Harumi Shuhama Archives - Sean Kelly On Movies

The owner of a popular manga app chases after his sentient appendage in Popran. Tagami Tatsuya (Yoji Minagawa) is the highly successful CEO of Japan’s top Manga-reading app, though he has reached the top at the cost of his personal connections. One morning, following a one night stand, Tagami awakens to find that his ”popran“ has gone missing. Finding a QR code for the secret ”Popran Group” in a washroom stall, Tagami learns that he has only six days to find and reattach his missing member, before it shrivels up and dies. Popran is a dramedy from Japanese filmmaker Shinichiro Ueda (One Cut of the Dead, Special Actors), which tells the story of man’s worst nightmare, that being their penis becoming sentient and flying away as a “skyfish.” Equipped with a special net for catching his popran, Tagami ends up visiting the people she shunned in his life, including his ex-wife and parents, since the popran is attracted to personal memories. Despite its very absurd premise and slapstick set-pieces, Popran actually ends up being a film about coming to terms with the past to become a better person in the future. While there is obviously much toilet humour with its plot surrounding flying penises, Popran actually ends up being surprisingly restrained, opting not show the ”skyfish” as much more than a super-fast blur. While the film is not perfect, Popran is still an entertaining watch.

Harumi Shuhama

Popran – Fantasia 2022

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