Perfect Blue

—by Mark L. Johnson

This has been a decent year for theatrical releases of anime in North America. PERFECT BLUE may be taking a shadow role to the higher profile PRINCESS MONONOKE (which now ranks to this reviewer as the best English dub I have ever seen), but it definitely fits into a whole other genre. I will also say that PERFECT BLUE is even more so not a story for children by any stretch, as some of the material is downright disturbing (yet in a way necessary for the plot).
To start with, PERFECT BLUE focuses on the life of Kirigoe Mima, a relatively popular B-grade Pop Idol in the group "Cham," who, at the beginning of the film, announces her retirement from singing in order to pursue an opportunity to act. After this, along with her own reservations as to whether she made the right choice, she starts to receive threatening letters and even discovers a web-site called "Mima's Room" that knows way too much about her. As an inexperienced actress she has to take on roles that a clean-cut idol would never do, and after an associate is brutally killed, Mima begins to have paranoid delusions and starts to question everything she believes in.
Especially in the first half of the film, PERFECT BLUE does a good job in portraying the life of a standard "pop idol" and the fans that adore them. Although this is not a true story or a documentary (thank goodness), for viewers outside of Japanese culture this a good hard look at the lives of these people. The fans and their obsessions are not always painted in the best light either, but there is definitely a ring of truth to the characters' lives. Similarly, later on the camera turns to the work of filming a drama series, which I also found quite interesting.
The other side of PERFECT BLUE is the psychological thriller, as Mima's career choice starts her down a roller coaster she is not in control of. Especially in the second half of the film, the boundary between dreams and reality are hard to distinguish, and the viewer is kept guessing whether this is Mima's real life, her acting role or her past pop idol self.
Production wise, this is definitely at a movie-level budget. The animation and detailed backgrounds shine through, and the characters, while stylized a bit, come across as quite realistic.
In regards to the English dubbing job, Manga has done a good job in bringing this over. The songs (except for the ending theme, which they left in Japanese) are surprisingly well done in English, especially considering this is J-Pop we are talking about. Mima's voice actress occasionally sounds off, but this is more a nit-pick than an actual complaint. The voices in general are good as well.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this film, and even though at times it could get rather violent and disturbing, it was not for the sake of sensationalism as much as to drive the plot and the characters. And while the mystery was not super complex, the climax did do a good job in surprising me.
Although not for the faint of heart, I give this title a strong thumbs up. Of note to DVD enthusiasts, I again give my standard suggestion to wait until the DVD release (hopefully in the spring of 2000, though delays often happen). I find it refreshing to see films like PERFECT BLUE and PRINCESS MONONOKE help push away the standard cliches that Japanese anime can easily fall into, as well as to remind the public that animation is a medium that can do much more than just sell children's toys.

Released in North America by Manga Entertainment
VHS, 80 minutes
Subtitled: RYK-4048 $29.95
Dubbed: RYK-4047 $19.95
Where to buy