Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Jxbinha
Penguin Highway is definitely one of the weirdest movies I've watched, and I mean that in the best possible way. One day, penguins suddenly start appearing in a town nowhere near the ocean, and somehow a group of children decides that they are perfectly capable of investigating the mystery themselves. Sure, why not?
I enjoyed the sense of mystery surrounding the story. The movie slowly introduces increasingly strange things, and I liked trying to understand what was actually happening alongside Aoyama. The relationship between him and the mysterious woman was also interesting, although sometimes I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it.
The animation and atmosphere are beautiful, especially whenever the story embraces its more surreal side. There is something strangely calming about the m…
Read at the sourceThe_Relaxed_Guy
This movie is truly a masterpiece that offers a profound metaphorical meaning. It tells the compelling story of a 10-year-old boy who, like many of us, navigates the complex feelings of love for someone much older—the enchanting dentist lady. The film masterfully explores themes of mystery, emotional depth, and the various stages of character growth that resonate with viewers of all ages.
One standout moment that particularly struck me is when the boy expresses that thinking about "boobs can bring a sense of calm". This surprisingly relatable sentiment captures the innocence and curiosity of youth. Additionally, the character development throughout the film is exceptional, allowing the audience to witness the transformation and maturation of each character.
As the story unfolds, the intr…
Read at the sourcePetruFuracao
“If you ever get angry, you should try thinking about boobs. It’s a perfect way to calm your mind.”
Since the line is delivered by a ten-year-old boy, it shouldn’t be interpreted in a sexual way, and, honestly, I have to agree with him. :)
Penguin Highway is an unusual film in which the protagonists are a highly intelligent ten-year-old boy and a young dentist woman who has the mysterious ability to create penguins. It's a fantasy story with a charming art style and a vibrant, colorful energy that often feels delightfully cartoonish (there are even a few scenes with genuinely playful and humorous animation).
The film can be seen as a coming-of-age story wrapped in mystery, following a child as he begins to understand both the world around him and his own emotions.
I found the character…
Read at the sourcebob-weebington
Penguin Highway is a highly watchable film. Smooth and enjoyable from start to end. Features many artistic and well-drawn stills. Chess sets and white roses and penguins and rainbows and splashing water and a rogue square of blue-wrapped chocolate.
The penguins of course are the main mystery of the film. Where did they come from and where are they going?
The only reason I wouldn't recommend this to mainstream film watchers is that the main relationship is kind of immature and puerile, like some weird ecchi mother-figure X child relationship where the kid is just becoming obsessed with boobs. Japanese anime watchers will have no problem with this but it is weird to the outsiders.
I mean it is really, really close. Penguin Highway is pretty good.
(Disclosure: I really, really like pengui…
Read at the sourcesir_biggy
POLICE!! POLICE!! THIS WOMAN IS HERE TO MEET A TEN YEAR OLD BOY, I REPEAT THIS WOMAN IS HERE TO MEET A TEN YEAR OLD BOY!!! You had one job penguin highway, you had ONE FUC-
Animation. The animation is very amazing,mwah chef's kiss. The style, the ambience it's just... it's just so good it feels like they're trying to draw your attention from something, hmmmmm... oh yeah, trying to draw your attention from the fact that THE ADULT WOMAN GROOMED A TEN YEAR OLD BOY, yeah penguin highway you're not slick, I know why your animation's good, you might have tricked my good friend but you won't trick m- AWWWWW IS THAT A FACKING PENGUIIIIN!!! AN ARMY OF PENGUIIINS!!!!!? Animation's a 10 cause...penguin 🐧
The story of penguin highway is very easy to follow, Aoyama,a smart kid feels he's to grown f…
Read at the sourceBensonas
One thing is for certain about Penguin Highway is it is a kids film and also Japan, is it normal in your country for adults to just spend time with children and their parents to just not care? Anyway, despite this open question, it's a pretty good film with a nice message.
The story is definitely different and paced very nicely. The characters are also very well written. The children actually really do actually like children which is contrary to most anime with children that essentially act like or are even more mature than the adults. As I said in my opening paragraph, the show has a nice message of perseverance, achieving your dreams and managing relationships. It's fun at times, it's emotional at times and has enough mild peril to keep excitement. Great story for the younger viewers. 7…
Read at the sourceNo_H0RNY
I recommend this show because it doesnt get a lot of attention. it does the job as slice of life mixed with supernatural movie. it is one of my best anime films.
A story with a child perspective and the curiosity as the plot goes is well put together. the premise is very much a mystery until the ending. while theres some unnecessary scene or maybe plot , it doesnt bother too much. Dont worry about the visuals, It does very well captivating your eyes, but not may be par with makoto works with comix wave films. The Design of characters maybe looking bit more of ghibli style but this is just my preferences and i love it. With interesting story to cover and Very amazing sound design as well, it is a well done movie. I hope after you read this u give this show movie a try and maybe put your th…
Read at the sourceRaidzAnimez
This movie was a really decent movie to watch and enjoy with family. It was a kids hunt type of film solving a mystery and as a teenager it was a great thing leaving a tear in my eye at the end. The magic with penguins in Japan suddenly came there. One boy wanted to know how and why it happened. The animation was great plus with the art-style making a nice blend to the blender. The pacing was really slow, but you will manage to watch it. The voice acting from dub and sub were really good as-well. I prefer both. The soundtrack as-well was really great and a blend with good music for the backgrounds. The movie was such a treat to watch. would recommend it to anyone who is new to anime and like slow pacing movies.
Read at the sourceAeroGunz
“Penguin Highway” is what happens when You want to write a mystery but You lack the skills to pull it off organically.
We follow Aoyama - a fourth grader with knowledge compared to that of an adult… or at least he thinks so. He likes to indulge himself in pseudo scientific experiments that probably fuel his ego. One of his journals is entirely dedicated to “Geometric study of boobs”, now that’s a branch of science I can get behind. He has an ego, he treats others with reservation and sees himself as more than a child. To be honest… he’s annoying. Watching him is like watching a dollar store ripoff of Sheldon Cooper from “The big bang theory” (and writing a worse character than him is a real achievement as his really badly written). His boring and a lot of his “deductions” are just an ass…
Read at the sourceOneFaintingRobin
This is a slightly tricky one, I think. It's a little tricky to get a grip on because of both the things that work really well about it and the things that don't, the two combining together to make something that makes the 'mixed feelings' tag I've attached to this very appropriate.
As far as those good things are concerned, it's definitely a fun idea overall. Penguins are cool, and the overall mystery side of the story, at least at the start, is a decent hook that is easy to find fun. As the story goes on, it adds a couple other important plot points, trickles in a few other characters in a decently subtle way, so all of that is solid. And certainly, the plot is coherent enough. In purely mechanical terms, everything is there for a purpose, everything works nicely, there's a decent amou…
Read at the sourceMur-CuoreDiVirgo
I loved this anime for both its vibrant and colourful visual art, as well as for its surprising two-sided face. While indeed, by watching the trailer, it might wrongly give the idea of a simple kid-oriented anime, Penguin Highway instead tries to dig deeper into the life of a little boy who is next to face the teen-age.
It will do so by presenting some new challenges which will turn his life into a less “idyllic” experience, with the introduction of some typical aspects of this age such as masculinity and sexuality for example, sometimes by even making use of a partial explicit language or scenes. I appreciated in this sense such contrast between the sweet visual style and the real plot concept, something which found myself unprepared and positively surprised, and that’s why Penguin Highw…
Read at the sourceHaustlaufivindi
A very peculiar anime that is not quite suitable for a mass audience. But those who will like it, like me, may well 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 or are fond of science fiction, and will immediately recognize 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 c…
Read at the sourceloeweeb
From the author behind masterclass pieces, Tatami Galaxy & Night is Short, Walk on Girl, Penguin Highway tells a coming of age story that is visually stimulating & enjoyable.
The story basically follows a young 4th grader boy, Aoyama, embarking on research upon being curiously enticed by the mystery of penguins seemingly popping out of nowhere in their town. But the story is still not without Morimi's magical shenanigans as these penguins themselves are products of urban fantasy. It is in Aoyama's tireless & innocent pursuit of research in demystifying the penguins' true nature.
The film teems everything with eye-popping artwork coupled with the smooth and seamless animation—especially during the opening sequence when the penguin innocently travels around the town while showing backgroun…
Read at the sourceUncool_Slut
With a wholesome story and beautiful visuals, it's great to watch. The parts, in the beginning, are hard to follow, but reaching the end makes things more clearer.
If you wanna watch it, go in with an open mind, try not to figure out everything, the movie will make sure that you are satisfied with the ending. The overall mood of the movie is jolly and there are not a ton of emotional moments.
Hiroyasu Ishida has got some great sense of 3 point perspective drawings, which turned me into an instant fan. Its aesthetics are great and the animation is beautiful.
Read at the sourceyernco
*Spoilers*
What even is there to say about this movie. A lot actually. Coming into this movie I was expecting a wholesome movie with good animation but nothing really special, but instead, I got a movie that could compete to be one of my favorites. This movie was beautiful in a lot of ways. The characters, the story, the animation, and the music were all so amazing that they outweighed the very little bad that there was. When I say there was very little bad I really mean it, I could only think of maybe one thing that I could call out as "bad" but in all reality, it's more of a nitpick of mine. Let's start with that one bad thing, then move onto all the good things.
Starting with the only nitpick I had with this movie. The relationship between the main Lady and Aoyama was honestly a littl…
Read at the sourceCertainless
Penguin Highway is a very lighthearted and joyful experience. It's one of those movies that brings the kid out of everyone. It does something creative without trying to try hard and making it fun to watch without confusing the audience.
Story 8/10:
The story is about a city where penguins are appearing out of the blue despite the tropical climate of the city. It's not the most creative or thoughtful plot but the movie uses this to its advantage. Instead of digging deep and taking the matter seriously, the movie centers around the different experiences of the main characters while also progressing the plot. It is enjoyable to watch whether you like the story or not
Characters 8/10:
The characters in this movie are quite different from what you would usually expect in anime. The characte…
Read at the sourceBoogiwoogi11
I hardly write reviews but this movie was so spectacular for how under-watched it is.
Story - 8. What I like about the story was that I was very metaphorical and up to interpretation, now if you don’t like doing that and just want something that is clear and not ambiguous then this movie most likely won’t be much to you, you’ll just bask in its beautiful artstyle, which I will comment on soon. Now, personally, even though it’s story itself was amazing the only reason it is not anything above an 8 is because, story wise it wasn’t my personal favourite and there were a few places in the movie that were confusing but it definitely didn’t take away from the experience.
Music - 8. On the whole, the music accompaniment with what happened on screen was very fitting. There were no moments were…
Read at the sourcewachotaku
It's okay. It relies too heavily on the animation and beautiful art style it has, but the story falters quite a bit, specially in the middle part.
The final act is cute, with some fantastic elements (very Ghibli like) and a pretty realistic representation of how a young boy may come to terms with stuff he can't really comprehend.
I did find weird a few of the interactions between the young boy and the dentist woman. It's super understandable how he may feel about her and his way of processing their interactions, but it felt like she played along almost too much, which was a little bit uncomfortable to see.
Overall it's an enjoyable movie but I expected more. Half of my scoring may go to penguins. They're fucking cute.
Read at the sourceDivafromJOJO
My rating 8/10. I loved the story at first its kinda confusing but then you'd later understand it over time. Its about a boy who loves science and experiments one day a bunch of penguins come out of nowhere and Aoyama tries to figure out whats happening. So far nothing adds up and then one day it hits him he goes to see the dentist who is also his friend and together try to connect the dots.
the animation was really amazing and I don't regret watching it. I do however regret not watching it sooner. I do think it doesn't deserve a 10/10 its nothing personal tho I just have a hard time giving them out...
Read at the sourcetrung_mal
Here are a few of my thoughts: The most similar anime I've watched prior to this one was Hello World and to compare I felt more lighthearted and satisfied after credit rolled than with Hello World.
The movie has a refreshing art style and fascinating objects of mystery for a fantasy world in the eyes of a bright and curious kid. the surrounding characters are portraited fittingly to the lyrical thoughts and attitude of the boy toward each of them.
I like how the mysteries built up intensity with sensible pacing, convoluted, disentangled toward an end that felt very boyish and personal to the main character's view; to which I'd feel it doesn't matter if I tended to find the conclusion non-sensical. In the end, in the shoes of the boy, I'd find the sense of melancholic wonder in the dentis…
Read at the source
