Perfect Blue (1997)

 

Perfect Blue (1997)

 

8/10

Starring the voices of 

Junko Iwao

Rica Matsumoto

Shiho Niiyama

Masaaki Okura

 

Directed by Satoshi Kon

 

Perfect Blue is not your normal anime, it is an anime that strives to be better than just your typical genre. It delves deep into mental health challenges, the high price paid to be famous, the challenges of letting others take control of your life decisions, and to me it does it well.

This is not an anime for children. The themes covered in this work are stylized to just make you want to either quiver, or applaud.

If you are watching it for the first time, you will be engulfed in the intense journey of Mima, a pop idol who decides to step away from music and transition into acting. This decision is pushed by her manager and her agent, who see acting as a way to make her more popular and make more money.

What follows during this transition is a descent into paranoia and fear, with blurred lines between reality and hallucination, as Mima tries to navigate the price of reinvention in an industry that feeds on her image.

Satoshi Kon’s direction in this work is brilliant. You can see how carefully he crafted every shot to make you, the viewer, feel the unease of not knowing what is real and what is imagined. This psychological horror also uses a fantastic score to push the eerie feeling even further.

The characters feel alive and broken at the same time. Mima’s struggles are laid bare before us, raw and uncut, pulling you into her world of obsessive fans.

One strength of this anime is how unpredictable it is if you are watching for the first time. The twists and the psychological tension never let up, and by the time you get to the reveal, it feels earned, but also disturbing. That said, the pacing might feel heavy for some viewers, especially in the middle parts where the story purposely drags you into Mima’s confusion.

Then there are parts that felt off, like the photographer making her take those pictures, which to me felt forced, written only to add unnecessary trauma. I feel that role of victim could have been anyone else on set, to tie her mental breakdown more directly to what she is shooting.

Overall, Perfect Blue is unsettling, powerful, and unforgettable. It is not a comfort watch, but it is a good one. If you want anime that challenges you, makes you question reality, and leaves you thinking long after the credits roll, this is one to see.