What Is It?
The 1997 Japanese anime (animated) psychological thriller mystery movie Perfect Blue.
Here is how Wikipedia describes this anime movie:
Perfect Blue (Japanese: パーフェクトブルー, Hepburn: Pāfekuto Burū) is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film[4][5] directed by Satoshi Kon.[6] It is based on the novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis (パーフェクトブルー：完全変態, Pāfekuto Burū: Kanzen Hentai) by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, with a screenplay written by Sadayuki Murai. Featuring the voices of Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shiho Niiyama, Masaaki Okura, Shinpachi Tsuji and Emiko Furukawa, the plot follows a member of a Japanese idol group who retires from music to pursue an acting career. As she becomes a victim of stalking, gruesome murders begin to occur, and she starts to lose her grip on reality.
Like much of Kon’s later works, such as Paprika, the film deals with Kon’s longstanding theme of the blurring of the line between fantasy and reality.[7]
My Thoughts
I still somewhat remember the first time that I saw this anime alone, years ago.
It was a somewhat magical experience where I happened to watch this anime at the perfect time & mood during an evening or night.
I probably watched it with headphones on my computer, which enhanced the experience.
I remember being completely caught up in the psychological thriller mystery horror aspect of it, the blurring between reality & fiction, and the destabilization of the mind & emotions.
I was impressed by this movie and how well it held up, it was an amazing watch, when I first watched it; it blew me away.
Unfortunately, I did not like it as much the second time that I saw it years later with my brother GC, and he did not like it as much as I did the first time that I saw it.
While it was not as good the second time, it was still a pretty good movie.
The acting out of a rape scene was difficult to watch, very uncomfortable, like it was real, which is amazing for something animated to make you feel that way.
I definitely would recommend watching this movie, it is not for kids of course, and I would rate it a 4 out of 5.
The end,
- John Jr
John Jr's Blog 