens, not all lenses are equally clear and some are intentional filters. While compelling, philosophical filtering can feel as artificial as compressed audio, even if subtly applied.

wonderful video!
amazing movie, which i'm STILL trying to get my head around .

A lot of wasted time overanalyzing a very TRASH film. Totally NONSENSICAL and full of plot holes. Its really only enjoyable to artsy people. And plz dont say cliche shit like, "Its cause u didnt get it." Thats a cop out. Someone tell me, what the point was? I mean, are we all just supposed to go, "Man thats so deep" by the end of the pretentiousness? I hated this film. Id rather comb my underarm hair with a fork to kill time than to watch 30 min of this time wasting film. Garbage.

Great video! I might also add though that the writer of the book was very nationalistic (not to be confused with patriotic), so that might've also influenced the chairman's "fear of the future" because the original author was that way.

Your analysis is great :)

I declared my fandom of Kon in a comment under the first video of yours that I watched, so it was obviously going to be this one I chose to watch next. Just as great. Subbed & looking forward to watching your back catalogue. Can I ask if you've had any issues with copyright when using music from these movies? I made a 60 second anime-style opening featuring some J-pop (not film soundtrack) and whole vid was taken down with strike added. So bit nervous about doing anything similar again.