Perfect Blue (1999) review

(6/10)

It's definitely not the best anime thriller out there, but it's worth a watch.

PLOT:Mima used to be a pop idol in the three-girl group CHAM, but she decides to quit and become an actress on a tv drama. Things start going well until she's asked to do a certain risque scene, and her image then spirals out of control when she takes up modeling for dirty magazines. Not all of her fans are happy about this. In fact, one mystery fan starts to murder her closest associates in the business and things start to get creepy. Not only that, but also there's a fan posing as her on a fan-made website called "Mima's Room" that seems to know her every move. Between all of this media change, murder, and fan stalking, she starts to feel guilt for what she has done and wonders if she even knows who she is anymore; she even starts seeing apparitions of her old self. We are left with a lot of questions that come around and get answered in the end, so I'll leave you here. It's a good idea for a plot that's executed somewhat cheesily, but it still has its moments of shock.



VOICES:The voices in here I believe to be overdone. They all put too much emphasis on the character and make it seem more cheesy and cartoonish than it really needs to be. The only real shiner is the voice of Mima, who still overacted, but sounded pretty decent compared to the others.

SCORE:The score is mainly made up of some creepy mood music and a really unnerving theme. It worked on creeping me out, so I give it my respect.

ANIMATION:I really didn't think the animation in here was anything special. I'm very critical when it comes to anime, and I must say this stuff was kind of lazily done. To be brutal, I know girls in my school who can make better anime than this! This did have its moments, however, that seemed better animated than others, mainly close-ups. It wasn't the worst, but it was pretty lazy.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie had a good bit of flaws, such as the cheesiness, the overdone acting, and the lazy animation, but all of that is made up for in thrills. This anime flick is really a psychological thriller that doesn't fail to do its job. The kills and atmosphere of this movie sent shivers up my spine and kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would become of our beloved Mima. This movie's thrills are all about atmosphere; if it wasn't so creepy, than it would just be a cheap cheesefest of a suspense. This did succeed in creeping me out and giving me the feeling of being watched, not to mention getting caught up in the psychological apparitions and feelings of Mima and her mysteries. Besides atmosphere, this movie runs on lust and its effects. I believe it included enough of that to keep it going, but not enough to make it come off as a "fanfiction" type of thing.

OVERALL,an ok anime flick with a cheesily executed plot, overdone voices, unnerving score, lazy animation, creepy atmosphere, thrills that kept me on the edge, psychological effects that I could get caught up in, and enough lustful scenes to keep the movie's flow.