User reviews

If this isn't the most adorable film of the year, then I don't know what is. With a beautiful sense of wonder at every moment, brilliant humour, gorgeous animation, a touching emotional core, and an unpredictable mystery, Penguin Highway is one of the biggest surprises I've ever had when it comes to anime, taking fantasy, coming-of-age drama and everything in between and mixing into one immensely entertaining and endlessly delightful movie.

Whatever you're looking for, there's certainly something that you will love about Penguin Highway, and that's testament to the film's incredible depth and diversity of genre, as it goes beyond simple fantasy like some animes, and instead brings both a powerful and riveting emotional story, as well as consistently hilarious humour throughout.

Of all that, it's hard to really pick out what stands out most about Penguin Highway, but what I definitely can't ignore is the film's stunning mystery, which not only proves a hugely entertaining one, but also one that's filled with riveting twists and turns from beginning to end.

A fantasy story filled with wonderment and awe is something that the likes of Studio Ghibli were experts at for decades, but bringing genuine unpredictability into play is something a whole lot more impressive. While the film does a beautiful job at giving you that unparalleled sense of wonder, I was stunned by just how fascinating the central mystery was, and as you follow the diligent Aoyama-kun as he attempts to get to the bottom of why penguins are appearing all over town, the story deepens and deepens to an exceptional extent.

And what's even better is how that side of the story so effortlessly links in with the film's main emotional core, which largely focuses on a coming-of-age story that sees the occasionally precocious Aoyama understand more and more about the world around him - not just through books, but through an incredible and life-changing adventure.

As a result, while the film proves an endlessly entertaining adventure, what really solidifies it as a great piece is the emotional depth it brings to the table. With the wonderful relationship between Aoyama and an older woman at its centre, Penguin Highway is filled to the brim with relatable and heartwarming drama, and as we see the stakes of the investigation rise throughout, the film's emotional power grows accordingly, completely wrapping you up in its wonderful and enthralling world.

While the film excels in its fascinating story and powerful emotional drama, there's always room for the lighter side of things, and Penguin Highway makes no secret about being an immensely adorable film. Apart from the fact that the penguins themselves are insanely cute, the film is full of delightful humour that works brilliantly as a contrast to some of the more theatrical elements.

I was smiling and laughing right the way through here, and thanks to the screenplay's excellent characterisation, as well as a whole host of strong voice performances, you feel so strongly connected to everybody on screen, something that proves enormously effective in making Penguin Highway such a stunning watch.

Overall, I loved every minute of Penguin Highway. It's a hugely entertaining watch, with a surprisingly riveting and unpredictable mystery complemented beautifully by a powerful emotional core and coming-of-age story. Furthered by a brilliant sense of humour, adorable characters, and that typically gorgeous animation that only Japan can produce, it's a film that will have you beaming ear to ear, all the while totally wrapping you up into a deeply engrossed state with its brilliant story.

Your life is just once, so enjoy it like riding with penguins, till you'll meet yourself again, yourself who is still young and with endless wonders for this world.

P.S. kids also loved it, and mysteriously, they also got the same message: Let's ride with penguins!

Alot of questionable moments and a lot of weird moments, a lot of cool and funny moments too, i don't dislike it, and its not amazing, its ok, I think it was a bit too chaotic and weird for me. Stop reading reviews and just go watch the movie already.

Aoyama is a studious young kid, he loves to research things, weird things and with the help of a couple of school friends and his dentist, he finds something very weird. Penguin energy. Onê-san, the dentist can conjure penguins from thin air. She's no idea why, but together they all try to solve the puzzle. On the way they find an idyllic meadow with a large floating orb of water that seems connected and soon realise that everything is linked by some cosmic phenomenon. It looks gorgeous, the water and lighting in the animation are wonderful. The plot although typical Japanese fantasy holds together really well with a good dose of mystery and some cool ET vibes. Plus it's full of penguins! Culminating in a psychedelic stampede finale as the young heroes vow to save the town from the giant orb and jabberwocky's!

I am no critic. I submit scores in IMDb for one reason mostly. I give high scores to recommend a movie I like or vice versa. I really enjoyed this anime. I just lose myself when watching good animes. And that's enough for me to believe something is good or not.

I have no idea what this movie is about... except that it's a fun fantastical romp with PENGUINS! I've a feeling the writer / director thought the general viewing audience would be better mind readers than we actually are. Sorry, haven't mastered video telepathy quite yet. One can guess at the meaning and likely even come up with a logical hypothesis as to what the plot is about. But I think any conjecture will be somewhat subjective.

If you go in for the purpose of seeing a film very reminiscent of Studio Gibli style and subtle nonsensicalness... and if you're in the mood for penguins... this will likely fill the bill. Some parts have excellent animation. Mainly it's just plain fun.

This is easily one of the most unusual movies you will ever see. I wasn't sure at first what to make of it because it takes its time to get there. Stick with it because your patience will be rewarded. It will seem totally dis-jointed at first but give it time. All I could say is, at the end, what a great piece of story telling. I'm a huge fan of Studio Ghibli and this rivals any of the best from them. If you appreciate great animation and great story this is a must see.

I went in with no idea what the movie was about. I was skeptical since I usually have a tough time enjoying anime films and I worried my fiance and daughter would not enjoy it. It was a fabulous ride. The penguin scenes are both wonderous and fantastical. I left satisfied and wanting to purchase a copy to show others.

Chaos bursts into the carefully built rational little world of Aoyama - in a town far from the ocean, Antarctic penguins appear from nowhere. Of course, this ridiculous event challenges the wunderkind's mind and worldview. He immediately rushed to hypothesize about the causes of the phenomenon - from lost pets or falling out of a zoo van, to mutated crows. However, events take on a completely irrational turn when it turns out that the penguins are created by the Aoyama's beloved Lady (fixing holes in teeth is like fixing holes in the space-time continuum and the Lady does both), and a giant sphere of oceanic water hanging in the air is found in a forest clearing outside the town. The Lady herself does not quite understand who she is, how she creates creatures and asks our little hero to solve this riddle. So Aoyama faces the real Mystery - at the same time his scientific and love interest, which can quench his thirst for knowledge and beauty.

A very peculiar anime that is not quite suitable for a mass audience. But those who will like it, may get such moral, intellectual and aesthetic pleasure from "Penguin Highway", which watching other animated movies will hardly bring. First of all, it should be noted that although this movie is about children, it is not at all for children and not even for most teenagers. Rather, it will resonate with young adults and mature people, especially with those who were fond of or are fond of science fiction, and will immediately establish the roots of "Penguin Highway" in Lem's "Solaris", Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and Heinlein juveniles. Probably fans of Satoshi Kon's surrealistic narration will also like "Penguin Highway", although the drawing and the general mood here are not close to him, but rather to the creations of Studio Ghibli. As if opening the "door into summer", this anime, along the mysterious penguin path, will take you to a childhood full of miracles and aspirations, plunge into the atmosphere of a summer adventure, a fairy tale and a warm ocean of sincere love, accompanying your journey with excellent symphonic music filled with allusions to Bach and Bizet.

For all its magic, "Penguin Highway" is full of subtle psychological observations and sketches related to everyday life: children's curiosity and openness of mind to the new, encouraged by the father of the protagonist - young Aoyama, his little sister's awareness of mortality, Aoyama's inescapable absorption by the vortex of love, when he sits enchanted by the face of the sleeping Lady, feeling joy and marveling every tiny detail that make it perfect, Aoyama's stoicism and gradually acquired ability to understand others, the childish manifestations of Hamamoto's jealousy and Suzuki's love. Such a combination of realism and psychologism with surrealism can lead to the false conclusion that the "Penguin Highway" is a representative of magical realism. But it is not so - this is hard science fiction which raises the question of the limitations of rational knowledge and supplements it with the question of the ethical boundaries of scientific research and the significance of love and morality, their relations with rationality when confronted with the unknown.

The novel (by Tomihiko Morimi) on which this anime is based as well as the anime itself have clear references to Stanislaw Lem's novel "Solaris" (Aoyama even mentions "Stanislaw Syndrome" at the dentist's) which has strict sci-fi narrative, questioning rational cognition. However the Penguin Highway novel was heavily inspired not only by the Lem's novel itself but by the Tarkovsky's interpretation of Solaris in his 1972 art film as well which is full of symbols and metaphors. "Penguin Highway" takes Tarkovsky's vision on the main problem (that the correct solution of the problem of relationship between the subject and the object of scientific research, the way to approach the Mystery, is to treat it not like a mere abstract object, but through empathy and love, applying high moral standards while doing so) and replaces Kris Kelvin (main character) who in the movie represents the right way to treat the Unknown but was tormented by guilt, with Aoyama - pure child with clear conscience. "Penguin Highway" basically deals with the same epistemological problem as "Solaris". This problem of limitation of rational cognition and ethical restrictions of dealing with the unknown is profoundly explained by Tarkovsky in his interview and by C. S. Lewis in "The Abolition of Man".

There is an anecdote told by Aoyama early on in the movie in which he compares the Lady's breasts and his mother's breasts, which are abstractly belong to the same category of objects, but in reality affect him completely differently. In fact that's how aforementioned epistemological problem may be simply illustrated: the subjects of scientific study should not be treated as abstractions, but rather as quite specific phenomena, to each of which, despite the quantitative similarity, a special, qualitatively different attitude should be formed. The object, stripped of its qualitative properties and reduced to mere quantity, is not wholly real.

It would be a mistake to consider "Penguin Highway" a coming of age story. There is no development of Aoyama's character - the anime opens and ends with the pretty much the same speech of the protagonist. In fact "Penguin Highway" represents idea which is opposite to coming of age. It is about returning to innocence, to child-like pure heart, open-mindeness and to the immediate perception of the world. The only scientist (Dr. Kris Kelvin) in the "Solaris" who managed to establish contact with the Ocean did it not through rational observation, but through empathy - he established emotional connection with Solaris through his deceased wife, recreated by Solaris. Yet as her death was his guilt (at least he blamed himself) this connection could not last long as both of them were tortured by Kris' guilt. So the only solution for Kris to reach Solaris was to return to his roots, return to his home and innocence - to childhood. Solaris materialized his dream by creating his old family house and his father on the Ocean's surface - it was clear reference to the "The Return of the Prodigal Son". Tarkovsky's movie begins and ends on Earth, in the protagonist's house.

We can find reference to this in the anime, when the Lady tells Aoyama in his dream that "she has always been on Earth" as well as river which ends where it begins and words that "everything ends and returns to where it started". "If you go far enough, you return to where you started" says the Lady to Aoyama, stating that she is on Earth despite Aoyama's travel to another planet. While saying good bye to him later in the movie, she hints that he'll be able to solve her mystery after becoming astronaut and going to space - "then I want you to come and find me". This also alludes to Kris' returning to home from the space in order to reach his ideal, but in the same way this "returning" of Kris was symbolic as in reality he comes to replica of his home which was artificially recreated by Solaris as Kris at last become able to establish communication with the Ocean through empathy.

Aoyama is virtually Kris which has returned to his childhood, with clear conscience, highly intelligent but still innocent. The Ocean (manifested in the Lady) and Aoyama also established connection not through rationality, but through empathy, through mutual love, which gave common ground to completely alien beings. For Aoyama the same "returning to home", returning to the Ocean by penguin highway (it is a path by which penguins go to and from the ocean), in other words reaching his ideal (the Lady), means to grow up "good adult" not just intellectually, but first of all morally, through realization of limitations of rational cognition. Thus Aoyama's growing up lays through overcoming rational reductionism which in a way means returning to childhood when phenomena precepted immediately as particular and whole. The answer to the Mystery lies out of the reach of scientific approach in the rationally incomprehensible sphere of human spirit and only through devoted love and determined strive for the Lady Aoyama may be able to reunite with her - the Mystery.

However, the complex epistemological message of the "Penguin Highway" will not at all prevent you from enjoying watching this anime without understanding its meaning at all. Many will enjoy the bright, beautifully drawn summer adventure, the feeling of childhood, enchanting music and the atmosphere of a fairy tale, the psychological observations, the relationship between children and parents, not to mention the unusual, humorous and loving relationship between Aoyama and the Lady (however, in order to perceive this unusual relationship, many may need to experience the same level of struggle with stereotypes of thinking and accept openness to the perception of the unknown, as scientists in their study of Solaris). Someone may perceive this anime as a children's fairy tale or a coming of age story, someone as magical realism, a surreal adventure or a first love story - all these will not interfere with enjoying this wonderful masterpiece.

There was potential for an interesting fantasy story, but scattered, made little sense, poorly developed. None of the main storyline subplots of an alien, penguin creation, and a water type bubble were ever clearly explained or interconnected. The usual school bully stereotype makes it appearance. All characters very stereotypic both in visual animation & behavior. Poorly researched mistakes on penguin ecology, e.g. movie stated they are only in Antarctica

Penguin Way is an anime movie that tells the story of a young man named Aoyama, who stumbles upon a magical penguin that has the ability to send its wielder back in time each night. He uses this ability to try and save his father's life, only to end up getting stuck in a time-loop that repeats itself every night. Along the way, he encounters a strange girl named Shirai, who knows even more about the penguin than he does. Together, they embark on a journey of discovery and self-conflict as they search for the truth behind the penguin's miraculous powers.

In my opinion, I think Penguin Way is a really interesting and thought-provoking anime. It tackles some complex philosophical concepts, such as time travel, and touches on issues of death, loss, and identity. The story is well-paced and engaging, and the characters are well-developed and relatable. Overall, I think it's a great anime that is definitely worth watching.

I went into this movie almost completely blind, not sure if i would like it or not, the good news is i did like it, for the most part, the story is quite intruiging and really intresting, the charecters are likable, the comedy is cute, and the animation is mostly really impressive, do note that i said mostly, while i like it for the most part, there are some moments that can get a little too over the top for me, the voice acting is also pretty good, with the cast delivering solid work, though some of the performances also feel a tad stiff, but overall if you like the works of studio colorido and want something thats quaint, and charming, i highly reccomend you to check this movie out.

A precocious fourth-grade boy, already an avid chess player and budding scientist, is drawn into a mystery involving the sudden appearance of hundreds of penguins in a small Japanese town. Where did they come from? And how are they connected to the young woman hired by the boy's father to coach him in chess?

All is eventually revealed in what evolves into one of the most surreal anime sci-fi adventures I've seen recently.

On one hand, we have a small group of intellectually curious kids investigating bizarre events with little or no adult supervision. Along the way, they experience not only strange otherworldly occurrences but also familiar elements typical of slice-of-life Japanese anime: schoolyard bullying, clueless adults, budding young love, and a gorgeous, if not idyllic, small-town setting with little street traffic but quick access to nearby forests and nature.

On the other hand, the story incorporates fanciful pseudo-scientific ideas, including alternate dimensions, physical transformations, and some familiar aliens-among-us tropes. I found the story unusual, to say the least, but consistently entertaining, given the juxtaposition of its "realistic" social and physical settings with the bizarre goings-on.

I watched Penguin Highway on Amazon Prime on a 55-inch TV. The visuals are consistently stunning. Character designs, including facial expressions and body movements, are typical of high-quality anime aimed at children. All elements are enhanced by vivid colors and the occasional well-integrated CGI that adds a touch of realism.

One potentially jarring element is the consistent difference between the English dubbing and the displayed English subtitles. I'm accustomed to watching even English-language films with English subtitles, but the frequent differences between the dubbed audio and subtitle text in this film take some getting used to. Both make sense and appear to have been prepared by different translators.

One notable oddity arises when the young boy's innocent fascination with his attractive chess teacher's "boobs" is referenced. Such references, while common in Japanese anime targeting young audiences, are noticeable here. Sometimes the English word "boobs" is heard in the audio and seen in the subtitles, while at other times the word appears in the subtitles but seems to have been purposely censored in the dubbed audio. Again, this may be due to different translators being responsible for dubbing and subtitling.

I'm only a hour into this movie and already I am disappointed with the lack of penguins in this film.

My seven-year-old agreed: not enough penguins!

I'd say this film is better suited for ten-year-olds or older. The sci-fi physics mystery is a bit over the top, with Buzz words like dimensions and black holes.

The plot largely revolves around a love triangle between the kids. There were few penguins, and the movie had little to do with penguins beyond being a mysterious hook.

The ten-year-old protagonist's hyperfixation with boobs in the first act was an unexpected and somewhat weird element for a children's film. I can blame it on fan service, but still weird.

Don't be fooled by the 7+ rating on Amazon; it's more appropriate for older viewers.

He's highly intelligent, becomes easily fixated on objects of fascination, is maladapted or stunted both socially and emotionally, and bears atypical mannerisms and speech patterns. Either protagonist Aoyama represents a rare instance of a work of fiction centering a character who falls on the autism spectrum (it takes one to know one), or he's just extra self-conceited and spoiled for his age; if the latter, no one calls him on it, and if the former, no one is addressing his inappropriate behavior. Aoyama is at once both relatable and unlikable, which puts the film in a troubled spot from the get-go. I don't know exactly how much of this can be chalked up to Ueda Makoto's screenplay, and how much to the novel of Morimi Tomihiko with which I am admittedly unfamiliar, though it's also notable that this oddity isn't the only one. Very early in the length it's readily apparent that a prominent character is directly tied to the penguins, and they coyly state as much, yet the fact of it is treated very normally, as if the question at hand weren't unnatural penguins but the mystery of where a missing sock has gone. Actually, is there any character in 'Penguin highway' who behaves like an average real person? Maybe friend Uchida, or bully Suzuki. I think that's it.

Granted, this is a work of fiction, and science fiction/fantasy at that. Maybe I shouldn't get hung up so much on how the characters are written, but I can't help that they've drawn my attention in this fashion, least of all when their behavior is never addressed. Then again, the narrative and its mysteries are predominantly framed through the perspective of these characters and their investigations. The story is interesting and engaging, and we want to keep watching to see just what Morimi has cooked up, but the dialogue, scene writing, and plot development all stem from how Aoyama, Hamamoto, the unnamed lady, and even Aoyama and Hamamoto's fathers are written. At the same time that the phenomena in the tale are remarked to be abnormal and worrisome, and additional parties become involved, they are treated with a nonchalance that would almost suggest such occurrences are in fact very routine. To top it all off, when the revelations of the plot are indeed spilled within about the last quarter of the length - truthfully, I'm decidedly unconvinced. I don't think any of the ideas come together cogently and cohesively: not Aoyama's deductions, not the half-measure explanations, not the unspecified singular importance of Aoyama. When all is said and done, the best the picture can do to "resolve" the mysteries of why This and That appeared as they did, and why any of the plot transpired in the first place, is to fall back on "maybe Aoyama will figure it out." It IS possible for open-ended stories to be satisfying, but seeing as this was so peculiar and off-putting in how it was written from the outset, I don't believe this to be an instance to provide that satisfaction. It comes off to me not as lasting wonder and whimsy, but as a cop-out after writing oneself into a corner in a title that all along seemed to be building to Something More.

Setting aside, um, the entirety of the writing, 'Penguin highway' is well made in all other regards. I quite appreciate the voice acting, and Abe Umitaro's lovely music. Studio Colorido turned in reliably fantastic animation that pretty well meets the standards we suppose of contemporary Japanese artists. Swell detail characterizes beautiful backgrounds, active elements including character and creature designs, and any effects; there's nice consideration here and there for lighting, shading, and perspective. I'm not so keen on the instances of 3D digital rendering that show up, noticeably less refined than the prevalent 2D style, but it's not outright bad, and I can understand the creative choice. By and large the feature looks and sounds great. Yet I'm plainly stuck on what it is that Morimi was doing with his novel, let alone Ueda or director Ishida Hiroyasu with this adaptation. For all the far-flung varieties of movies I've ever watched, from the convoluted to the abstruse and from the thrilling to pleasant little nothings, this one leaves me feeling like I'm just missing something, or like I'm not on the same wavelength as everyone else. After the fact I've read what others have written of the flick, and I'm not sure we were watching the same thing. Maybe like Aoyama we're supposed to just keep alive a sense of curiosity and rumination, but again, for the most part that's just not how this was shaped; any loftier interpretations just seem right out. I'm glad for those who get more out of it than I do, but broadly enjoyable as it is, I'm not sold, and I'm any recommendation I could offer for 'Penguin highway' is at best only very soft and vague.