Perfect Blue

1997 ‘パーフェクトブルー’ Directed by Satoshi Kon

The color of illusion is Perfect Blue.

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.

Junko Iwao Rica Matsumoto Shinpachi Tsuji Masaaki Ōkura Yōsuke Akimoto Yoku Shioya Hideyuki Hori Emi Shinohara Kiyoyuki Yanada Tōru Furusawa Shiho Niiyama Emiko Furukawa Aya Hara Shin-ichiro Miki Megumi Tano Akio Suyama Osamu Hosoi Kōichi Tōchika Emi Motoi Kishou Taniyama Shokkâ Ôno Rofuto Purasu Wan Burazâzu Makoto Kitano Soichiro Hoshi Masashi Ebara

Alternative Titles

Paafekuto buruu, Pafekuto buru, Pāfekuto Burū, Истинная грусть, 藍色恐懼

animation thriller

81 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by mia ★★★★★ 13

black swan (2010) was found dead in a ditch
Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★★ 14

I say this in the most minnesotan way possible: oh jeez
Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★½ 38

The blurred line between what is real, and what is not. A theme explored in movies such as: Repulsion, Belle de Jour, Triangle and Black Swan. A film aspect that's never been a favorite of mine. However, I found the outlier. Perfect Blue hooked me from the opening, and I was on the edge of my seat until the final credits rolled.
Perfect Blue is batshit crazy in an eat your heart out Darren Aronofsky type of way. It's the movie Black Swan only wished it could be. It's simply a badass flick with a lot of social commentary on the media, fame and internet usage for dummies circa 1997. At least in my mind it is.
Part Giallo. (Fun…
Review by maria ★★★★½ 10

darren aronofsky, retire bitch
Review by Rembrandt Q Pumpernickel ★★★★½ 16

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Perfect Blue is a serial killer film, and the killer is patriarchal violence.
Many films mine the tension between one's idealized self and the self one lives in reality to create drama and art*, few so adeptly recognize that for women, both of these sides are controlled by men. Perfect Blue is the story of pop icon Mima who decides to move from singing to acting and takes a minor role in a disgusting procedural show about grisly murders. But decides is (intentionally on my part) not the correct verb in this instance; the film does not portray it as a decision. In fact, Mima is often shown consenting to something that eventually undermines her own sense of self or…
Review by katie ★★★★ 1

darren aronofsky really did snatch mima's wig didn't he
Review by iana ★★★★ 2

darren aronofsky really went and based his entire career around perfect blue didn't he
Review by DirkH ★★★★½ 15

Film #100 of Make me watch your favourite.
Recommended by James Haves.
After having seen most of Kon's filmography now, I can only conclude he was one of the most gifted storytellers to ever work in film.
Perfect Blue is yet another intriguing and powerful exploration of the human psyche, this time in the guise of a complex thriller. Kon weaves a tale around a superbly written female protagonist that not only serves as a vessel for some social commentary about Japanese teen pop culture but also as our eyes and ears into a young girl's faltering mind as pressure, expectations and self doubt take over her world.
The layered and complex narrative bobs and weaves through reality and fantasy…
Review by YI JIAN ★★★★½ 11

An anime? A film? No, a kidnapping. I was taken by force, dragged against my will into Mima's mind. Trapped inside, I was forced to follow her downward spiral, my mind slowly decaying with hers. Satoshi Kon, you evil bastard. You... genius. Blurring the line between reality and imagination with each cut, always have us guessing what will assault our eyes in the next scene, building up an unsettling amount of tension with such rapid pace. A work like this requires so much patience and precision, but this is not a problem for you, is it, Satoshi-sensei? Oh what a masterpiece! What a masterpiece!
Review by dash_cam ★★★★★ 4

A documentary about being an actress
Review by Steve G 🐝 ★★★★½ 10

There has been a fair amount of talk on my activity stream recently about the work of the late Satoshi Kon, so ahead of watching some of his films I decided to revisit the one film of his that I have seen, albeit about 12 years ago now.
In fact, my first viewing of Perfect Blue was done towards the end of a major anime craze of mine, when I was just starting to tire of the genre as a whole. I was pretty taken aback by this film. No giant tentacle cocks. No stupid big tears appearing besides characters' faces when they're perplexed by something. No ridiculously overdone ultra-violence. This can't be right?
To me, it seemed like a…
Review by Sally Jane Black 6

CW: rape, misogyny, mental illness, trans/gender, anti-neurodiversity
Haunted by a past self, haunted by patriarchal violence, haunted by their objectifications and wrongly applied assertions of mental illness*, haunted by a parallel life that can't be yours, Mima resonates strongly to this trans woman. I just wish they'd've treated the mental illness angle with a little more sensitivity. On the grand relative scale, this seems to portray rape with more complexity and thought than most. The fact that it's (a) a simulated rape within the context of the story--in this case, she is an actress doing a rape scene--and (b) still traumatic for her suggests such a profound sympathy for those who experience sexual assault that it seems to retroactively emphasize…

Recent reviews

Review by glassisclear ★★★★

this was so hard to watch but goddammit this is good
Review by Yehia Osama ★★★★

كسم yts اللي مدبلچين الفيلم انجليزي من غير ما يقولوا
انت بأي حق يابن المتناكة تفرجني على مزاجك
Review by senseiparks ★★★★½

STRESS RATING: ☣️☣️☣️☣️☣️
Personal Rating: 9
To be honest, I feel iffy about giving it this stress rating, as the ending (though I loved it) definitely wasn’t nearly as anxiety-inducing as the rest of the film. However, there are certain scenes in this that are disturbing on so many levels, and that score alone could probably give you a panic attack, so I think the rating fits. Perfect Blue is also just... really confusing. What’s real and what’s a fragment of Mima’s shattered psyche is rarely clear, and every little detail is up to interpretation. Even as I’m writing this, I’ve learned a crucial detail about the ending I didn’t notice... and now all that resolution feels just as tainted as the movie it’s supposed to conclude. Perfect Blue is a difficult watch, but Satoshi Kon does not disappoint. I guess I have a new filmography to binge!

letterboxd.com/senseiparks/list/the-stress-ratings/
Review by Megan ★★★★

Quite literally this was a trip to watch and I enjoyed every second of it. The best kinda fever dream that still holds up after all this time.
Review by Peter Dragovich ★★★★

Like if De Palma made an animated film. Wild how much of what it says about women in show business still is recognizable today.
Review by AJ ★★★★

“Yes Mr. Aronofsky, for the 20th time, we definitely believe you that Black Swan wasn’t inspired by Perfect Blue. Yes, we know how much you love Satoshi Kon’s films, but you still definitely weren’t very heavily inspired, uh-huh.”
I feel like I just got Lost Highway’d by Lynch.
Review by SULÉMAN ★★★★★

such a disturbing nightmare that never ends
Review by Ethan M ★★★★★

One of my all-time favorites. Perfect Blue is, for lack of a better word, perfectly crafted. It works as a thriller and as an interesting, psychological character study into its main lead and the effects living the life of an idol has on her.
Satoshi Kon is one of my favorite directors because he's so good at subtle details and subtle symbolism. There are countless youtube videos dissecting this film's symbolism and themes. It really is one of those "the more you watch it, the more you get it" kind of movies, so if you're not too hot on it at first, maybe wait a bit and give it a rewatch. You might notice something you didn't before.
I really can't recommend this as well as Satoshi Kon enough. If you're a fan of film making, anime, and especially thrillers, you'll love this.
Review by Lam Nguyen ★★★★½

I have always heard of Perfect Blue as the artistic inspiration for Black Swan, and the similars are uncanny.
Satoshi Kon brilliantly portrays the the extent of what our expectations of ourselves can do to the line between reality and fiction while highlighting the toxicity of Japanese idol culture.
Review by Nizzy ★★★★

Very good foundation for what is one of my favorite movies, certainly the inspiration for Darren and for various psychological movies.
Review by greenbeaner ★★★★

what if anime was spooky...?
Review by Ben ★★★★★

This platform ought not to condone Perfect Blue – it is simply not fair on anyone else. It’s nigh on impeccable.
Twenty-three years beyond its initial release Perfect Blue remains the most poignant and prophetic portrayal of the internet age this side of OK Computer. 1997 was one hell of a year for anime.