How real were the dreams in Paprika?


I really loved Paprika, but I ended up sort of confused by it.

During the course of the film,

> the dreams break through into reality. ![Dogs and cats living together, mass
> hysteria](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fludT.jpg)

My question is, **was it just a mass hallucination, or was it real?**




It was real. We don't get to see exactly when the dreams and reality are
merging, at the end of the movie:

> Dreams and reality are one and the same because the DC minis have broken
> down the barrier (and is missing user control interfaces) between the
> worlds. Therefore everything that exists in the dreamsphere co-exists in the
> real world, and vice-versa. This is proven by the fact that the buildings
> all take permanent damage by the dream-creatures.




It was real. We don't get to see exactly when the dreams and reality are
merging, at the end of the movie:

> Dreams and reality are one and the same because the DC minis have broken
> down the barrier (and is missing user control interfaces) between the
> worlds. Therefore everything that exists in the dreamsphere co-exists in the
> real world, and vice-versa. This is proven by the fact that the buildings
> all take permanent damage by the dream-creatures.

