Initially the opening sequence doesn't seem to make any sense, because Paprika's location keeps shifting constantly with no obvious transition - for example, she goes from riding a moped to being a decal of a woman riding a rocket on the side of a truck, Paprika flies into the sky on the rocket, and then suddenly she's on a billboard, etc. The brilliance comes when you realise this is exactly how dreams work - locales and positions and even points of view constantly shift in a dream. For example, you might go from dreaming about being a person in a movie to being a person watching the movie with no transition you can logically recall. In this sense, the opening sequence of Paprika is probably one of the most realistic depictions of dream logic ever put to film.
Much is said about Chiba and Tokita's supposedly 'unprompted' romance, but when you consider the way that cinema is used to understand and navigate dream logic (I.E. using movie theatres to cross into different dreams, Paprika explaining deep REM sleep as a 'feature film,') it makes sense that the film expects you to see Chiba with Konakawa. He's not only used to seeing the world in the perspective of movies, but as a cop in a mystery film he's obviously set up as the 'main character'. He and Paprika have the classic meet cute, story arc together, and all the tropes associated with budding romance... from Konakawa's perspective. But from Chiba's, he's just one of Paprika's clients and much of her time spent on screen is spent either talking up Tokita's talent or worrying about his safety. In dreams and movie logic it just makes sense that the manic pixie dream girl will hook up with the tortured cop protagonist, but in real life Chiba's wants and relationships don't fall as neatly into a satisfying narrative.
Chiba's first foray into the Dream Land is interrupted by her falling in real life. Also known as: myoclonic jerk.
Similarily, Shima is woken up from his dream by what is very clearly meant to illustrate Chiba causing him to ejaculate (down to the usage of a very common piece of dream imagery: his body swelling and exploding). Ejaculation during a wet dream almost always results in a man waking up.
When Chiba first meets Tokita in the elevator, he looks far bigger in relation to her than he does in following scenes. Artistic use of perspective? Animation limitations? Lack of internal artistic consistency? No. It's because meeting him in the elevator was actually Chiba's dream.
In the room where Osanai peels the skin off Paprika/Chiba, there are hundreds of dead butterflies under the glass. Paprika is wearing butterfly wings during this scene. You do the math.
Not to mention how the skin is peeled off. Literal Mind Rape. There should be a trigger warning at the beginning of the film, honestly.
While it's glossed over, this film probably has a very high body count. Dozens of businessmen jumped off of a skyscraper, presumably falling to their deaths. We also don't see what happened to the two doctors who were driven insane by the DC Mini and later hospitalized. And Himuro's condition still looks bleak, as well; he's most likely either dead or still in a coma. To say nothing of the giant gaping hole in the middle of the city...
