7.9/10
35,000
159 user 101 critic

Pâfekuto burû (1997)

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.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (novel) | 1 more credit »
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4,321 ( 305)
3 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Mima Kirigoe (voice)
...
Rumi (voice) (as Rika Matsumoto)
Shinpachi Tsuji ...
Tadokoro (voice)
Masaaki Ôkura ...
Uchida (voice)
Yôsuke Akimoto ...
Tejima (voice)
Yoku Shioya ...
Shibuya (voice)
Hideyuki Hori ...
Sakuragi (voice)
Emi Shinohara ...
Eri Ochiai (voice)
Masashi Ebara ...
Murano (voice)
Kiyoyuki Yanada ...
Kantoku (voice)
Tôru Furusawa ...
Yada (voice)
Shiho Niiyama ...
Rei (voice)
Emiko Furukawa ...
Yukiko (voice)
Aya Hara ...
Mima's Mother (voice)
...
Taku (voice)
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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>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

The color of illusion is Perfect Blue. (Japanese) See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for animated sequences of violence and nudity, and for brief language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

28 February 1998 (Japan)  »

Also Known As:

Perfect Blue  »

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Box Office

Budget:

JPY 3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,600, 22 August 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$112,536, 26 December 1999
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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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

When the script writer parks his car, the elevator call button has only "down", but the parking lot is at the lowest point of the building. See more »

Quotes

[Last line]
Mima Kirigoe: No, I'm the real thing.
[smiles]
See more »

Connections

Remade as Perfect Blue: Yume Nara Samete (2002) See more »

Soundtracks

Ai no tenshi
Music by Masahiro Ikumi
Lyrics by Kiko Imai
Performed by Misa, Emiko Furukawa and Mie Shimizu
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Very good anime noir
7 April 2005 | by – See all my reviews

Based on Yoshikazu Tekeuchi's novel of the same name, "Perfect Blue" is a Japanese anime film that tells the story of Mima Kirigoe, a pop idol who decides to leave her musical group while it is still at the top of the charts and concentrate on acting. Unfortunately, this transition does not sit well with one of her fans because an obsessive person who seems to be pervasive in her life soon stalks her. Even when she comes across the fan's website, she finds that the blog entries are not only written to make it seem like they are her thoughts, but they actually ARE her inner-most thoughts. What starts out as a moderately scary obsession quickly becomes a terrifying struggle to both deal with her inner demons and eventually, save her own life.

I once heard "Perfect Blue" described as "Hitchcock does anime", which is a dead-on descriptor for this film. The character designs were slick, the music was good (mostly techno) but the story is fantastic. I honestly was still trying to guess who the stalker was until the end of the film, and the reveal does not disappoint. There are some graphic moments (one is a rape scene on the set of the film she is making) so it does not fall into the stereotypical "it's a cartoon so it must be okay for kids" label that the non-anime viewing public seems assume.

I highly recommend this film, particularly to people who are not very well versed in anime – it would be a really good way to get your feet wet in the genre. There were many times during the film where I actually forgot I was watching animation, the action and story are so all consuming. Perfect Blue gets a strong 7/10 from me.

--Shel


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