Perfect Blue

Synopsis:

We begin by seeing the fictional j-pop (Japanese Pop) band CHAM! performing for a somewhat unruley crowd. After a set, one of the band members Mia Kirigoe announces that this is her last concert and will be moving on to a new career as an actress. Shortly thereafter Mima receives a fax calling her a traitor as Mima seems to have upset a lurking stalker that has only admired her from afar... up till now.


Reviewer: Endosanity


Review:

Perfect Blue is only average in being a thriller as it isn't really discreet on trying to cover the villain in a cloak of mystery as a good amount of foreshadowing is presented within the first 10 minutes of the film... or is your attention merely being drawn away? Doing this seems to destroy a lot of the films mystery but as you continue to watch Mima changing careers you'll follow her on a downward spiral as her new choice of income involves her going from a cute pink dress wearing pop singer to posing nude and acting out rape scenes all for the sake of popularity as an actress. You even begin to grow disgusted with her character as she's throwing all her moral values out the window on a whim.

But with this new trend the bodies of co-workers around her start to pile up. Mima believes her stalker may have finally taken action... but then, she also questions her own sanity as the shock of going from a highly regarded singer to an un-reputable actress is taking it's toll.

Simply put Perfect Blue is a psychological thriller, and a decent one at that. But where Perfect Blue suffers is that, unlike most anime, when it's all said and done it just all seems relatively average and shows no sign of any real imagination invested in it. There is nothing here that makes it stand out as you may have seen something like this in another movie or some weekly crime-drama television show. The animation itself is rather dated looking even for being released in 1997 and the characterization is nil but then again, not really needed for this type of feature. I guess I would still recommend it because it may even somewhat appeal to anime and non-anime fans alike just don't expect anything extra because what you see is what you get.

Perfect Blue (trailer)

Recommendation: |Average|

Online viewing: Netflix

Media type: Netflix "Watch Instantly" feature with paid subscription
From: Manga Entertainment
Spoken languages: English
Subtitles: None