Review: 'Crayon Shin-chan: Fast Asleep! The Great Assault on the Dreaming World!' is a tale of two parents
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 97 minutes (~1.5 hours)
“Crayon Shin-chan: Fast Asleep! The Great Assault on the Dreaming World!” is an animated comedy adventure film, which is the 24th in the “Crayon Shin-chan” franchise.
In the movie, Shin-chan and friends explore the dream world to save their town from nightmares. It features the voice talents of Akiko Yajima (Shinnosuke Nohara), Taeko Kawata (Saki Nubatama), Miki Narahashi (Misae Nohara), Keiji Fujiwara (Hiroshi Nohara), Satomi Korogi (Himawari Nohara), Mari Mashiba (Toru Kazama, Shiro), Tamao Hayashi (Nene Sakurada), Teiyu Ichiryusai (Masao Satou), Chie Sato (Bo-chan), Ken Yasuda (Yumehiko Nubatama), and Michiko Kichise (Sayuri Nubatama).
“Crayon Shin-chan: Fast Asleep! The Great Assault on the Dreaming World!” is my first foray into the “Crayon Shin-chan” franchise, and the film is a surprisingly action-packed one despite the fact that it’s primarily a children’s comedy.
The animation style does take some getting used to, but the characters are rather endearing despite their lack of aesthetic appeal. There’s no PG-13 rating for this, but there probably should unless you’re already used to the brand of humour that “Crayon Shin-chan” uses.
Highlights
A wondrous dream world
Although dream sequences are pretty standard in anime, here they’re drawn in much more beautiful detail than the regular animation scenes, creating a large contrast in terms of visuals.
Basically, thanks to the regular non-standard animation style, the dream world truly evokes that sense of wonder that fantasy sequences should. It’s well executed, and the fact that there’s also a nightmare world makes the subconscious realm an adventurous one.
Subtle character development
The dreams of the characters are the fulfilment of their deepest desires, many of which are played for laughs. But it also adds another layer to their personalities when you see how their dreams take physical form, giving more depth to their characters than a regular animated movie.
It’s also fun to see the dreams and desires of Shin-chan’s parents too, taken into a weird but childish extreme here.
Bittersweet resolution
New character Saki (Taeko Kawata) is, of course, closely linked to the premise of the film. Her backstory is a tragic one (would you expect anything less?) but how it’s resolved is heartbreaking.
In the end, her story is a reminder that acceptance is the key to peace in our lives, whether it be the positive or negative events that we’ve been through.
Letdowns
Misae, rather than Shin-chan, saves the day
Shin-chan being the title character, you’d expect him to be the one that solves the problems in the film. And for most of the film, he’s the one that takes the proactive stance in investigating the issue and attacking the antagonists.
Yet it’s his mother that winds up being the hero of the story. Nothing against Misae (Miki Narahashi) but shouldn’t it have been Shin-chan being the one to save the day?
Yumehiko feels like a plot device
In contrast to Misae, Saki’s father Yumehiko (Ken Yasuda) ends up being a flat character who’s just there to push the plot forward.
He’s given a creative character design and at first appears to be the supreme villain that the characters must defeat, but he’s an incredible letdown, deflating terribly as the movie heads to its climax.
“Crayon Shin-chan: Fast Asleep! The Great Assault on the Dreaming World!” is a tale of two parents, one heroic and one boring.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? OK.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? Nah.
Score: 3.0/5
“Crayon Shin-chan: Fast Asleep! The Great Assault on the Dreaming World!” opens in cinemas:
- 15 September, 2016 (Singapore)
- 6 October, 2016 (Malaysia)
Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcus and writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.
