To see or not to see

[starstoryteller]

I am wondering if I could or should see Perfect Blue.

I first of all I am 17 (therefore I’m legal for an R rated movie)
I had seen Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers done by the same studio (Mad house? I don't remember the name) and liked them and I also watched Boogiepop Phantom and I wasn’t scared by them. (…well I do jump at the scary parts but I never have nightmares of any kind.)


So anybody seen it?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Pop idol Mima quits her group in order to pursue an acting career. But not everyone is happy especially a crazed fan that stalks her. People around her are being murdered and Mima starts to lose her sanity.

Hmmm, its a psychological/horror drama. I may check this out myself! And yes it is MadHouse Studios (They did Monster and Paranoia Agent!) The story seems to be related around a sexual crime. Reading reveiws from other people, they say there is some nudity and sexual scenes. (Could be edited out in some places though) They also say it's like the "Hitchcock of Anime"

[Bobtheduck]

Ok... Perfect Blue is a Psychological Thriller. It's not horror like a lot of people assume. THe premise of it is, from what I have read anyhow, is a pop idol is starting to lose touch with reality, and thinks that she's being stalked by a dangerous fan. Before her idol days, she was an AV star and there are flashbacks to her AV days (including, what I read, a simulated rape scene) So, this gives you a clue as to the disturbing sort of stuff is in this. Boogiepop had a stalker in one ep, but this is much worse than the stalker in Boogiepop... So... hopefully this gives you a different perspective to base your decision on...

I'm thinking this may be too disturbing for me... I am oddly drawn to it, though... A morbid curiosity...

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Well psychological thriller can be horrific at times ~_^ Paranoia Agent and Monster scared the heck out of me at times. But yes you are right, its more of a thriller than horror. Seeing as there isn't really anything supernatural or deranged masked killers.

[Lynx]

the sexual content is bad. my opinion is avoid it.

[Bobtheduck]

Well psychological thriller can be horrific at times ~_^ Paranoia Agent and Monster scared the heck out of me at times. But yes you are right, its more of a thriller than horror. Seeing as there isn't really anything supernatural or deranged masked killers.

I actually was writing my post at the same time as you, so it wasn't a response to yours... I was responding to the boogiepop comparison.

[Mangafanatic]

THEM anime gives a very short overview of content in their Perfect Blue review:

This is a movie for the eighteen and over crowd exclusively. You have to be very mature to watch this movie and not have nightmares for a week thereafter. There is graphic violence, implied rape, graphic nudity, and attendant language (though not nearly much as you'd expect). None of it, however, is gratuitous, surprisingly enough - it's all part of the plot in some way or another, and it is made all the more frightening by the head-twisted psychological bent of this movie. While not a hentai title in the least, it's just too intense of a movie to be shown to minors, or the squeamish. However, if you're a mature adult with no preexisting psychological problems of your own, go right ahead. (Mind you, our Chief Reviewer *hates* horror flicks, but loves this film.)

They also say that the film is as violent as Ninja Scroll. Having seen the movies and series (Millenium Actress, ect) that you've mention seeing, and what I've read about Perfect Blue tells me there's not much of a comparison. Boogiepop may have been disturbing but it lacked the graphic violence (Isn't there some scene where some is attacked by someone with an ice pick ) and sexuality that make Perfect Blue work. In the end, it's upto you, but I think I would probably cry if I watched this movie.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Perfect Blue is MA15+ here, and I won't be seeing it any time soon. I don't enjoy graphic violence or sex in movies so it's a pass for me.

[Tenshi no Ai]

Yeah the sexuality was pretty bad in it :/ Violence like that was somethign I can handle, but I remember a scene where Mima plays in a movie and in the movie she gets raped I believed :/ So she's "acting it out" but still one of the scenes that I still remember :/

I only bought the movie cause it was likea 2 buck VHS, way back when... I'm one who enjoys psychological series, but that was just pretty confusing and :/ for me :/

[Splitter 2.0]

It is an incredibly disturbing movie, bordering on demented in several areas such as sexuality, paranoia, and stalking. The entire movie is done in without cut scenes so it's nearly impossible to know if what you are seeing is part of the real world, part of the TV series Mima is working on, or just a hallucination. It's incredibly disorienting and in this way it completely succeeds at bringing it out to a level unseen in anime before, also making it one of the most unique anime to date.

As far as content goes, this isn't for anyone under the age of 18 and even those who are 18 may find themselves disliking the content as well because of it's graphic nature.

This does NOT mean you should avoid it though. If you can handle the content, this is an impressive feature that takes anime to an entirely new level with some of the most ingenious art direction ever.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I watched it today! And I must say I absolutely loved it. The sexual content is pretty bad however. Incluidng full frontal shots (even the lower portion)

There was also a "rape" scene. It was however, an act for a television series she is acting in. It does however actually look realistic and she does get emotionally traumatized by deciding to partake in it. While it was graphic, I so kind of support that scene occuring. Satoshi Kon most likely put that in to invoke emotion within the watcher, as it led to the downfall of Mima. (After all, Mima was the one who decided to do so) If they cut that out, it wouldn't be there to invoke anybody's emotion. There was no real intent for arousal, but a different one. The story would not be the same without those kinds of scenes happening.

She is almost raped later though.

There is also a LOT of violence and blood. Namely stabbings and killings. The worst being a guy being stabbed in the eye with an icepick/screwdriver (and you see it go in, with the blood sprewing out) and a woman leaning into a large shard of glass. Pretty bloody.

But besides those, it was the plot I enjoyed. I am a BIG fan of psychological thrillers, and Perfect Blue is definately one of them. The animation and style that Satoshi Kon used in Paranoia Agent is also seen in here. I submitted a reivew just now, so expect it in the future ^_^