Konnichiwa, listeners! This week, we take on our first Japanese anime (on the show) with Grant of Chip & Ironicus and James of Geekspotting with Satoshi Kon’s Paprika! This incredible, fascinating film follows the search for a stolen dream device, which is being abused to ‘hack’ into people’s dreams and causing them to disappear and blur the lines between fantasy and reality. As the walls of the dream world begin to warp and collapse, it’s up to the sprightly, powerful dream-warrior Paprika (and her more sedate real-life alter ego Chiba) to save the day.
It’s a tremendous work of animation, with an incredible, fluid visual style and plenty of thematic material to unpack – we do our best in the episode, along with our custom cocktail and drinking game!
Relevant Links:
Every Frame a Painting’s Video on Kon’s use of space in time in his films, including Paprika
Radioclub.jp (click on the GUEST BOOK to find our secret message)
ANNOUNCEMENT: We recently contributed to a book on the Thin Man series of detective comedies, called Thoughts on the Thin Man, which you can find in print and Kindle form on Amazon!
LISTEN HERE OR DOWNLOAD:
THIS EPISODE’S DRINK: DC M(art)ini
It would be kind of criminal to not have paprika in this drink, but we decided to introduce it in an unconventional way by infusing it into a boozy caramel for our rimmed martini (which evokes the classy Radio Club Internet bar* in which Paprika and Konokawa meet). The caramel’s the real hard work, but it’s really rewarding once you get it done – and would probably go great with some vanilla ice cream if you’ve got some left over.
½ cup granulated sugar (vanilla sugar if possible)
½ tbsp smoked paprika
½ tbsp lemon juice
pinch, coarse sea salt
1/2 oz white corn whiskey infused w/orange and raspberry
1 tbsp butter
dash, heavy whipping cream
2 parts Suntory whiskey
1 part vanilla vodka
- To make the caramel: Pour sugar into medium saucepan and heat over low-medium heat. (DO NOT STIR THE CARAMEL – that will crystallize the sugar and give it a weird texture. Just keep an eye out for the sugars to turn liquidy and brown around the edges and slowly envelop most of the sugar in the middle.) That’s when you can start shaking the pan lightly to incorporate the rest of the sugar.
- To stop the cooking of the sugar to prevent burning, melt a pad of butter in the caramel, then pour in a dash or two of cream. This will also lighten the color to make it that nice, light brown you want.
- Add the lemon juice, salt, paprika, and infused whiskey and stir to combine. If it’s too thin, reduce it in the saucepan until you get a nice, saucey consistency. (Remember that it’ll thicken as it cools, so err on the side of thin.)
- In a shaker with ice, combine whiskey and vodka and shake vigorously.
- In a martini glass, drizzle caramel sauce throughout the bottom and sides of the glass in your desired design.
- Pour whiskey-vodka mixture into the glass; take a sip and float into a dreamlike reverie.
DRINKING RULES FOR PAPRIKA:
- Whenever you see a match cut (e.g. a character’s movements match from shot to shot)
- Any time a character shows beads of sweat on their forehead
- Every time an inanimate object or non-human creature speaks
FINISH YOUR DRINK WHEN:
Paprika says, “I think this needs a little spice…” and the Chief and detective shout, “PAPRIKA!”
Join us next week for that most special of holidays – Connickuh! This year, we’re celebrating with Harry Connick Jr.’s turn as a serial killer/stalker in the Sigourney Weaver/Holly Hunter film Copycat!
*Click the link and head to the guestbook to see us leave our mark on the world of Paprika…
