Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue

Directed by Satoshi Kon

Cinematography by Hisao Shirai

1997

Based on: Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis by Yoshikazu Takeuchi

I recently watched Perfect Blue for the first time. I waited way too long. The only information I had when I dove into this confusing narrative was that there were scenes in Requiem For a Dream and Black Swan that were heavily inspired by the 1997 Japanese Psychological thriller.

The Anime follows an aspiring actress, Mima, who is leaving a rising “J-Pop“ girl band in order to purse an acting career. Mima starts taking on edgier roles, stripping herself of the good girl persona her fans were used to. Eventually, young Mima starts to blur the lines between reality and fantasy, her confused mind and factual situations, her life and and her roles. While all this is happening, Mima is being stalked by a disturbed fan, who is torn by Mima’s new bad girl persona. The story is a very complex and engaging one (Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan has many similarities to the narrative), but what I truly love about the film is how cinematic it is. Anime is beautiful for that reason, each frame is treated like film, carefully composed and drawn to perfection. Perfect Blue is most definitely an achievement in the world of Anime, proving that a complex plot could be told and developed through animation. So much so that Aronofsky has replicated the work in his films.