A retired pop-singer-turned-actress' sense of reality is shaken when she is stalked by an obsessed fan and seemingly a ghost of her past.
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Title: Perfect Blue (1997)
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3 wins & 2 nominations.
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Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
 |
Junko Iwao | ... |
Mima Kirigoe
(voice)
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Rica Matsumoto | ... |
Rumi
(voice) (as Rika Matsumoto)
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Shinpachi Tsuji | ... |
Tadokoro
(voice)
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Masaaki Ôkura | ... |
Uchida
(voice)
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Yôsuke Akimoto | ... |
Tejima
(voice)
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Yoku Shioya | ... |
Shibuya
(voice)
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Hideyuki Hori | ... |
Sakuragi
(voice)
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Emi Shinohara | ... |
Eri Ochiai
(voice)
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Masashi Ebara | ... |
Murano
(voice)
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Kiyoyuki Yanada | ... |
Kantoku
(voice)
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Tôru Furusawa | ... |
Yada
(voice)
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Shiho Niiyama | ... |
Rei
(voice)
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Emiko Furukawa | ... |
Yukiko
(voice)
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Aya Hara | ... |
Mima's Mother
(voice)
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Shin'ichirô Miki | ... |
Taku
(voice)
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Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Mima leaves the idol group CHAM, in order to pursue her dream as an actress. Mima climbs up the rocky road to success by performing as rape victims and posing nude for magazines, but is haunted by her reflections of the past. Written by <H@jime>
Taglines:
excuse me...who are you? See more »Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for animated sequences of violence and nudity, and for brief language | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
See more »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
JapanRelease Date:
8 September 1999 (France) See more »Also Known As:
Perfect Blue See more »Box Office
Budget:
JPY 3,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
$9,600 (USA) (20 August 1999)Gross:
$99,389 (USA) (17 December 1999)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
DolbyColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
Music by Makoto Mitsui
Lyrics by Sumiyo Mutsumi
Performed by Emiko Furukawa and Mie Shimizu
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The choreography from Mina's group CHAM are not in unison. This is intentional to keep the realism of the film. See more »Goofs
In the English dub version, Cham sings their song at the beginning in English. Later on, when the writer is waiting for the elevator, the radio is playing the song in Japanese. See more »Soundtracks
Hitori de mo heikiMusic by Makoto Mitsui
Lyrics by Sumiyo Mutsumi
Performed by Emiko Furukawa and Mie Shimizu
See more »
Mima Kirigoes is part of a young idol group Cham, but she decides to move on and kick-start a career as an actress with some help by her pressuring agent. To change her image, she accepts some confronting roles, which eventuates into her downward spiral between realities and virtual. She discovers an Internet site that knows her every move and those responsible for growing success in the acting industry end up brutally killed.
Well, what can I say? Simply, I forgot that I originally saw this wonderfully, stunning anime picture before. I don't know how it left my mind, because it's very chilling and effective across the board. Based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi's novel, "Perfect Blue" is an intoxicatedly, shocking psychological thriller that does resemble some works of Lynch, Polanski, De Palma and rightly so, Hitchcock. Even a giallo imprint shines heavily within the mixture.
The mature plot boldly plays it cards at a mild pace and eventually forms a structure like a rubrics cube. I wouldn't go out of my way to call it complicated, but there's stylish imagination and cerebral details that gladly doesn't fall into a convoluted mess. The characters' persona's are well defined and emotionally attachable. It can turn into an uncomfortable ride, where dazzling images of fact and fiction skews into one. You can't help but get those disorientating spells that the distraught Mima succumbs to on her journey to find her feet as an mature entertainer. Where her dreams become her anxiety, as she's too sensitive to how she's being perceived then being her true self. Her clean-cut image becomes tainted and a growing obsession towards her takes its tole on her fractured and vulnerable mind.
Paranoia, delusions and a dreamlike air are cooked up with an array of tension and creepy visuals. The animation isn't a visual goldmine, but its showered with powerfully focused and flashed up images that manage to keep the viewer at bay. The pressure building dialogues are quite biting, and the revealing twist catches you off guard because of the superb use of artificial dreams with its fast editing and exhilaratingly moody soundtrack.
You don't have to be a fan of animation to enjoy this piece. So, if you come across it, give it a chance.