Perfect Blue
Studio: GKIDS/Shout! Factory
Mar 25, 2019 Web Exclusive
An adored pop idol, Mima shocks up her fanbase when she announces that she’s put her singing career on hold and leaving her group to pursue a career as an actress. She lands a small role on a smutty TV thriller with the promise of bigger parts if she willingly endures a humiliating scene. This controversial content—on top of a racy photo shoot—destroys her wholesome pop image and upsets her most devoted fans. As she copes with her own conflicted feelings, people linked to her new career start turning up dead. Mima’s soon haunted by visions of her former self, and a web diary that claims to share her most intimate, private thoughts with fans—a website she has no hand in writing.
Released in 1997, Perfect Blue was the debut feature from Satoshi Kon, who’d go on to create Paranoia Agent, Paprika, and Millennium Actress. A disturbing, atmospheric psychological thriller in the vein of Darren Aranofsky’s work, Perfect Blue was developed as a live action film but switched to animation when its budget was reduced. It stylishly obscures its mystery, leading to a dizzying second half in which viewers must guess whether each scene is reality, a vision, or a scene from the show-within-the-film. Who is the killer, or is there even a killer at all? It’s astounding that it works, keeping viewers engaged rather than confused. A top-notch mindbender, Perfect Blue is worthy of all of the acclaim it’s won over the years.
GKIDS and Shout! Factory’s digitally remastered Blu-ray does justice to this visually exciting film, bringing out the contrasting colors and remixed 5.1 Japanese audio track. (The original two-channel mix is an included option, for those who prefer it.) Among the extra features are cast interviews, more than 40 minutes of lectures by Satoshi Kon to his students, and a behind-the-scenes look at the recording sessions for Mima’s fictional pop group. This is a great release for a modern classic, and one we’d recommend even to non-anime fans—Perfect Blue is an exceptional psychological thriller which just so happens to be animated.
(www.shoutfactory.com/product/perfect-blue)
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