Paprika (novel)

Paprika (パプリカ) is a 1993 novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui. It first appeared in Marie Claire split up into four different parts, each part chronologically appearing in the January 1991, March 1992, August 1992, and June 1993 issues of the magazine. A manga adaption of the novel was created by Reiji Hagiwara in 1995, but was not published until 2003. The novel was adapted as an animated film in 2006, which was itself adapted into a manga the following year by Eri Sakai.

Story
Dream monitoring and intervention as a means of treating mental disorders is a developing new form of psychotherapy in the near future. Nobel Prize-winning psychiatry research establishment employee Atsuko Chiba (千葉敦子) is the most prominent scientist in this field, using her alter-ego Paprika (パプリカ) to infiltrate the dreams of others and treat their illnesses. Unrest ensues when a new psychotherapy device known as the DC Mini (DCミニ), created by Kōsaku Tokita (時田浩作), is stolen, allowing the assailant to enter the minds of anyone and enact mind control. The frantic search for the criminal and the DC Mini has begun.

Animated film
An animated film adaption of the novel, directed by Satoshi Kon, was released in 2006, with the author of the original novel providing the voice of a bartender.

Manga versions

 * Reiji Hagiwara's version in Kodansha's "Mister Magazine"
 * Eri Sakai's version in Kodansha's "Monthly Shōnen Sirius" (ran from May to July 2007)