Perfect Blue

This movie was so much more disturbingly deep than I thought it would be. The the animation is wonderful, once again there’s a lot of detail in each scene which I loved to see. And the character designs were really well done. The stalker having this uncanny face and large, creepy stature was really fitting and made him a lot more of an unsettling character. The plot was, as I previously stated, really deep and creepy. An idol, becoming an actress, and having to deal with an obsessed, deranged fan isn’t the most original story, but it was pulled off amazingly in this movie. But that’s not all I would like to talk about, because I feel like, symbolically, this movie has at least another main plot point. The fear of losing yourself and becoming someone you’re not, that is such a scary thing for a lot of people, and this movie perfectly encapsulates that fear in Mima. She has to change her career path to something she, truthfully, did not want to become, and then had to deal with the constant pressure from everyone around her, all expecting her to fit into this ideal actress that she just isn’t. And that plot twist towards the end (I’m about to spoil the ending) was actually so surprising. I don’t mean to be that kind of guy, but a lot of times plot twists in movies are kind of cheap and predictable, this one wasn’t. Rumi seemed like such an innocent character who just wanted the best for Mima, and that’s all you expect from Rumi throughout the whole movie. To see her become an antagonist, literally stealing the identity of Mima because she doesn’t like how she’s become an actress and has this ideal of Mima as an idol still, it’s so unexpected and honestly really strong. Not only does it catch the viewer by surprise, but it further strengthens the aforementioned theme of feeling like you’ve become someone you’re not. Mima, along with her stalker who impersonated her on her website, had a manager who tried taking everything from her so that she could become her. This film tackles so many different topics: jealousy, obsession, imposter syndrome, discomfort, and so much more. And another thing I’d like to point out, I love how this movie handled her acting career. Throughout the movie, her acting jobs blend in with her real life, causing both her and the viewer to not be able to tell if she’s acting or if this is her actual life. And the uncomfortable moments with her modeling and her acting career, it cripples her mentally, even if she knows it wasn’t real. There’s honestly so much to talk about with this movie, it’s amazing and, if you can stomach the more uncomfortable topics and scenes, this is definitely a good movie you should watch.