There has been a fair amount of talk on my activity stream recently about the work of the late Satoshi Kon, so ahead of watching some of his films I decided to revisit the one film of his that I have seen, albeit about 12 years ago now.

In fact, my first viewing of Perfect Blue was done towards the end of a major anime craze of mine, when I was just starting to tire of the genre as a whole. I was pretty taken aback by this film. No giant tentacle cocks. No stupid big tears appearing besides characters' faces when they're perplexed by something. No ridiculously overdone ultra-violence. This can't be right?

To me, it seemed like a…

Wow. What a mindfuck that was. I could sit here all day and debate possible realities of this film, but in the end I don't think there is a definitive answer. The fact that there are so many equally viable possibilities is a testament to the genius of director Satoshi Kon.

The film's plot (on the surface anyway) is about a Japanese pop-idol named Mima, who wishes to further her career and reinvent herself. The earlygoings of the film are fairly straightforward, and to me, seemed to be building toward a message of loss of identity through image. That's one way you can look at it, but oh lord does the movie go deeper than that. As the movie hits…

Film #83 of The December Project

Perfect Blue is an excellent animated psychological thriller that deals with a character unsure of her own reality. Mima is a pop idol who decides to switch careers and become an actress. As a result, she is harassed and threatened by some of her fans, including a stalker named Me-mania. Everything hinges on a part she accepts in a film that may ruin her reputation because it depicts her being raped. It becomes apparent pretty early on that some elements are fantasy or delusion and that Mima is in danger not only from outside forces, but from herself.

I don't watch a lot of animated films, so when I heard that people were confused…

Not often does a film blur the line between reality and illusionary dream as intelligently as Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue, a chilling and deeply unsettling animated movie that plays with your perception and in a mere 81 minutes creates one of the most compelling thrillers of contemporary cinema.

It starts off with the main character, Mima, announcing her departure from the pop group CHAM in order to pursue a career in acting, having been accepted to play a small role in a drama series. However her transcension from pop idol to serious actress comes with both personal issues and the threatening presence of an obsessed fan. It sounds clichéd on paper but Perfect Blue is vastly different in that regard.…

After watching Paprika, I thought Satoshi Kon could do no wrong and so far I haven't been let down.

I've seen a lot of people comparing this to Black Swan and while they share a similar theme, Black Swan really doesn't hold a candle to Perfect Blue much like how Paprika is compared to Inception. While Black Swan and Inception weren't bad films per se, but Satoshi Kon really is the unchallenged master of distorting the view of reality.

Perfect Blue had me gripped from the get go, delivering an amazing and disturbing story that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. The clever use of parallels used with the show within the film worked extremely well to…