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Penguin Highway

Play trailer 1:31 Poster for Penguin Highway Released Apr 12, 2019 1h 58m Adventure Anime Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 24 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A fourth-grade student investigates when penguins appear in his village.
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Penguin Highway

Critics Reviews

View All (24) Critics Reviews
Andrea Gronvall Chicago Reader Making his feature debut, 30-year-old director Hiroyasu Ishida confidently adapts Tomihiko Morimi's bestselling coming-of-age novel, gracefully segueing... May 29, 2019 Full Review G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle The joy of discovery is at the heart of "Penguin Highway," a delightful new anime that is about the mysteries of life, both scientific and personal. Oh, and it's about penguins, too. Rated: 3/4 Apr 25, 2019 Full Review Peter Debruge Variety An irresistibly out-there mystery that plays like a cross between "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Stranger Things," if either of those influences' sense of horror were replaced with wonder... Apr 12, 2019 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine This is mostly a wonderful animated film with a lovely sense of charm; no, I didn't like its obsession with boobs either. Rated: 7/10 Nov 3, 2020 Full Review CJ Sheu The News Lens International Penguin Highway largely delivers on its promise of cuteness and mystery, and adds wonder and heart for good measure. Jun 27, 2020 Full Review Panos Kotzathanasis Asian Movie Pulse Hiroyasu Ishida directs an anime in the style mostly established by the aforementioned in the prologue, mixing fantasy with reality, through a story mostly involving children but actually carrying messages that are addressed to adults. Nov 30, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (26) audience reviews
Eye C A beautiful fantasy movie with penguins and a child obsessive with boobs. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/29/24 Full Review Kyle M Between penguins and scientific method research, this brilliant film seemingly embraced the Spielbergian characterization situated in fantastical surrealism with general charm of laughter and heartened fascination by sharp, performative boosts, even if it tends to not sit well throughout the course in minimal self-contradiction adjacent to the underlying coming-of-age theme. (B+) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/22/24 Full Review roti a I truly enjoyed this movie! Not only is the animation great, but the storyline is also very enjoyable. The movie is like an invitation to expand your imagination while being plausible at the same time. It gave me a lot of inspiration. I am especially drawn to the main character's personality. Have fun watching this movie! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/23/23 Full Review Andri Setia A This is really really amazing anime movies, a child who acts mature is very attractive! The plot is interesting and the storyline is always developing every minute, it's very good~ This is my best fantasy-themed anime Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/18/23 Full Review Chlo To me, this is a wonderful movie. I cried every time I watch it, not because it is sad, but because it is too joyful and happy. I can feel the happiness of being a child, knowing what a child thinks like. I don't care about how confusing this movie is, because sometimes children do confuse us sometimes, but they don't have to figure it out because they live in their own world. I love the characters, I love the coloring, I love the message throughout the film, I love the OST. Overall, this movie is perfect for me and it is a must-watch. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/22/23 Full Review isla s This is, I can assure you, the first film I've ever seen in which penguins are imagined into being!. Its a typically cute anime film, although the plot/dialogue does talk about ladies boobs (the main character seems to be noticing his new found puberty via a fascination in a ladies breasts), so its maybe not the best film to show to really young kids. Its not exactly sexually explicit either though. Its quite a quirky and imaginative watch, with a lovely light soundtrack and cheery characters. I liked the main plot, with talk of manifesting penguins and 'the penguin energy' - its so random, it made me smile/giggle a fair bit. The animation is pretty, with fields a bright, luscious green and so on. For an anime film, this is quite cheerful and fun. I particularly liked the scenes set in the forest, the (as mentioned) light and airy, classical/instrumental type music played and the dappled sunshine in between the trees, plus the colourful skies/sunsets in some scenes. Its a fairly engrossing watch, one I'd happily recommend to fans of anime films. I really liked the childhood innocence of it (the ocassional references to body parts aside) - it has a nice whimsical charm to it. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Penguin Highway

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis A fourth-grade student investigates when penguins appear in his village.
Director
Hiroyasu Ishida
Screenwriter
Makoto Ueda
Distributor
Eleven Arts
Production Co
Studio Colorido Co.
Genre
Adventure, Anime
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 12, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 23, 2019
Runtime
1h 58m
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