Perfect Blue (1999)
89%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Perfect Blue is a cinematic masterpiece that delves into the psyche of a woman on the brink of insanity, exploring themes of identity, femininity, and fame. Satoshi Kon’s directorial debut is a twisted and self-referential storyline that intercuts reality with fantasy, leaving viewers unable to distinguish the truth until the stunning conclusion. The film’s success lies in its ability to deliver on its Eastern promise, with engrossing animation that somehow manages to display realist gore, nudity, and sexual violence in a tone not too far from that of a children’s adventure. Perfect Blue is a brutal and haunting meditation that will leave you questioning the nature of reality and the price of fame.
Perfect Blue” is like a twisted version of Hannah Montana, but with more blood and less catchy songs. The film follows a pop star named Mima as she descends into madness and confusion, unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. It’s a haunting meditation on identity, femininity, and fame, but with a side of gore and nudity. Satoshi Kon’s directorial debut is a technical masterpiece that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about the entertainment industry. Just maybe don’t watch it with your parents.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-14
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):Japanese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Jul 3, 2019
Genre(s)
Anime
Keyword(s)
starring Stephen Apostolina, Mimi Fan, Bob Buchholz, Steve Bulen, Dyanne DiRosario, Bridget Hoffman, R Martin Klein, directed by Satoshi Kon, written by Satoshi Kon, anime, mystery, thriller, pop star, television show, R rating, Japanese, Hiroaki Inoue, Haruyo Kanesaku, Masao Maruyama, Yutaka Maseba, Takeshi Washitani, Dolby, Flat aspect ratio, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Cody Corrall, Lisa Alspector, Kim Newman, Tasha Robinson, Tara Brady, Wendy Ide, Andrew Heskins, Panos Kotzathanasis, Matt Brunson, Willow Maclay, Rob Thomas, produced by Hiroaki Inoue, Haruyo Kanesaku, Masao Maruyama, Yutaka Maseba, Takeshi Washitani, MPAA rating, anime, thriller, psychological, horror, nudity, sexual violence, identity, femininity, fame, celebrity, public persona, fandom
Worldwide gross: $563,130
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,033,423
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,594
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 112,696
US/Canada gross: $558,598
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,025,106
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,187
US/Canada opening weekend: $9,600
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $17,617
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,557
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): ¥3,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Bob Buchholz – Powertron (Voice)
Steve Bulen – Tejima (Voice)
Dyanne DiRosario – Yukiko (Voice)
Bridget Hoffman – Mima Kirigoe (Voice)
R. Martin Klein – Mr. Me-Mania (Voice)
Director(s)
Satoshi Kon
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Hiroaki Inoue, Haruyo Kanesaku, Masao Maruyama, Yutaka Maseba, Takeshi Washitani
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (9)
Kon thoughtfully depicts a woman on the verge of madness as her squeaky-clean image devolves into the compromising and gruesome roles she plays in her acting career…
October 8, 2021
Cody Corrall
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
This engrossing animated thriller somehow displays realist gore, nudity, and sexual violence in a tone not too far from that of a children’s adventure; its innocence stems in part from the convincing naivete of the heroine.
October 8, 2021
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Strange, stylish and intelligent, this is a rare anime film that delivers on its Eastern promise.
September 22, 2020
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Perfect Blue’s success lies in the twisted, self-referential storyline that intercuts reality with fantasy so fluidly that viewers inevitably take on Mima’s shattered point of view, unable to distinguish the truth until the stunning conclusion.
May 1, 2019 | Rating: A
Tasha Robinson
Sci-Fi Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Perfect Blue is every Spice Girl, Shirelle and Supreme of yore refashioned and recast in Bergman’s persona. An edgy new career, indeed.
November 4, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
I found it very hard to get past the eroticised approach to rape and sexual violence which is a pervasive stain on this otherwise intriguing film.
October 29, 2017 | Rating: 2/5
Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The directorial debut for one of anime’s true visionaries, the late Satoshi Kon, and fantastic psychological thriller to boot…
September 24, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Andrew Heskins
easternKicks.com
“Perfect Blue” is an artistic and technical masterpiece; however, what is of utmost importance is the fact that Satoshi Kon never deteriorated from the high standards he set here, in the first project that was entirely his own.
January 26, 2020
Panos Kotzathanasis
Asian Movie Pulse
A brutal and haunting meditation on identity, femininity, and fame.
April 16, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Perfect Blue is an apocalyptic slasher, the ultimate crystallization of everything we came to fear about the internet before it became synonymous with living.
March 9, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Willow Maclay
Curtsies and Hand Grenades
For all its over-the-top violence, “Perfect Blue” is a surprisingly sophisticated film about the ways in which a celebrity’s public persona can consume the real person within.
September 6, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
A remarkable character piece about growth, staying true to yourself, and the terrors fandom can wreak.
September 6, 2018
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed…
Plot
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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Bridget Hoffman voices the protagonist, Mima Kirigoe, in the English dub of Perfect Blue.
Satoshi-Kon.jpg
