Synopsis
A penguin has appeared in my town.
A fourth-grader investigates the mysterious reason behind the sudden appearance of penguins in his village, which is somehow related to a power from a young woman working at a dental clinic.
Penguin Highway
2018 ‘ペンギン・ハイウェイ’ Directed by Hiroyasu Ishida
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Alternative Titles
Pengin haiwei, 팽귄 하이웨이, Le mystere des pingouins
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Last time I saw this I got too excited and wrote a bunch of overheated apologia, going so far as to favorably compare it to Solaris, but now that a few months have passed I have calmed down and am ready to evaluate Penguin Highway for what it really is: the 2001: A Space Odyssey of movies about having a sexy babysitter.
In this seven-part review and analysis we will take a close look at the data presented in this film and
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This film was recommended to me by a friend working in animation because she said and I quote: "Hiroyasu Ishida is fantastic."
So I checked it out.
This film is about a young boy who is very intelligent (or at least thinks he's intelligent) who has discovered penguins inexplicably showing up in his small town. And he's going to uncover the mystery of their existence. And also stare at the boobs of a dental assistant who is connected to the penguins appearance and an even stranger mystery that has appeared in a field near the town. From there the story kicks into high gear and it becomes like a light-hearted combination of Annihilation and the Goonies with just a dash…
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I read a negative review for this film online that said it was full of the 'male gaze' and that it had an overly sexual relationship between a young kid and his friendly adult dental assistant.
So being a queen of trash, I had to see it.
After watching the film I think the critic who made these claims spent too much time huffing glue.
This movie is a child's fable about coming of age and draws parallels between enjoyment of science and learning and the world and learning about yourself, as a kid growing up. Your emotions, your hormones and your relationships.
Penguin Highway is awkward and cute and clumsy. It has some faults, but they aren't in the…
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“Penguin Highway” is a colorful ode to the fantastical absurdity flowing through all the love and logic of the world.
In our nostalgia-obsessed, self-referential era, director Hiroyasu Ishida’s anime might be the best realization of the ‘Spielberg-ian’ aesthetic that so many movies and TV series have lately been chasing. But unlike the scores of Stevie-imitators, “Penguin” actually brings something new to the cultural conversation.
Many somethings. In fact - an entire army of penguins.
Ishida’s film is based off a novel by Tomihiko Morimi; the same author of the source material for “The Night is Short, Walk on Girl.” “Penguin” shares “Girl’s” bonkers premise, and also its earnest soul. The plot follows a scientific group of village kids who notice…
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Me, an ignorant omicron male: Believe it or not, Penguin Highway is Spirited Away for sigma males.
Everyone: Elaborate on that.
Me: No.
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super weird and super wonderful!!! animation is the absolute coolest thing to ever be invented i think
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The premise alone made me expect a generic anime tearjerker. Maybe it's all in their heads, maybe a character is secretly fighting an illness, maybe a character will die.
But an hour later I let my guard down and I realized that I'm watching something fresh, original, and doesn't rely on cheap tricks to evoke emotions. -
Comedic and puzzling in equal measure. Penguin Highway observes penguins unexpectedly appearing in a sleepy suburb with some enthusiastically generated physical humour caused by there presence. It's an extraordinary yet adorable experience that's an adaptation of a novel written by Tomihiko Morimi and seems to be interested in dealing predominately with the transient nature of youth and the almost unlimited inquisitiveness of childhood.
The main character of Aoyama negotiates some inner examinations on topics such as young love and puberty, and although the storyline can be a little complicated to grasp in places the animation itself is entirely enchanting with plenty of endearing charismatic energy as well as some imaginative set-pieces. Anyway, whatever way one reads it, it’s got a fascinating collection of characters theorising on logical strategies in an attempt to make sense of an illogical world.
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Still fighting with my exact thoughts on this because there is a lot to admire here but its kinda an absolute mess when it comes to storytelling.
I like how this film is able to bring up a lot of themes usually not brought up in children's animation like kids wanting to grow up too fast or even the first indications of sexual curiosity.
The main kid here is an interesting character and seeing him grow up is cool.
However, I didn't buy any of the other characters in the film and thought they were kinda underwritten. The film explores so many different elements that mushed together kinda don't compliment themselves in the slightest. The movie is just too zealous…
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One part ET, one part Rushmore and one part Evangelion, Penguin Highway's coming of age story uses it's solidly honest core to ground a bizarre fever dream of apocalyptic proportions.
Our potagonist, Aoyama, suffers from the Max Fleischer syndrome of being too smart for his own good. His obsessive, precocious and analytical nature is grating at first, but the film is a gentle reminder of how even the smartest kids need to grow; however, most movies don't use a magically endless supply of penguins to kick-start this growth. This is nothing new for author Tomihiko Morimi, whose work generally tends to bend magical realism to it's most radical extremes in order to reflect the conflict his characters face. This story…