Anime of the Week
There are many classic 80’s and 90’s anime with a following today. One of those is Perfect Blue, a Satoshi Kon film. A psychological horror that I think was ahead of its time. This article will be a Perfect Blue review and overview.
Check out last week’s Anime of the Week: Link Click
Brief Background on Satoshi Kon
Perfect Blue is a psychological horror that was released in 1997. Madhouse produced the anime film, and Satoshi Kon directed it. This is Kon’s directorial debut, and many consider Perfect Blue his best work.
Satoshi Kon is best known for his anime films, including Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, and Millennium Actress.
However Kon actually started out in the manga business. His first manga Toriko was the runner up in the 10th Annual Tetsuya Chiba Awards. He then worked on his first anime Roujin Z after college.
As mentioned Perfect Blue is Kon’s directorial debut. A producer of Perfect Blue found Kon’s work impressive. Especially on a Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA and wanted to give him the opportunity to direct his own film.
Working on Perfect Blue
Perfect Blue is loosely based on the light novel with the same name. Yoshikazu Takeuchi is the author of the original novel. Takeuchi also wrote sequels.
In an interview from 2002 Kon said he initially did not like the script for the film. He instantly requested for changes. He asked for permission from Yoshikazu Takeuchi to change the original.
All Takeuchi wanted was to keep three main elements to the story: ‘idol’, ‘horror’ and ‘stalking’. Kon proceeded to make many changes and basically made a new story.
Perfect Blue actually released overseas first. The team submitted the film to the Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada. Since Kon wasn’t a well-known director, they called him a student of Katsuhiro Otomo, who created Akira. Otomo’s manga and film of Akira were a hit overseas.
At the film festival, audiences received Perfect Blue well, leading to more scheduled screenings. They got invites to more international film festivals around the world. Finally in February of 1998, Japan finally got their first screening of the film.
Perfect Blue Japanese Voice Cast:
Junko Iwao as Mima Kirigoe
Rica Matsumoto as Rumi
Masaaki Ohkura as Mamoru Uchida
Perfect Blue English Voice Cast:
Ruby Marlow as Mima Kirigoe
Wendee Lee as Rumi
Bob Marx as Mamoru Uchida
Synopsis
Mima Kirigoe, a pop idol and the lead singer of “CHAM!”, is encouraged by her manager, Rumi, to leave the band. Rumi wants Mima to try acting in the soap opera “Double Bind.” This decision angers many male fans.
Especially a mysterious fan who becomes obsessed. This fan starts posting creepy threats and strange personal details about Mima online. Mima says these details are not hers.
Perfect Blue Official Trailer
Perfect Blue Review
Story
From my research the story was changed a lot, as mentioned before. The novel was originally a slasher type of horror. It was gory and it depicted a lot of bloody scenes. In the 90s, slasher horror movies were popular, so I believe Yoshikazu Takeuchi drew inspiration from them.
Satoshi Kon wasn’t a fan of the slasher aspect. He also didn’t do well with blood and gore. So he asked for permission to change the story and he created a psychological thriller. Which was different at the time.
I’ll try and talk about the story without major spoilers. The story plays with the audience, we don’t know the difference between reality and fantasy. It’s like Satoshi Kon himself is placing psychological horror on the audience.
You should be ready as there are a lot of twists in the story. Satoshi Kon tries to outplay the audience and give diversions to what is really happening.
It keeps you guessing until the reveal of the story. Can you expect the twist? Maybe, but I didn’t see it coming.
I think the story is still relevant today. When this was released, the internet wasn’t as widespread or accessible as it is today. But Satoshi Kon could still come up with the idea of internet stalking and obsession. There are many documented and undocumented cases of those today.
Art Style
I’ve said this many times before in my other reviews like Ocean Waves. But the 90’s art style is one of my favorites. A modern studio should make more anime in the 90s art style and colors, but with updated animation. I think many anime fans would watch it, depending on how good the story is of course.
Animation
I think you’ll be very surprised with the animation quality. It’s still over 25 years old, but it still holds well. There are some scenes that are just panning still images. There are scenes where characters talk, and the animation team just switches between two drawings, highlighting the one who is speaking.
If you can get past those scenes, the heavily animated scenes are good. The production team animated the film smoothly, not in a janky way.
Would I Recommend You Watch Perfect Blue?
Perfect Blue is a groundbreaking anime that blends psychological horror with a compelling story about obsession. Satoshi Kon changed the original slasher story into a psychological thriller that still feels relevant today. Especially with themes of internet stalking and fan obsession.
The 90s art style and quality animation add to its charm, making it a classic that still connects with audiences. If you haven’t seen Perfect Blue yet, it’s definitely worth a watch for any horror film fan or anime fan.
