Review by Dennis D. McDonald

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.

Review copyright © 2024 by Dennis D. McDonald

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