Anime: Perfect Blue

Based on a novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. The movie follows the story of Mima Kirigoe, a former pop idol who decides to leave the music industry to pursue a career in acting. However, she soon becomes the target of a stalker and begins to experience a series of disturbing events that blur the line between reality and fantasy.

One of the most striking features of Perfect Blue is the way it blends realism with dementia. It makes use of realistic story elements and characters, as well as life issues and drama, interactions, character designs, and dialogue. At the same time, it features an unusual first-person narrative point of view with a protagonist who is experiencing psychological difficulties. This unrealiable narrator element creates a sense of unease and disorientation that is both unsettling and captivating.

Undeniably, Perfect Blue is a chilling film that delves into dark and gritty subject matters. On the artistic side, the character designs and clothing are incredibly realistic, while the animation is both fluid and impressive. What's even more remarkable is the attention to detail, considering the movie's relatively low budget.

It is not without its flaws. One of the most significant issues with the movie is its misuse of the element of red herrings. In crime fiction, a red herring is a false clue that is intended to mislead the reader or viewer. A good red herring is one that interweaves itself into the story's events, adding depth and complexity to the narrative. Unfortunately, Perfect Blue's red herrings are nothing more than unnecessarily long gimmicks that serve only to confuse the viewer.

Another issue with the movie is the long series of dementia moments that are often unnecessary and only serve to slow down the pacing of the movie. Even if you skip them, you won't miss anything important in the main plot. There are also a few more in between the major events, but they are thankfully shorter.

To fully appreciate Perfect Blue and Satoshi Kon's careful attention to details, it's important to pay attention. It's not enough to just focus on the dialogue; you need to pay attention to visuals, time and place, and memorise names, the places where objects were placed. Otherwise, you will get lost in the second half of the movie as it becomes more confusing over time.

Perfect Blue is a unique and chilling movie that offers both horror and introspection. While it does have some drawbacks, it's a must-watch for any fan of dark yet maturely presented anime. If you're looking for similar anime, Paranoia Agent is another Satoshi Kon-directed work that delves into similar themes. Additionally, Paprika, yet another Satoshi Kon movie, is a great option for fans of psychological anime. For those who enjoy dark idol anime, Beauty Water offers a comparable experience; which explores the darker side of celebrity idolisation and the acting industry through surreal stalker horror, with a focus on the protagonist's psyche. Perfect Blue, on the other hand, is a more straightforward crime psychological horror that incorporates these same themes.

Perfect blue es una de esas películas que al igual que otros trabajos de su director, Satoshi Kon, dan mucho de qué hablar. Temáticamente hablando posee un sin número de tópicos a los que le puedes dar distintas lecturas e interpretaciones que lo hacen un anime con pocos equivalentes en su medio o el cine, y aquellas obras con las que se le podría comparar o son del mismo creador o están fuertemente inspiradas en ella. Y si hablamos de desde un punto de vista visual y productivo, es asombroso como es que con los escombros de presupuesto de un intento fallido de hacer un live action de la historia se lograse semejante nivel de calidad visual. Y si la viésemos desde un punto de vista histórico es la razón por la que Madhouse sería coronado como el rey de las casas productoras del anime, junto a Gainax y Ghibli al comenzar a producir series y películas con una calidad argumental y experimental únicos en lugar de seguir con los mismos productos llenos de shock factor.La historia va sobre Mima, una cantante de Pop Idol que se retira de su trabajo para incursionar como una actriz en una producción cinematográfica. Y que durante su realización será victima de constantes problemas que pondrán en duda su estabilidad mental, donde cree que está siendo acosada por un asesino y que al mismo tiempo empieza a desarrollar serios problemas psicologicos y grave estrés por su nuevo papel. Y es a partir de esta premisa donde se retrata cómo una persona puede ser afectada mentalmente por el mundo del entretenimiento. Cosas como la pérdida de la identidad, la percepción de la realidad, la obsesión compulsiva o el fetichismo forman parte del estudio de personaje de esta película, los que al mezclarse con distintas críticas a esta industria, como los escándalos o la sexualización de sus miembros, dan como resultado un producto lleno de significado.Dichos temas a pesar de no tener relación se logran excusar al desarrollarse dentro de este mundo del espectáculo, donde involucra la actuación, las cinematografía y la escenografía. Por lo que es entendible que una persona pueda perder el hilo de si algo es verdad, una ilusión de su mente o una toma dentro del rodaje de un filme de thriller psicológico. Un ejemplo sería el momento en el que Mima está siendo violada, en verdad ocurrió eso? Fue parte de su actuación o solo es parte de su imaginación?.Por lo que puede ser algo confuso si lo que estamos viendo en realidad está pasando, pero que a la vez su ambigüedad tiene sentido dentro de la exploración de temas y que le da un gran plus por esto mismo al arriesgarse a tal estrategia. Y en este sentido me gustaría enfatizar la manera que usa el apartado visual para aportar a esto. El cual apenas posee unos pocos glitches, como que en ocasiones el dibujo en los personajes se vea algo crudo y que no envejeció tan bien en ciertos segmentos. Pero que del resto es perfecto, no solo porque tiene un movimiento muy fluido, que posee entretenidos juegos de cámara y o que es muy realista en su estilo visual y modelado por lo que asombra que pudiesen animarlo bien, sino que también maneja parte de este para contar su historia, como la edición para representar parte del estado mental de la protagonista, una característica común en los trabajos de Kon que se caracteriza por sus cortes, transiciones y escenas para crear distintas ilusiones ópticas y ver qué tan distinto es el mundo real de un evento ficticio que no está pasando. Un buen ejemplo de esto es en un segmento de la película donde la protagonista ve a sus ex compañeras de grupo festejando por aparecer en un top de mejores pop idols, donde en una escena posterior vemos como ella junto con sus amigas, feliz por tal logro, solo para que dicha escena sea cortada bruscamente y mostrar que sigue parada viéndolas a la lejanía, representando como extraña su antigua y que esa escena que habíamos visto no era más que un montaje de lo que ella en realidad quiere que pase.Otro ejemplo interesante es cuando en ocasiones aparece una versión pop idol de Mima de la nada, que vuelve loca a la protagonista, tentándola de volver a su antigua vocación, la cual en un instante le tira una almohada y ella desaparece, dejando solo a su reflejo, un muy creativo uso de las transiciones al usar un objeto dentro de la historia para pasar a otra escena. Ejemplos como los que les estoy diciendo hay a montones.La película no solo aprovecha la edición para ser un reflejo del estado psicológico de Mima, que está constantemente dudando si en verdad la están acosando, está actuando o si se está volviendo loca, convirtiéndose en una asesina trastornada. También usa parte de las escenas para darle cierto carácter simbólico. Como es cuando uno de los fans de Mima mantiene su mano levantada mientras ella canta y baila en un escenario, como si quisiera decir que es un juguete suyo que puede sostener con su palma. Otro ejemplo sería como usa los espejos o televisores para reflejar una realidad falsa de lo que Mima quiere subconscientemente que pase y viceversa cuando quiere mostrar que está pasando en realidad. Incluso al color puede dársele el mismo valor.La película no solo hace un gran trabajo con Mima, que es un tremendo personaje, que deciende a la locura con cada paso que da, deseando en el fondo quedarse en lo seguro de su antiguo trabajo y sintiéndose inútil y alienada en el mundo del cine, con una crisis existencial acerca de si está haciendo lo correcto y problemas sobre todo lo que la rodea, y verga que les estoy resumiendo su arco. Sino que logra representar muy bien la psique de otros de sus personajes, como el fan que les dije hace un momento. Este sujeto es la viva representación de todo lo malo que hay con los fanáticos obsesivos, tiene muchos posters con la cara de su ídolo, compra toneladas de porno de ella solo para satisfacerse, se frustra cuando ve que Mima se retiró de su vocación y empezó a ser actriz, posee una apariencia fea y poco higiénica, dura horas en su computadora haciendo fan fictions de Mima y sonrie con nostalgia cuando ve una proyección de Mima en el escenario. El sujeto es desagradablemente realista y sirve para representar a todo un sector de gente dentro de Japón, así como los hikkikomoris o los otakus.Y ya que la película critica a los fans de este tipo de entretenimiento, también lo hace con la forma en cómo vive la gente así, como les mencioné la película aborda sobre los escándalos y la sexualización. Esto se puede ver cuando Mima tiene que hacer una escena de violación, donde ella relegada a seguir su papel, por muy vergonzoso que sea, o esos momentos donde dejan que la fotografíen desnuda para ganar más dinero. O todo el rollo de los asesinatos que levanta una polémica alrededor de la película que en la que Mima está actuando, que hacen que fotógrafos y amarillistas la acosen para sacarle información.La película como se habrán dado cuenta es un misterio, y es interesante. Las pistas son muy complicadas de saber en un inicio dado lo confuso del film, pero me asombra como todo termina por encajar. Cosas como la conexión entre los asesinatos y la resolución tiene bastante sentido si lo ves en retrospectiva, e incluso deja pistas dentro de las distintas metáforas del show.La película tiene sus notables problemas sin embargo. Si bien todo el asunto de que era real y que no termina por responderse hay ciertos aspectos que se suponen que en verdad pasaron pero que dentro de la verosimilitud que andaba mostrando resultan imposibles que ocurriesen. No sé si lo notaron, pero como le hizo el acosador para saber tan detalladamente lo que Mima estaba haciendo? O como le hizo para poder manipular a un fanático obsesionado si este en un momento aparece junto a este en su forma falsa? Y que hay de esa carta que explotó en un inicio? No tiene mucho sentido también que haya matado a toda esa gente y de tal manera, de una manera tan sigilosa que es difícil creérselo. El final por su lado está algo apresurado dado todas las cosas que ocurrieron en el último tramo, como esa persecución cuando se resuelve el misterio de golpe.Otros apuntarían que muchas de las ideas que maneja la película no son tan interesantes, ya que se han tratado en otras obras. Quieres crítica social a las pop idols, tienes full moon y key the metal idol; quieres critica a la industria del espectaculo, tienes a Millenium actress también de Satoshi Kon o al ciudadano Kane; quieres una obra que aborde la percepción, la realidad y la identidad, tienes a su adaptación espiritual, el cisne negro, y por irnos mas lejos, a Lain; quieres una obra con acoso, hay muchos exponentes. Pero aun con esto último la obra se las arregla para ser creativa y no caer en lo repetitivo.La película es todo un referente, un ejemplo a seguir en cuanto al abordaje de temas se refiere y como usar al medio para contar una historia, y es por todo esto que es maravillosa.

The idol industry may seem as something pleasant at first glance, be it the loyalty of the fans or the happiness build upon success. Behind this there is a lot of hard work involved, and suddenly quitting being an idol can have an emotional impact upon the fans, which can lead to jealousy and contempt, or even murder. Perfect Blue is a psychological thriller anime which delves into the dark side of the entertainment industry, in particular that of the idol and acting section.

~Story~

The story of Perfect Blue centers around Mima Kirigoe, who is a member of a small idol group. She decides to begin a career as an actress, which displeases the fans. The peaceful beginning of her career will soon be interrupted by violent disturbances around her, be it the stalker or murder of her coworkers. This does not only put a huge amount of stress on Mima herself, but on her manager Hidaka Rumi as well, who only wishes the best for Mima.

While slowly drifting away from the idol image through her acting career (nudity, rape and her constant stress), Mima begins to lose grasp of reality presented through her own illusions. The detailed posts of her life on the internet didn't improve her condition in any way either.

The narrative and realism is the strongest point of Perfect Blue.The story is easy to follow with a good pacing, allowing itself to 'stress' on certain points of the story to fully understand Mima's situation. As the story progresses, the spectator sees how everything unfolds, while wondering whether the things and dreams Mima sees are real or not: it really adds to the element of surprise and plot twists of the story.

~Characters~

The cast of characters in Perfect Blue are by no means big: it centers mainly on Mima,the manager Rumi and the stalker. Instead of huge cast, there is great character development, where Mima undergoes the biggest changes. She goes from a somewhat positive character to a paranoid and depressed girl. Nearly all her emotions, be it fear or confusion, is shown and explained in detail, making it easy for the spectator to understand her behaviour.

The side characters are by no means underdeveloped. Throughout the story we see their emotional state and their contribution to the development of Mima, as well as their emotional state. The supporting cast is done well too, as it contributed well to the story line and credibility. Some more development of Rumi may have been appreciated to fully understand her character, but this is a small drawback.

~Animation and sound~

The animation was well executed, with realistic motion patterns and expression of the characters. The background was satisfying as well, though nothing out of the norm. The sounds and music used in Perfect Blue matched well with the story, though no particular soundtrack caught my attention. Keep in mind that the movie was released in 1998, so don't expect any mind-blowing scenes.

~Enjoyment~

Perfect Blue was a thrilling watch, with a great story and well-developed characters. The narrative was nearly flawlessly executed, with supporting characters that upheld and enhanced the story. This movie is recommendable to everyone, just not for the younger spectators. If you like the psychological or thriller genre, then it is certainly a must watch.

Thank you for reading.

Critic’s Log - Earthdate: October 31, 2013. Review #63: Perfect Blue

Ah, Satoshi Kon. Ever since his death on August of 2010, he has left viewers with some interesting films and his only TV series. Now I usually treat Anime movies the same way as a Television Anime. I know that Anime films have larger budgets than TV animes, so there are some strong advantages to Anime films regarding this. I am also a man that takes movies seriously, and I will say the same thing towards anime. As silly as that sounds, my main goal since the beginning was to put out honest and informative reviews, as well as voicing my opinion as perfectly honest as possible. But I guess the biggest question of all regarding reviewing anime is… how long and how much is “too far”. Well.... not everybody can be pleased. There will always be arguments and disputes on most things. Some people agree on one thing and others may disagree. That’s just how things go in the matter of any entertainment medium. So before I start spouting things out of the blue, Here is Perfect Blue.

Mima is the lead singer of a J-pop group named “CHAM!” quits her group in order to pursue an acting career, However, because of her decision to leave, not everyone is happy. but unbeknownst to Mima, there is a crazed fan that is stalking her. The following events become more unsettling and turn for the worse and Mima is on the verge of going toward a downward spiral.

To be technical, this is a Studio Madhouse production and boy, am I going to sound like a broken record but… Madhouse is known for great production values, and they do not disappoint with Perfect Blue. However, I can’t say the animation isn’t really as good as it gets since the character designs are slightly off in some moments, with the exception of Uchida (Mima’s stalker) and Rumi (Mima’s manager). The stalker’s appearance does help with the uneasiness and it helps you relate to Mima in the movie, as for Rumi, I thought her character design was a bit off because of how her eyes looked. I actually will give this movie a pass for this. If you have not seen the movie yet, I will say that the less you know the better. To those that have seen it, please do not give it away. Besides Uchida and Rumi, the character designs are still a little off. But to give Kon-san some credit, this is his first movie as a director and he does impress with this movie.

The music by Masahiro Ikumi does fit the eerie and chilling atmosphere but it is certainly an interesting factor in the film. There isn’t much musical themes in this movie and there are a couple themes that may be used more than once, but there are times when there is no music at all. This is an effective factor because it may build some uneasiness during the experience in the movie. I do wonder why Ikumi-san doesn’t do much musical compositions in Anime, this is undoubtedly his best musical score.

In regards of the casting, Junko Iwao is great as Mima, Rica Matsumoto is also good as Rumi. Masaki Okura is pretty decent as Uchida. The Japanese Cast is a solid listen, now when it comes to the English Dub, I was expecting a decent dub. I almost guessed this right, but I was actually wrong. In reality, The dub is a solid listen as well… but the dub is a little off in some areas. What the dub has is a terrific performance by Bridget Hoffman as the voice of Mima. Also, Wendee Lee was great in this one too. R. Martin Klein was a little off in this movie, but the dub is still a solid listen.

When it comes to characters. Mima is pretty much the main attraction in the movie and you do want to pay attention to her along the way, but regardless of that. This movie is very tricky while portraying Mima but she is developed well after all the things that happen. She may be the least complex character of the bunch, but she does give the viewer the sense that she is normal… Which makes the movie more effective. The movie does portray her as being stressed considering all the events that transpire. Rumi may not be too active in this movie, and that’s pretty much it, but she’s developed decently. Uchida is a weird dude and there’s a point to this. It’s fitting because he is a stalker, His face is odd and that I guess is what makes him memorable. All the other supporting characters are like normal people, so I don’t have much to say. The characters are pretty good for the most part.

As for the story, I am going to have to stop right here… Because If I said anymore, it will just ruin it for you. Once you heard about the premise, you may want to figure things out for yourself. I will say that this movie definitely does have appeal for those that are really into Alfred Hitchcock’s films. I will say just one thing about the story for those that haven’t seen Perfect Blue. The less you know...The Better.

Perfect Blue was available by Manga Entertainment, it is out of print.

With all that said, Perfect Blue is a film that managed to stand out as Satoshi Kon’s debut film. The animation is good, the story is interesting that you would probably want to see it to figure things out, it even has some characters worth paying attention to, and it has a soundtrack that compliments the movie to some extent. This movie was just the beginning of seeing the visionary style that made Satoshi Kon unique.

I give Perfect Blue a 9.1 out of 10. it is EXCELLENT!

Feel free to leave a comment, Later!

Art & Animation

Pretty good, creepy people look creepy, cute girls look cute. The animation completely follows the theme of this movie.

Sound

Soundtrack is great for this movie, songs are really nice.


Voice acting is on the spot.

Story

Well, I honestly expected something more thrilling, something more tense. There were tense moments, and they were showed in a good way. However, many scary/thrilling moments were hallucinations/illusions, which ruined it for me.


Too many confusing things, but somehow the movie's atmosphere makes up for it.

Characters



Really well portrayed main character. Nobody else particularly caught my attention.

Value

In some aspects, the movie is really good, in some other aspects it failed at some things and made me confused. It is hard to explain the movie plot. A good 1-time watch.

Enjoyment

There are tense moments followed by dark music ---> really good atmosphere!
But there are also way too many hallucinations/dreams and things get too confusing for enjoyment. I enjoyed it partially. However, at least we know what happened with the enemy side, unlike Paprika.

This is the debut work of the now late Satoshi Kon, and straight away he proved how talented he is in making quality anime. Combined with the huge budgets by such as Madhouse, the king of anime studios, the result was more than great. It is a great psychological thriller and shows well how fame makes you marry a role from which you cannot get a divorce without challenging you mental health.

What I liked about Satoshi’s style is how he is constantly criticizing the society his characters live in. Instead of going for the easy way out and offering fan catering and escapism (aka what almost every anime does these days) he instead went the other way and went preachy about the modern way of Japan. And he wasn’t too “in your face” while doing that, so it was a great overall.

In this movie for example he delves into the dark side of the pop idol industry, which all other anime are presenting to be all fun and games. Ok, perhaps some exceptions include Looking for the Full Moon and Key the Metal Idol but all anime in general present them in the same way Hollywood tries to deify its actors and singers. Yet it is easy to see how most of them are behind the scenes up to the knee in drugs, sex scandals, and death threats, thus you get this movie trying to get into those issues.

The protagonist is quite the good girl but because of the pressure of her line of work she leaves her very popular music band to become a solo actress. This is seen very negatively by her fans who do the usual stupid things all fans do. Things get even messier when her new colleagues in the movie industry are killed one after another, while someone pretends to be updating her online blog. Thus it appears that a lunatic stalker turned to a killer and is out to destroy her for betraying her love to him.

There are some really disturbing truths and facts in the film, such as showing how an angelic figure of a teen idol is eventually led to do pornography if she needs to keep her line of work and not be kicked out in the streets. There is also the mentality of the audience who expect to see her being sexualized as well as the fanatic followers who refuse to allow their favourite idols to mature or adjust to the passing of time.

What makes it so great though is how everything is so blurred and confusing. You have no idea half the time if something is reality, a dream, or perhaps a hallucination. Is the rape scene real, an act, or real that her mind made her believe it was an act? Was she really waking up from her bed or was it all a nightmare? And what the hell what that bizarre chase in the end where she is hunted by a shape shifter? All that can of course be excused as mind tricks caused by her stress or even flashy cinematics for the sake of making a blunt story to look more interesting. It still looks gorgeous, has amazing production values for its time, professional directing, and leaves food for the mind without directly bombarding you with morality speeches.

Now, I have heard lots of people who didn’t like the movie at all, saying it was slow, the stalker was a magician, the ending was rushed, or that its themes are commonplace in all psychological thrillers. Although all that stand true up to a point, the truth is not many films have managed to combine said elements in order to create this surreal result. Some can say live action movies such as Citizen Kane or Black Swan did a much better job but when it comes to the anime medium it just stands out from the lot. There aren’t many titles that manage to be really creepy and unsettling as Perfect Blue, and this alone is what makes it a worthy addition to anyone’s collection.