Penguin Highway | Rotten Tomatoes

Penguin Highway

Released Apr 12, 2019

1h 58m

Adventure

Anime

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Penguin Highway: Trailer 1

1:31

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Tomatometer

24 Reviews

77%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

A fourth-grade student investigates when penguins appear in his village.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

July 24 Pictures

Way more interesting and mature for a film called Penguin Highway

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/03/22

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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

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Hiroyasu Ishida

Director

Kana Kita

Aoyama-kun

Yû Aoi

Onê-san

Miki Fukui

Suzuki

Megumi Han

Hamamoto

Rie Kugimiya

Uchida

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Penguin Highway: Trailer 1

1:31

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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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