Anime Mystery/psychological thriller. Mima, once part of the band Cham, decides to act in a murder mystery film. Suddenly the lines between reality and fantasy blur in Mima's mind, as she finds herself doing things for her acting career that alienate her from her former self. Harrased by her bizzare stalker, she begins to imagine meeting herself as she was in Cham. And then the
bodies begin to appear, but who is responsible? Very original, Great animation. Highly recomended!

An intense display of great animation, especially the "camera angles", unique points of view, and perspective. Goes a long way to reminding one exactly how thin the line is between rationality and psychosis. Highly recommended for anyone who thinks they're sane; not recommended for those with dangerous doubts. Halfway through, you'll be wondering..."What scene is this?" "Is this a dream?" "Did we see this part already?" The actual drawing is good (but not as good as, say, the original Urotsukidoji series); the acting is typical for anime; a little above par but not much. All in all, quite a ride.

Perfect Blue - 1997 - Directed by Satoshi Kon

Running Time: 75 Minutes. Unrated Director's Cut - Contains graphic violence, nudity, adult language and adult situations.

Special Features (Mima's Room):

  • Digitally Mastered
  • Interview with Director Satoshi Kon
  • Voice-over actor Interviews
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • Musical photo Gallery
  • Behind-the-scenes performances
  • Bonus Audio Tracks
  • DVD ROM Extras
  • Manga 2000 Previews

Technical Features:

  • Region 1
  • Audio - Japanese 5.1, English 5.1
  • Subtitles - English
  • NTSC
  • Colour

I bought this DVD not really knowing what to expect. It had been a while since I had bought any anime. It took a while to get going, but once it did I was hooked. The tension created is almost unbearable, and it does a good job of confusing you. I didn't like the ending so much, it built up with so much fantasy, and left without explaining things.
The extras are pretty good, the presentation is very nice. It's all layed out like a website in keeping with the Mima's Room theme. I think if I had the choice of renting it instead then I wouldn't have bought it, it's a good film, but I'm not sure if it was worth the money.

More DVD Reviews

Perfect Blue

A psychological thriller written by Yoshikazu Takeuchi and directed by Satoshi Kon. Rex Entertainment took on this movie when they saw a 90 minute live action video project of it. It was awarded the Public prize for 'Best Asian Film' when it was released in 1997.

The main character, Mima Kirigoe is a 21 year old retired pop singer turned actress who just got a bit role as a killer in a television series in which she garners attention for. On the way she attracts an obsessed fan who wants her to return to singing, and discovers a website that describes every intimate detail of her life, to the littlest things like, a reason why she brushed her teeth or something.

Currently as the costar of a psycho drama that portrays her as having multiple personalities, the line between reality and imaginary become thin in her own real life. She becomes obsessed with reading the homepage that is called Mima's Room just to find out what she did that day and has blackouts of what happened. She starts becoming confused and bewildered at who this person can actually be, if it is really her writing this homepage. Violent murders take place that mirror those in the television psycho drama that she stars in and is faced by the apparent ghost of her former self.

Perfect Blue, not being a giant action thriller with teeny bopping girls shooting guns and robots having battles is very different and far from the sci-fi end of the spectrum. It stands out because it holds its own as a psychological thriller that has a calm mood throughout and gradually reaches its intense climax revealing a surprise that makes the watcher finally understand what's going on since they have been dragged into what Mima has been going through. Complete confusion about what's real, and what's not. Another great thing about this movie is it's score, the music goes along with every scene and the operatic music that accompanies every intense scene just heightens its effect, remember without music, a scary movie just doesn't seem as scary.

Perfect Blue follows Polanski's Repulsion as a study of the self, yet has the thriller mood set by the best of Brian De Palma and Dario Argento. It is a great movie if you want something to make you think and be entertained at the same time.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.