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Summary A wildly psychedelic ride through Osaka's backstreets, the afterlife, and a whale's belly. Incorporating photo frames of the actual voice-actors’ faces, the film reflects the rough aesthetic of the young production house Studio 4c, as well as an emerging anime trend toward DJ-style visual sampling. [Museum of Modern Art]

Directed By: Masaaki Yuasa, Kôji Morimoto

Written By: Robin Nishi, Masaaki Yuasa

Mind Game

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 6 Critic Reviews
66
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 25 User Ratings
7.7
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Summary A wildly psychedelic ride through Osaka's backstreets, the afterlife, and a whale's belly. Incorporating photo frames of the actual voice-actors’ faces, the film reflects the rough aesthetic of the young production house Studio 4c, as well as an emerging anime trend toward DJ-style visual sampling. [Museum of Modern Art]

Directed By: Masaaki Yuasa, Kôji Morimoto

Written By: Robin Nishi, Masaaki Yuasa

Where to Watch

Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 6 Critic Reviews
66
50% Positive
3 Reviews
50% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

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  • Positive Reviews
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 6 Critic Reviews
66
50% Positive
3 Reviews
50% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Put simply, Mind Game is a mind-blowing experience.
By Phil Hall FULL REVIEW
80
The exhilarating Japanese animated coming-of-age fantasy Mind Game plays out like a hallucinogen-fueled shaggy-dog joke that only ends after twenty-year-old horndog Nishi (Kôji Imada) discovers that the world does not revolve around him.
By Simon Abrams FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 25 User Ratings
7.7
76% Positive
19 Ratings
12% Mixed
3 Ratings
12% Negative
3 Ratings

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 25 User Ratings
7.7
76% Positive
19 Ratings
12% Mixed
3 Ratings
12% Negative
3 Ratings

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Sep 8, 2021
10
Zekigin
Excellently moving, outstandingly visualized animation, detailed characters strong expression life within dreams, individual souls and emotional spaces connectivity into varied events situations, driven by joy and passion for movement, sensitive, strong natural beings in each MindGame entertaining ..
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Oct 1, 2016
10
spacecatneko
Never have I seen a film with such a profound pro-life message that had left me with a sense that anything can be done so long as one exerts the effort with the right intent. It's had a huge impact on me creatively. Other films WISH they were this exciting. Others who have rated this film low did not understand it, probably just expected another anime flick. It's quite artsy and it does and succeeds doing things I've never seen done in a film before. Nishi as a protagonist is a reflection of anyone who sits down to watch this - whether you see yourself in him or not is up to the viewer. The lack of popularity of this amazing movie can only be contributed to oversaturation of the market with soap-opera and harem type of stories, which, if you're looking for in this one, there's very little to be had. This film is about each of us and our journey to discovering our true potential.
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70
Brain-teasing, wildly unpredictable animated feature.
By Ronnie Scheib FULL REVIEW
60
A virtuoso experiment in animation that combines traditional anime aesthetics style with a variety of Western animation styles.
By Maitland McDonagh FULL REVIEW
60
All scrunched together into a dense marathon of optical-cranial overload, this mental puzzle-box arrives three decades too late for what would have been an inevitable midnight movie run, but undoubtedly there are American otakus popping this one into multi-region DVD players right now amid the glorbeling of bong hits.
By Ed Halter FULL REVIEW
60
A sometimes enthralling, sometimes exhausting tour de force.
By Dana Stevens FULL REVIEW
See All 6 Critic Reviews
Jul 18, 2024
9
Audiostoned
A beautiful and thought provoking anime film. It blew me away the first time I watched it. Highly recommended.
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Feb 24, 2020
9
WhisperingGhost
Almost gave this a 10. Art style is off the chain. One of the best anime films I’ve seen in a long time.
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Aug 21, 2021
6
Gamzguy17
A vanity project, but one that has some heart with its characters and a purpose to be so wild with its various animation methods.
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See All 5 User Reviews

Details

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Production Company
  • Studio 4°C
  • Asmik Ace Entertainment
  • Beyond C.
  • Mind Game Project
  • Rentrack Japan Co. Ltd.
Release Date Sep 2, 2005
Duration 1 h 43 m
Rating TV-MA
Genres
Website https://www.mindgamemovie.com/
View All Details

Awards

Mainichi Film Concours
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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