"A startling and powerful film. If Alfred Hitchcock partnered with Walt Disney they'd make a film like this."

—Roger Corman

There are some films that work best as shock-thrillers. Others accurately depict a slice of life. Still others offer such lush visuals that viewers can forget they are watching an animated film. Very rarely does a film come around that combines these aspects. PERFECT BLUE is all these and more.
It won the public prize for Best Asian Film at the FANT·ASIA '97 film festival. It saw limited screenings in Toronto and AkiCon in Hiroshima this summer, and the Tokyo Fantastic Film Festival in Shibuya this fall. A general theatrical release is expected in February 1998.
The first thing the discerning viewer will notice is the pedigree. Certainly, none of the principals will be a stranger to anyone who has been following the industry for any length of time. Creator of AKIRA and MEMORIES, Otomo Katsuhiro is on staff as a special advisor, and other MEMORIES veterans include director Kon Satoshi and producers Maruyama Masao (co-producer of X) and Inoue Hiroaki (also known for his work on TENCHI MUYO!). Screenplay writer Murai Sadayuki is best known for his work on the popular TV and manga series, EKO EKO AZARAK. This reviewer must admit that the greatest attraction that this film held for him before viewing it was the character designs by the mega-popular Eguchi Hisashi. Finally, the animation was produced by the legendary Madhouse of X and MEMORIES fame.
The film begins at a Tokyo area amusement park. A sentai hero show is going on, but it does not seem to be of much interest to the otaku milling around. They are present for the event by Cham, an up-and-coming idol group about to release their first CD. The curtain rises and the mini-concert begins, but it does not continue for long because several rowdy spectators quickly cause a disturbance. When a fight breaks out, Uchida (voiced by Ohkura Masaaki), working security at the concert, helps quell it, but at the cost of many bruises.
Digressing slightly, this film presents a very accurate portrayal of the otaku culture in Japan based on the perspective of this reviewer, who is living in Tokyo and has had ample opportunity to observe their comings and goings at events, doujinshi markets, etc. Being otaku is not a thing to look up to and aspire to be. The otaku are really to be pitied for their pathetic state of existence.
Returning to the park, in the midst of the chaos, Kirigoe Mima (voiced by Iwao Junko—Key from KEY THE METAL IDOL and Mayuka from TENCHI MUYO: MANATSU NO EVE) makes an announcement that she is leaving Cham to pursue a career as a serious actress. This catches all the fans by surprise and puts a damper on the rest of the concert. As she leaves the park to go home, someone in the crowd presses a letter into her hand. When she reads it later, it does not make much sense to her.
Upon showing it to her manager Rumi (voiced by Matsumoto Rika—Ayaka from YUUGEN KAISHA, Satoshi from POCKET MONSTER), she learns that the letter talks about a Web page called "Idol Online". When she later buys a computer, she finds that there is a page dedicated to her, created by "Mimaniac," which has a great deal of personal information such as voice clips of her answering prank phone calls and information that could only come from someone stalking her.
Mima soon lands her first acting role in a TV drama series called "Double Bind" (not to be confused with "Double Blind"). All is not idyllic however, as the first day on the set the owner of her management company is injured by a letter bomb. More accidents occur over the ensuing days, and people start dying.
In the midst of this Mima starts seeing mysterious visions of herself in her Cham costume, laughing at her and taunting her. She also starts to see Uchida everywhere she goes. As her work grows more and more sordid (including a hair-nude session in a softcore magazine), the murders grow more and more violent; they also are occurring closer to her own person. Mima begins having nightmares and even doubting her own sanity.
And then things get weird.
Technically the film is also excellent. Madhouse's visuals, particularly the effects sequences are first-rate. Kon's direction is also very effective, using many live-action film techniques not seen that often in animation. The overall effect is very disturbing.
It is interesting to note that the version of the film shown at Tokyo Fantastic Film Festival in October, and presumably the full theatrical release had one scene near the end slightly changed. Only ten seconds of animation were altered, but it puts an entirely different twist on the end of the film.
This film is clearly of blockbuster status. Its incredible visuals, gripping story and scathing depiction of otaku culture raise it far above anything in recent memory. This is clearly the best film of 1997, MONONOKE HIME and THE END OF EVANGELION notwithstanding.

©1997 Rex Entertainment Co., Ltd. Theatrical Release - February 1998 Running time: 81 minutes Director: Kon Satoshi Screenplay: Murai Sadayuki Character Design: Eguchi Hisashi Special Advisor: Otomo Katsuhiro Based on the novel by Takeuchi Yoshikazu Special thanks to ONIRO for tickets to an industry screening.