Drama
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a little like its titular character. It’s painful. It gets under your skin. And it just might leave a mark.
Nagi has big dreams — literally.
They’re so big, in fact, that she sometimes passes out in her classes, consumed by dreams of dragons, danger and epic battles. Fish fly through the air, brave warriors fight evil, anthropomorphic animals live alongside humans, and every day is more adventurous than the last.
The fantasy is a welcome escape from the mundanity of Nagi’s ordinary high school life…except it’s really not a fantasy at all.
Turns out, it’s the land of Upananta, a world of floating islands defended by dragon riders. But while Nagi may long to escape into her dreams, the world itself isn’t exactly the utopia she initially believes it to be. The evil Jairo seeks to destroy it, and only the Aktha Airborne Brigade, a team of dragonriders led by the legendary warrior Aktha, has the power to stop him.
And it’s beginning to seem like they have a chance — until, in the middle of a battle, Aktha is suddenly transported to Nagi’s world…a world which his fellow warriors have no idea exists.
Dragons of Wonderhatch combines animation and live action into an epic tale of fantasy, human connection, and a battle between good and evil. In the real world (shown in live action), Nagi tries to piece together her dreams of the sky world while also figuring out the relationship they seem to have with her late mother.
In Utapanta (depicted in Japanese anime style), the heroic Aktha and his dragonriders defend their home from Jairo’s schemes to destroy it. The Aktha Airborne Brigade is determined to save lives no matter the risk, flying into danger to rescue anyone they can. Human life (and anthropomorphic animal life) is of the utmost importance in both worlds of Dragons of Wonderhatch.
But Utapanta is by no means a perfect world—for Nagi or the show’s viewers.
Vague, fictional religion works behind the scenes. The island of Pyonpyt, referred to by the Utapantans as the “Island of God,” is a sacred place that holds a coveted power. Those who have been cast out from the sky world to live beneath the ocean are known as “heathens,” suggesting they have rejected whatever deity is worshipped in Utapanta.
Clashes between dragons take place among the sky, though rest assured they aren’t accompanied by blood or gore. We see explosions and bursts of fire as the warriors battle, but little other violence. This isn’t to say that viewers are completely out of the woods, however. The series carries a TV-14 rating, so stay on guard for the potential of heightened fantasy violence down the line.
This live action/animation hybrid may not be a complete walk in the floating-island park, but for dreamers like Nagi searching for an epic, fantastical adventure, you could do a lot worse than Dragons of Wonderhatch.
Note: This review covers the English subtitled version of the original Japanese audio.
Nagi, a Japanese high school student, is troubled by dreams of the fantasy world of Utapanta, a far-off land defended by legendary dragonriders.
In the animated world, a sky battle takes place between the Utapantan dragonriders and the evil Jairo. The corrupt rider creates large spheres of fire to fight the heroic Aktha Airborne Brigade, and explosions knock dragons through she sky. Other than a few animated (non-bloody) scratches, no other physical wounds are seen. While the conflicts aren’t gory, they result in a few distressing situations. Islands collapse and homes are destroyed, and an anthropomorphic owl couple accepts their death and refuses to flee. (They’re rescued by a dragon rider anyway and are taken to safety.)
The animated Utapantan world is also home to a fictional religious system. An anthropomorphic frog prays for salvation at a shrine before being saved from the collapsing island, and the island of Pytonpyt is called the “Island of God.” Those who have been cast out from the sky islands are referred to as “heathens.”
A goat-man dragon rider smokes from a long pipe that doubles as his weapon. In the real, live-action world, Nagi’s dad drinks what may be a beer (the label of the bottle is obscured).
“D–n” and “h–l” are each said once.
Lauren Cook is serving as a 2021 summer intern for the Parenting and Youth department at Focus on the Family. She is studying film and screenwriting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. You can get her talking for hours about anything from Star Wars to her family to how Inception was the best movie of the 2010s. But more than anything, she’s passionate about showing how every form of art in some way reflects the Gospel. Coffee is a close second.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a little like its titular character. It’s painful. It gets under your skin. And it just might leave a mark.
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