The colors are a tad dull, reminding us that it is an 1997 production, but the animation itself is wonderful. They have a unique charm that is difficult to put into words. I am usually the type to dismiss too-realistic-looking anime. I was surprised that even though Satoshi Kon amazingly captures the beautiful, downright ugly and surprisingly, the averages in between I enjoyed watching the large variety of faces.
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There are fat, skinny, young, old people – with a range of body structures and facial features. Satoshi Kon’s style is very true to real life without making it too realistic. The animation is a class of its own- you will see no big, googly anime eyes here. I had to personally investigate online forums to decipher the ending, but if you love problem solving then perhaps you will be one to figure it out upon a re-watch. The strangeness and detachment of the screenplay could be seen as both a flaw and a quality in this respect.
#Serial experiments lain anime perfect blue movie#
As Mima’s stress becomes unmanageable, it becomes difficult to distinguish between dreams, hallucinations, movie shoots and reality. The final moments, much like Memento (2000) hit you like a bus with a surprised “Is that seriously the end?”. Satoshi Kon is great at confusing the viewer. Blood, gore, fear and mood escalates – much like Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds (1963), and by the end the movie is near incomprehensible. It is straight forward, but it is executed beautifully. The tension of the film gradually builds as we are given insight into Mima’s day-to-day routine, and the challenges she faces making the transition from singer to actress. We feel her fears and doubts as she explores her new reality.
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All of them are interesting and human… arguably too human! It doesn’t take long to get attached to the hard working heroine. Aside from Mima, two other characters are given their chance in the spotlight. A handful of fans are outraged by this decision, and start to cause problems for Mima. It starts off simple enough: singer Mima Kirigoe decides to become an actress at the cost of leaving her pop-group, CHAM!. The story was based on a novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, and was adapted for film by Sadayuki Murai (the only time when Kon hasn’t written a screenplay for his films). Confusing, thought provoking and intriguing, Perfect Blue leaves a similar impression. The last time I saw an anime film that made me go ‘What the hell was that?’ it was The Adolecense of Utena (2000). As much as I would love to praise this film into the ground, the movie is not for everyone as it deals with serious themes and disturbing imagery. Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam even included it in his list of top 50 animated films. It won awards at the 1997 Fantasia Festival in Montreal, and Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal. The film was received well by critics, in the US and Japan alike. Perfect Blue was his directorial debut, and what a fantastic head start it is. He worked on manga, scripts and project supervising before starting work as an animator. He was inspired to become an animator in his early school days thanks to titles like Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) and Space Battleship Yamato (1974). While it may be difficult to fathom there is more than one famous anime director in the world (Miyazaki *cough*), Satoshi Kon is one of them. Sadly, pancreatic cancer took his life in 2010, but he left us with a legacy of films to explore. Perfect Blue (1997) Review: Dark Anime for Adults