Perfect Blue

"Perfect Blue"

        Perfect Blue is one of  Satoshi Kon's best films. This film was released in 1977. There is a sense of unease that permeates perfect blue's point of view towards pop culture. this anime film was ahead of its time. This film was categorized as Psychological Horror and I was absolutely blown away by the mind bending story. I recommend to watch this with subtitles to prevent from misunderstanding some scenes.

      So, the plot starts with a girl named Mima Kirigoe. Mima is a pop idol, who is tired of her typecast image of well...a pop idol. Mima wants to branch out into acting instead. So, Mima leaves the pop idol group she was part of and gets a supporting role in cop a drama.

          The film opens with the protagonist, Mima Kirigoe, performing on a stage as part of her idol group “CHAM!” to an audience of silent otaku with cameras. A group of hecklers begins to disrupt the show, throwing things at Mima on stage. She dodges them adeptly unphased. A frightening sign of  the attention, she has gotten used to, is only the beginning. 

        Fighting breaks out between hecklers and loyal fans, because of course it does. Our lead tries to calm everyone down with this weirdly soft, almost like she's channeling a Disney princess in the middle of a convention hall meltdown. Not exactly the tool you'd pick to shut down a bunch of otaku, but okay. And somehow... it kinda works? At least on the people still paying attention. 

        The hecklers either got bored or maybe they clocked something the rest didn’t. Everything feels just slightly off. That weird, hard-to-place off-ness sticks with the whole film. It’s clearly saying something about fandom, obsession, maybe even how the internet warps all of it, and it does feel timely. But also kind of like you’re watching it through a cracked screen. Intentionally? Maybe. Still weird.

        Mima is an idol who, at the start of the film, announces she’s leaving the group that made her famous to try acting instead. But her past doesn’t really let her move on. She comes across this website that somehow knows way too much about he, like what she bought at the store, what she thought about it, stuff no one should know. She starts to think someone’s watching her, and yeah, she’s right. The stalker starts sending messages, and things slowly shift from unsettling to genuinely disturbing. And then it gets worse...

        Even though there’s some initial humor in watching a movie where the main character has no clue how the internet works, the story still hits today. Because honestly, the ways people can abuse the internet haven’t changed all that much. Watching Mima is like watching someone step into a world of danger that we, as modern viewers, already know too well.

Mima (Voiced by Junko Iwao)

        Mamoru Uchida, Mima’s most obsessed fan, shows up throughout the film as a symbol of the darkest parts of fandom is that mix of dedication and entitlement that turns toxic the second the person they idolize does something they don’t like. He’s not in love with Mima, as in the "person". He’s obsessed with the idea of her, this fake version he’s built up in his head. So when she tries to change and steps outside of that idea. He takes it as betrayal. Mima ends up trapped in a space that was still new back then, but feels terrifyingly familiar now. A space where obsession doesn’t just live, it grows.

       Mima’s not just dealing with her past clinging to her like she owes the world something, she’s also trying to reinvent herself as a serious actress, and it’s clearly eating her up. She stresses over just a few lines, doubting herself constantly, while her two managers argue over what’s best for her career like she’s not even in the room. She makes “choices,” sure, but there’s no one around she actually feels safe being honest with. She doesn’t really want to do half the things she ends up doing, but what other option does she have if she wants to make it? What else can she do?

       By the halfway point, Perfect Blue turns into a full-on mind game. Violent crimes start happening to people close to Mima, and suddenly everything feels unstable. Is the stalker behind it all? Or is Mima actually losing her mind?

                                                           Mima (Voiced by Junko Iwao)

       This movie loves misdirection. The entire time I was watching, I couldn’t confidently guess where it was going and that’s exactly what made it so gripping. It’s psychological horror at its best, and a beautiful kind of terrifying. A film about fame gained, but innocence lost. Over its tight hour and twenty-minute runtime, Perfect Blue keeps posing questions, and by the time it gives you the answers, you’re left sitting with the real horror, the implications.

        As much as the story pulled me in, the technical side was kind of a mixed bag. For something made by Madhouse, I expected more visually. The animation shines when it matters, that is in the tension, the breakdowns, the violence. The character designs and background art didn’t really blow me away. Especially when you compare it to something like Demon slayer or One piece.

        That said, the sound design totally made up for it. Even without any standout tracks, the sound was immersive in all the right ways. Whether it was a slow orchestral swell or a chaotic burst of noise, it always nailed the mood. Every twist made my heart race a little harder because of it.

        A lot of people remember Perfect Blue for how brutally it dissects its main character’s psyche, and yeah... that part sticks. But what hit me the hardest was the way it portrays fandom. The way people fall in love with an idea so obsessively that they lash out when it changes. And how that violence, even when directed at one person, somehow erases them. Like Mima stopped being a person to them the second she stepped outside of who they wanted her to be.

        It is definitely a film that will leave you thinking for days on end. A lot of people think animated content is for kids, but this movie does not shy away from mature and haunting content. The voice actors did a superb job. Additionally, the score had this eerie humming turned to chanting which will creep me out every time I hear it. Overall, a film that has taken the voice of anime in television to an ever changing level and inspired its productions of the 21st century.