^{Perfect Blue} is a 1997 psychological thriller anime movie, based on the Perfect Blue novel written by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. Directed by Satoshi Kon and released by Rex Entertainment, Perfect Blue takes us to the world of teenagers, stardom and fan clubs and shows us how all of it can become quite sick and disturbing.

In Perfect Blue, you'll follow the story of Mina Kirigoe, as she decides, with a lot of pressure from her agency, to abandon her semi-successful career as a japanese pop star and embrace an acting and modelling career.

From that moment on, you'll witness the downwards spiral of a air-headed teenage girl that's caught up between:

• an occupation that's not fulfilling for her and that makes her do things she's not comfortable with (like acting as a victim of a rape scene)
• some angry fans that won't forgive the fact that she abandoned her pop group "CHAM!"
• a strange website called "Mina's Room" where most of her life's details are pictured, with uncanny accuracy
• a strange man with rotten teeth that seems to worship and follow her constanty
• a psychotic killer that starts to savagely murder several people related with Mina and her acting career.

Now, this would be enough to put a completely sane person in a mild state of paranoia. But we're talking of Mina, a teenage not-so-smart japanese girl, so she goes way down the line.

Soon, the viewer of Perfect Blue starts to scratch his head at what's real or not (mimicking the main character ^_^') because images of the real(?) Mina are messed up with a pop-star alter ego that she starts seeing constantly and with dream images she has of horrible events - that somehow unfold into things that actually take place in the movie (or does them?).

Perfect Blue has a little of Alfred Hitchcock in it. It purposely distorts an otherwise simple story and covers it with red earrings, making us never completely sure where we stand. Using the dream sequences (even wake-up dreaming) and movie action shots (Mina is acting to a TV drama series), this movie confuses us to a point we start wondering what's real life and "reel" life.

This kind of tricks can be nice, but I think Perfect Blue pushes the envelope a little too far and ends up frustrating the viewer a little. Also, the plot of this flick seems sometimes a bit forced.

The animation and soundtrack is nothing fancy, but aren't horrible either. The Mary Poppins'ish alter ego scenes are eerie, but quite well made. Note that there's mild nudity scenes and extreme graphical violence in this movie. The murder scenes have great detail and can make quite an impression - I'm still awed by the pizza delivery one!

To sum it up, Perfect Blue isn't a perfect movie. It's production values are quite average, but the fresh approach to a genre not normally depicted in the japanese animation, along with an intriguing storyline make me sugest this one for a try. If you're an Hitchcock's or David Linch fan you're gonna like it for sure. If not, watch it anyway and consider it an experimental film, basically another showcase of the versatility of anime.

The videos posted on this page concerning the anime show were not uploaded by me on the video servers. They have lower quality than the originals and it's main purpose is for the viewer to have contact with a work not seen previously.

If you liked what you saw PLEASE BUY the original product in the links of Amazon I provided or in another official retailer.