Perfect Blue (1997)

Review Date: June 10th, 2023

Hi everyone. This is my 1st Review on an Anime film. If you don’t know that Anime is, Anime is Japanese Animation. Not only this is my 1st Anime Review. But this is my 1st Review on an Adult-Animated Movie as well. Just because it’s animated, doesn’t always mean it’s for kids.

However, this Psychological Horror/Thriller Anime Film is meant to confuse you. It blurs the lines between fantasy & reality. It also portrays a dark examination of fame & stardom, along with heavy themes of mental illness.

The film is originally going to be live-action. But due to the Kobe Earthquake incident in 1995, most of the production has been destroyed. In order to save money, they decide to make it into an animated film. It was Satoshi Kon’s 1st movie as a director.

The film was based on the 1991 novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi known as Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis. However, Satoshi Kon wanted to work on Perfect Blue. But he was eventually given permission by the author to change as much of the story as much as he wanted. As long as he kept 3 things:

1. A Singer

2. A Stalker

3. A Horror film

He can do anything else with it. The 1st script of Perfect Blue was basically a straight-up slasher psycho horror story, where a pop singer decides to change careers. But she has to deal with a stalker who couldn’t tolerate her change of image.

The film also explores identity, self-doubt, celebrity culture, obsession, voyeurism, objectification, & dissociation as well.

So without further ado, let’s get down to the review.

CAST:

Junko Iwao/Ruby Marlowe - Mima Kirigoe

Rica Matsumoto/Wendee Lee - Rumi Hidaka

Shinpachi Tsuji - Tadokoro

Masaaki Ōkura/Bob Marx - Me-Mania

Yōsuke Akimoto - Tejima

Yoku Shioya - Shibuya

(Screenwriter of Double Bind)

Emi Shinohara - Eri Ochiai

Masashi Ebara - Murano (Photographer)

Shiho Niiyama - Rei

Emiko Furukawa - Yukiko

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Mima Kirigoe, member of a J-pop idol group named…

CHAM!

decides to leave the group to become a full-time actress. She gets stalked by an obsessive fan named Me-Mania, who’s upset by her change from a clean-cut image.

Following directions from a fan letter, Mima discovers a website called…

Mima’s Room

telling her life in intimate detail, which is too true to be a hoax. During her acting career, she is joined by manager & former pop-idol Rumi Hidaka, & her agent, Tadokoro. Mima confides in Rumi about the website. But is advised to ignore it.

Mima's 1st job as an actress is a minor role in a sexually-charged TV Crime-Drama Series known as…

Double Bind

Unfortunately, Tadokoro realizes that Mima’s not getting enough screen time for the show. So he lobbies the producers of Double Bind, & succeeds in securing Mima a more of a Major Role in Double Bind which is…

A Rape Victim in a Strip Club turned Murderer!

Despite Rumi’s objections, Mima accepts the role. But this leaves her severely overwhelmed & emotionally distraught after filming the Rape Scene from Double Bind.

On her way home, she sees her reflection dressed in her former idol outfit. The reflection claims she's the real Mima. Between the ongoing stresses of filming Double Bind, her lingering regret over leaving CHAM!, her paranoia of being stalked, & her increasing obsession with the website, Mima begins suffering from psychosis, in which she struggles to understand the concept between fantasy & reality.

As Mima’s fame continues to grow, several people who had been involved in her acting are murdered. Even the 1s outside of the Double Bind Production. Mima finds evidence which makes her appear to be the prime suspect, & her mental instability makes her doubt her own memories & innocence. However, the death of Murano is my favorite part in the movie. It even used to gross Mrs. Hunt (my favorite teacher) out too. She was like…

Danny, how do you watch it? It’s so gross!

Mima manages to finish shooting Double Bind, the final scene of which reveals that her character killed & assumed the identity of her sister due to trauma-induced DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). After the rest of the filming staff have left the studio, Me-Mania, acting on e-mailed instructions from the real Mima to eliminate the imposter, attempts to kill her. But Mima knocks him unconscious with a hammer. 🔨

Mima is found backstage by Rumi, & taken back to Rumi's home, where she wakes up in a room modelled on Mima's own room, only to discover that Rumi was the culprit behind the website, the murders, & the folie à deux that manipulated & scapegoated Me-Mania.

Rumi previously developed a 2nd personality who believed herself to be the real Mima, using information from Mima's confiding in her as the basis for Mima's Room. She also reveals her motives: she is displeased by Mima retiring from the idol industry & hence, seeks to destroy and replace her in order to 'redeem' her image.

At wit's end, Rumi's Mima personality chases Mima through the city to murder her. Mima incapacitates Rumi with a mirror shard in self-defense. After freeing herself, Rumi hallucinates the lights of an oncoming truck as stage lights, & steps out into the road to pose in front of the approaching vehicle. But Mima manages to save her from being run over at the last 2nd. With that, Mima's hallucinations seem to be over.

Sometime after, Mima, now a famous actress, visits Rumi in a mental institution. Rumi's doctor says that she still believes she’s a pop idol most of the time. Mima says she's learned a lot from her experience, thanks to Rumi. As Mima leaves the hospital, she overhears 2 nurses talking about her. They think she’s a lookalike, as the real Mima Kirigoe would supposedly have no reason to visit a mental institution. As Mima enters her car, she smiles at herself in the rear-view mirror before declaring:

No, I’m real!

THE END

Perfect Blue (1997) is my favorite Anime film of all time. It’s even listed as 1 of the Essential Anime films to watch. When it was 1st released in Japan, it received positive reviews. In the USA, reviews were also positive. However, some were baffled as to why it was done in an animated film. I’m usually not into Anime. But I could watch an Anime film. But there’s some Anime I like, like Pokémon for an example.

This movie did a great job at diving deeper into mental illness, along with drastic image changes as well. For an example, if someone worked at Kidz Bop starting at Age 10, they would quit at 15, & star in action movies, & eventually at 21, they would be Adult film stars.

全体: 10/10 | レビューの終わり

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