ANI-MOVIES, *Penguin Highway

Tomihiko Morimi wrote the popular Tamami Galaxy sci-fi series, and eventually the one-shot, Penguin Highway, which won the Nihon SF Taisho Award. The hit book got a manga adaptation, and a feature-length movie by Studio Colorido, who later went on to do A Whisker Away. Penguin Highway is a slice-of-life tale mixed in with Twilight Zone levels of weirdness.

Set in a small Japanese town during the summer, penguins periodically appear out of nowhere. Young genius Aoyama decides to unravel the mystery of the wandering waterfowls, and discovers they are related to an enigmatic woman he knows from the local dentist office referred to only as "The Lady" when she conjures a soda can into a penguin. There is also a bizarre sphere of water labeled "The Sea" that has manifested in the nearby forest which Aoyama's schoolmate found, which the Lady's penguins react to when she summons a flock of them to ward off some bullies. Soon, reptilian creatures the Lady calls Jaberwock to feast on the penguins, thus creating an instability in the already fractured reality. Soon, the entire area starts being covered with spouts of explosive water and more strange manifestation which are affected by the Lady's constant struggle dealing with her lack of memory regarding her past. Aoyama has to put aside his growing feelings for the Lady in order to save her and the rest of the town from the disaster caused by what he calls Penguin Energy.

Youthful maturity is the main theme behind Penguin Highway, as the youngsters involved realize that despite how much they learn on their own, its still necessary to seek out for advice from their elders. The standout feature is the animation, especially during the stunning sequences where armies of penguins begin to transform from everyday items into a rushing flood. Alot of the mystery involving the tears into reality is handwaved away with Star Trek technobabble, which might tick off a few nitpicky sci-fi fans. It does make for great watchthrough, although possibly not for non-anime fans.