Napping Princess (2017)

In the near future, a high school senior discovers that events in her waking life begin to parallel events in her dreams.

Director:

Kenji Kamiyama

Writer:

Kenji Kamiyama

Stars:

Mitsuki Takahata, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Jamison Boaz

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Mitsuki Takahata	...	Morikawa Kokone / Enshen (voice)
Shinnosuke Mitsushima	...	Sawatari Morio (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jamison Boaz	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ray Chase	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ben Diskin	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Yôsuke Eguchi	...	Morikawa Momotarô / Pîchi (voice)
Doug Erholtz	...	Momotaro Morikawa / Peach (voice)
Arata Furuta	...	Watanabe Ichirô / Bewan (voice)
Wayne Grayson	...	Kijita (voice)
Kyle Hebert	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Rie Kugimiya	...	Joi (voice)
Tomoya Maeno	...	Kijita / Takîji (voice)
Max Mittelman	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Chris Niosi	...	Morio Sawatari (voice)
Colleen O'Shaughnessey	...	Joy (voice)

Storyline

Kokone has university exams to prepare for, but instead she dozes off. Even when her father is unceremoniously arrested prior to the Tokyo Olympics and the family is hiding away a mystery or two she finds herself taking refuge in sleep where thrills await her. Could there be more to her dreams?

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Plot Keywords:

dream | watermelon | grandfather | train | shared dream | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film takes place in 2020 during the Tokyo Olympics, which ended up being cancelled in reality due to the Coronavirus epidemic.

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Connections

Featured in The Month in Movies: March 2018 (2018)

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Soundtracks

Daydream Believer
(as "Deidorîmu birîbâ")
Written by John Stewart
Performed by Mitsuki Takahata (as Morikawa Kokone)

User Reviews

Completely Engaging! Very creative and entertaining. Similar to Studio Ghibli films, which are fantastic!

The story centers around a girl named Kokone, who I think has narcolepsy. She often dozes off and dreams about a kingdom known as Heartland. Her father is arrested and accused of stealing technology from a famous company and Kokone and her old friend Morio track him down.

I really like the two main characters, Kokone and Morio. I appreciate their dynamic friendship and their personalities. I truly believe they have a bond that can't be broken. Besides these two and Kokone's dad, none of the other characters stand out that much. Of course, I have to talk about the animation. The animation is beautiful. I've always loved Japanese animation and this film is no different. I love the backgrounds of both the real world and Heartland. I love how the characters move. All of it is so appealing. And speaking of visual stuff, the outfits that the characters wear are amazing. If there was an award for best costume design in animation, this film would win it!

The Heartland dream sequences are the best part of the movie. The dreams have their own story, separate to the story taking place in the real world. The dreams are my type of adventure. A kingdom with a combination of sci-fi and fantasy with lots of action? Perfect! It's also really ingenious. Ancien's magic tablet is one of the most original and imaginative inventions I've ever seen in fiction.

I also love the soundtrack. The background music has a pretty orchestral vibe. The music composer is Yoko Shimomura, a famous video game composer known for working on Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. She also composed one of my favorite video game songs, so I got pretty excited finding this out. The one thing that did bother me is that the movie is advertised as a sci-fi / fantasy movie. However, there isn't that much fantasy. The movie has elements of fantasy, such as in the dream sequences, but it doesn't feel as if it is an actual fantasy film. This bothered me just a bit. Also, certain things are left unexplained and that left me confused.

I give this film 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, due to some mild language.

Reviewed by Calista B., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic.

Details

Official Sites:

Anime Limited [United Kingdom] GaragePlay [Taiwan]

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

18 March 2017 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Napping Princess

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,865, 10 September 2017

Gross USA:

$48,198

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,176,216

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai, Chukyo TV Broadcasting Company (CTV), Fukuoka Broadcasting System (FBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1