A theater in Chicago I attend somewhat frequently was playing a dub of this film that I had never heard of before, owing to its recent release. Out of pure curiosity, I decided to view it, and as with many obscure animated films, I did not regret my exposure. The theater in which I saw this movie was crammed to near capacity, and from how we reacted, I could tell the majority of us enjoyed ourselves. The characters offer a very nice sense of mystery and urgency in the action scenes. Joy was a particular one who caught my eye, since I automatically made comparisons to the anime icons of cute such as Doraemon and Totoro. Everyone else generally makes this a well-rounded film. The story switches between the "awake" where Kokone goes to find her father, and the "dream" that has an identical concept but with fantasy. The transitions were gradual from awake to dream and abrupt the other way around, which I found to be a very necessary idea and even hilarious the first time. The writing does bring a moderately high quantity of great jokes, and combined with the animation, it makes the viewing experience anything but soporific (like Sleeping Beauty, but to a greater extent). If you enjoy anime, sci-fi, fantasy, or cute mascots like Joy, then this is a movie you should view. So far, I'd even consider this film underrated.
Review of Napping Princess
Napping Princess
(2017)
One more reminder of why the greats tend to be the most obscure
23 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers