Perfect Blue (1997) Not Rated Starring: The voices of Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, and Shinpachi Tsuji Rating: out of

Mima wanted to be a singer her whole life. She was a member of a pop group called Cham, but she's decided to leave the group and pursue an acting career. While she's struggling with herself, and her agents, about whether or not she's made the correct choice for herself, she discovers that someone has put up an Internet site devoted to documenting her every move. The site details what she buys at the grocery store, where she shops, and even her opinions about the past day's events. Whoever put the site up has access to every detail in Mima's life and, soon after she discovers the site, she begins seeing and experiencing things that lead her to believe her life might just be in danger.

Perfect Blue is a very unique movie, especially because its animated. It tackles a rather serious subject and likely provides a more lucid viewpoint than a Hollywood adaptation of the same subject matter would offer. Mima's struggles with doing the right thing for herself and with the idea of fame is handled with skill and grace. The film also provides a rather interesting perspective on the film, TV and music industries' strategies for manipulating the public's opinion of celebrities.

Even though Perfect Blue is anime, it manages to avoid most of the clichéd elements of such films. Actually, taken shot-by-shot, the movie appears to be an animated version of a live action film. There are precious few of the over-exaggerated reaction shots or action scenes in the film. Many of the scenes look to imitate the steadicam techniques found in most Hollywood productions these days. Also of note is the opening musical number, which showcases the best animated dancing I've ever seen, short of rotoscoped animation. Very interesting indeed.

Still, the film is not without its problems. The plot, while very interesting and unique, doesn't quite tie up all the loose ends at the end of the movie. The pacing is also a little on the plodding side in the first act. It does pick up towards the halfway point, though. The voice acting in the English version is adequate, but is off enough to the point of being distracting in several key points. The DVD version, which I watched to review the film, includes the original Japanese language soundtrack and provides English subtitles. I'd recommend watching the film that way.

If you're not familiar with anime, this film won't shock you with weird fight scenes or over-the-top action sequences. (If you're an anime fan who can't live without such things, you may want to look elsewhere.) If you're simply looking for a rather good psychological thriller, and don't mind watching an animated one, Perfect Blue isn't a bad choice at all. (And, as always, please note that simply because this film is not rated and is animated does NOT mean it's for kids. This is a movie aimed at an adult audience and contains nudity, violence, gore and adult language.)

Trivia: The DVD version of Perfect Blue includes interviews with the English voice actors, an interview with director Satoshi Kon and a look at the recording of Cham's musical number. (Source: The Internet Movie Database)