History Animation / Padak

* AnAesop: The film serves as an exploration of the nature of society as a whole, as well as what traps people in their lives and how they react to it. Particularly important to note is that director Lee Dae-Hee likened the situation in the tank with his situation at work. The difference is that while he does have the opportunity to improve his life, the fish in the tank don’t.

The animated film was made and released by E-DEHI in UsefulNotes/SouthKorea in July 25, 2012, and [=eigoMANGA=], who was well known for publishing various manga and games, including ''VideoGame/VanguardPrincess'', obtained the publishing rights for foreign releases and was later released to the west through the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} storefront on June 6, 2016.

* AffablyEvil: Anago is very pleasant towards Padak compared to his fellow fish who are all too happy to beat her up or take bites out of her tail, even though almost every interaction he has with her has threatening undertones and he seems to have a bad case of NoSenseOfPersonalSpace...[[spoiler:taken further when he immediately begins eating Spotty's corpse, to his tank-mates' horror.]]

* CoversAlwaysLie: The poster of the [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDZkMDRkMzUtYWQ2NC00ZjVhLWIzNTYtODJlYjFjM2Y1MDNjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzI1NzMxNzM@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,699,1000_AL_.jpg movie]] make you think that Padak is going to escape. [[spoiler:She doesn't.]]

* CoversAlwaysLie: The poster of the [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDZkMDRkMzUtYWQ2NC00ZjVhLWIzNTYtODJlYjFjM2Y1MDNjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzI1NzMxNzM@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,699,1000_AL_.jpg movie]] make you think that Padak is gonna escape, [[spoiler:she doesn't.]]

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: The original Korean posters are misleading, but these two [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4388bf6c_80e8_478f_b2cb_7635356074bb.jpeg english]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f41abd96_9d70_4308_9987_8915458b9099.jpeg posters]] seem to stay accurate to the actual movie.

* BittersweetEnding: More bitter than sweet. [[spoiler:Several of the fish die, [[TheHeroDies Padak included]], with the remaining presumed to meet the same fate, while the Master learns from his mistakes and Padak's efforts and actually escapes to freedom in the ocean.]]

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]]. The humans in this movie are sadistic beasts that imprison and cruelly serve fish while alive, but the fish themselves aren't much better, taking glee in killing off more weak members if they aren't served and fed to them instead.

Compare it to ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThePlagueDogs'' for animated films with similar themes.

* NoDubForYou: The film is only available in Korean with subtitles.

* AffablyEvil: Anago is very pleasant towards Padak compared to his fellow fish who are all too happy to beat her up or take bites out of her tail, even though almost every interaction he has with her has threatening undertones and he seems to have a bad case of NoSenseOfPersonalSpace...[[spoiler: taken further when he immediately begins eating Spotty's corpse, to his tank-mates' horror.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The miniature sword which [[spoiler: wounds Padak for attempting to devour the clownfish]] becomes more important later on, as in the end, [[spoiler:the Master uses it to escape from Seok Joo's hands and escape into the ocean]].
* CoversAlwaysLie: The poster of the [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDZkMDRkMzUtYWQ2NC00ZjVhLWIzNTYtODJlYjFjM2Y1MDNjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzI1NzMxNzM@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,699,1000_AL_.jpg movie]] make you think that Padak is gonna escape, [[spoiler:she doesn’t.]]

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]]. The humans in this movie are sadistic beasts that imprison and cruelly serve fish while alive, but the fish themselves aren't much better, taking glee in killing off more weak members if they aren't served and fed to them instead.

* KillTheCutie: All the fish in the tank are rather cutely designed and wouldn't look out of place in a children's cartoon. [[spoiler: And yet none of the fish are saved except for The Master. Most jarringly Spotty, the friendliest fish in the tank, and Padak, the hero of the story, get killed and devoured by the end.]]

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer for ''Padak'' shows [[spoiler: Padak being turned into sushi, though it’s presented as a scenario she’s trying to escape rather than the outcome.]]

* AuthorTract: According to director Lee Dae-Hee, this film serves as a commentary on human nature and society as a whole, as well as what traps people in their lives and how they react to it. Particularly important to note is that he likened the situation in the tank with his situation at work. The difference is that while he does have the opportunity to improve his life, the fish in the tank don’t.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: Greenlings, flounders and striped beakfish are not the most common type of fish seen in media.
** The original opening scene (which was removed from the final product) also had an appearance by the bottom-dwelling sea angel, a sunfish, lionfish, and a hump-headed parrotfish.

* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Spotty, the friendliest fish in the tank, and Padak, the hero of the story, get killed and devoured by the end.]]

* NatureIsNotNice: A rare example where this trope is applied to the anthropomorphized personalities of the characters. Despite being fully sentient animals who want to live, by the end of the day, fish are [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome still driven by animal instinct]]; most of the main cast will nip at each other's fins and even [[SapientEatSapient gleefully devour their own dying brethren]], all without the slightest shred of guilt. And the first thing Padak does after waking up in an aquarium inhabited by cute clownfish? [[spoiler:''Proceed to eat nearly every single one of the terrified clownfish in the aquarium-like popcorn'', despite being the only fish to object to her tank mates' savagery prior, simply because her hunger due to days of starvation and being dazed means that her natural instincts override all else.]]

* BittersweetEnding: More bitter than sweet. [[spoiler:Several of the fish die [[TheHeroDies Padak included]], with the remaining presumed to meet the same fate, while the Master learns from his mistakes and Padak's efforts and actually escapes to freedom in the ocean.]]

* FurryReminder: A very dark take. While the fish are sentient and [[HumansAreCthulhu the humans are portrayed as unfeeling monsters to the fish]], the film makes it very clear that the fish are still animals, meaning they display behavior typical of predators in the real world, but monstrous by the standards of sapient beings. Even Padak, one of the kindest fishes, ruthlessly devours the clownfish in the tank she was put in.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Padak, who was supposed to be the main protagonist, suffers a {{Undignified|Death}} {{Cruel and Unusual Death}} without much warning or fanfare.]]

* BittersweetEnding: More bitter than sweet. [[spoiler:Several of the fish die, with the remaining presumed to die, while the Master learns from his mistakes and Padak's efforts and actually escapes to freedom in the ocean.]]